BOOK GROUP

Our Book Group meets each month to review interesting-sounding books (lunchtime on the first Monday in the month). If you are interested in taking part, please contact Andrea Quayle.

Next Meeting:     please check with us 

Recently Reviewed Books

Favourite Books: 

We are also compiling a list of our favourite books on Humanism and related issues. We have posted a provisional list below and would appreciate reader's comments. 

JILL PATON WALSH: 'Knowledge of Angels' (1998)

The Book Group met on Monday 27th September, and enjoyed a lunch at Camphill Café while discussing Knowledge of Angels by Jill Paton Walsh.
 
This author is well known for her novels for children such as The Dolphin Crossing (1967), Fireweed (1970) and Gaffer Samson’s Luck (1985), but she has also written six adult novels, of which Knowledge of Angels, published in 1994, is one. Weidenfeld and Nicolson had published her previous two novels for adults, but declined Knowledge of Angels, although in the US, Houghton Mifflin were happy to publish it. Jill Paton Walsh and her partner John Rowe Townsend published it themselves in the UK under the Green Bay imprint, and it did very well, being shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
 
The novel is set in the Middle Ages on the imaginary Mediterranean island of Grandinsula. This place is a strongly Catholic country, where Christianity is viewed as the one true faith, licensed therefore to treat other faiths as not merely wrong but as a threat. The priesthood are constantly on the lookout for heresy (any deviation from the prescribed belief) and blasphemy (an attack on the Church by actions such as calling into question that Christianity was the one true faith, or denying God’s existence or Christ’s identity as His son). Perpetrators were liable for execution.
 
In the first of the novel’s narrative threads, a group of shepherds high on a mountain trap a creature that has been stealing and killing their lambs. They are horrified to discover that what they assumed was a wolf is in fact a feral child, whose behaviour is as savage as the wolves that reared her. They decide to bring her down the mountain and make money by exhibiting her, but her savagery and disgusting behaviour eventually leads to their giving her into the charge of a young, tender-hearted shepherd named Jaime. He is filled with pity and tries to ensure this wild creature is fed with raw meat, but becomes obsessed with the notion that she is a human child, as yet unbaptised. The local clergy are of no help in this regard, so Jaime takes the child to Severo, Grandinsula’s cardinal and head of state.
 
In the second narrative thread that is interspersed with the first, an exhausted stranger who has fallen overboard from his ship is rescued by fishermen from the sea just off the coast of the island. This is Palinor, a prince ‘by achievement’ in his native country of Aclar. Once he has recovered, he sets about finding out how to get to a port and return home. Grandinsula requires that he have a warrant giving him permission to land on the island (albeit somewhat after the event) and to travel. To obtain this, he has to fill in a form which requires him to state his religion. Offered the choice of Christian, Saracen or Jew, Palinor unfortunately declares his belief is in ‘Nothing. I, myself’. To the reply that he must surely know of the existence of God, he responds, ‘I know that all those who say that they know God exists are mistaken. They can know no such thing.’ Palinor was not given the possibility of declaring himself an agnostic, and by failing to choose one of the three options, he has, in the views of the Grandinsulans, declared himself to be an atheist. Such a thing is intolerable on Grandinsula, and punishable by death. Palinor’s idea that he believes in himself is developed in the course of the novel. The members of our group discussed the notion that the author had placed a humanist in the midst of a medieval Catholic society to explore the conflicts and tensions concerning reason, faith and doubt. We agreed that Palinor seems to the reader to be a very modern man. Aclar emerges as a meritocracy, and a society where equality and the rights of the individual are emphasized. It requires citizens to obey the rule of law, but much conduct is dependent on the conscience of each individual. Decency, common humanity, and a sense of self-respect are relied on to govern social behaviour. In return, Aclaridians enjoy freedoms that Grandinsulans could only dream of. Palinor takes a long time to realize the implications of declaring himself to be an atheist, but refuses to conform even when this becomes clear to him. He insists that he has ‘ a right to entertain [his] own beliefs’.
 
When the case of Palinor comes to the attention of Severo, the latter is faced with a problem. Is it possible for an atheist to be ‘in good faith’ – in other words, might he genuinely have never had knowledge of God’s existence (in which case, he has not rejected faith)? Or is the knowledge of the existence of God innate, in which case, he has denied and rejected God? Severo seeks the help of Grandinsula’s most respected scholar, his boyhood friend, Beneditx, who can unfortunately not give him the evidence for the unambiguous answer he seeks. There is, however, the wolf child, whom Severo baptizes and names Amara. He conceives of using her as a test. Here is a human being who has never heard of God. If she can be taught to speak, she may be able to give a definitive answer to the question of whether the knowledge of God is innate. Accordiny, he hands her over to a convent of nuns, who are instructed to humanize her, but without mentioning God to her. Once she can speak, the vital question will be put to her. Jill Paton Walsh has introduced into the convent a young nun named Josefa, who now takes over from Jaime as Amara’s carer. Meanwhile, Severo gets his friend Beneditx to spend time with Palinor in order to use all his knowledge of religion and philosophy to persuade him of the existence of God. All seems to be going well until a member of the Inquisition arrives …
 
The narrative threads are interwoven with great panache. Either story would be sufficient to carry the reader along, but they are contrasted and yet linked with subtlety and delicate touches of irony. The brilliantly imagined detail of the socialisation of the wolf child is entirely convincing, and gained the admiration of our readers. There are several real-life examples of feral children, and some of our readers knew of these, and shared the stories with the group.
 
In her discussion of her novel, Jill Paton Walsh explained that one of heraims was to show the dangers of religious fanaticism. She called Knowledge of Angels ‘a fable about tolerance, and its conflict with moral certainty’. Part of the reason for her writing it was the anger she felt following the fatwa against Salman Rushdie, when she heard people denouncing Islam and suggesting Christianity was gentler and more tolerant. Both her knowledge of the Catholic Church of the Middle Ages and her own strict Catholic education suggested otherwise.
 
Our readers found this novel highly engrossing, entertaining and educative. It is highly recommended.
 
(Knowledge of Angels is published in paperback by Black Swan at £7.99)
 

PHILIP PULLMAN: 'The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ' (2010)

Philip Pullman's 'The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ', published by Canongate (2010).

The book is about the dual aspects of Christianity and it was fitting to find that some of the books had white covers and some black. Beautifully produced, the book resembles a genuine copy of the New Testament and is complete with a ribbon bookmark.

We all agreed that it was a very clever retelling of the New Testament story, beautifully written and very imaginatively told. We differed in our opinions as to whether the Christ character needed to be Jesus's twin, or whether he could have been one of Jesus's already documented brothers. We agreed that the book has probably done the story of Jesus no disservice and is more than likely to awaken interest in the New Testament.

On the back of the book in bold letters it says, 'THIS IS A STORY' and one of Pullman's purposes was to show how stories grow, change in the re-telling and can be manipulated to serve ulterior motives and unscrupulous purposes. Even the parables are not 'sacred'. Pullman's Jesus's rendition of the story of the 'wise virgins' is given a much more 'Christian' conclusion.

The book was written at the suggestion of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who reviewed it favourably on April 3rd in the Guardian. He refers to Pullman's treatment of the Annunciation and the fraudulent Resurrection as 'easy point scoring' but says that Pullman has a 'voice of genuine spiritual authority'.

From a Humanist point of view the chapter called 'Jesus in the garden at Gethsemane' is particularly interesting. It portrays Jesus as losing his faith in God and we see Pullman's views about the existence of god and of how the church inevitably became corrupted and far removed from the central premises of Jesus's teaching. If you read no other chapter in the book, you really should read this one.

As non-believers it's great fun seeing the ways in which Pullman manages to explain away the supposed supernatural elements in the Annunciation, the Resurrection and Transubstantiation as well as many of the 'miracles'.

One of the conclusions of the book is that unless there had been a 'church' to perpetuate the story and teachings of Jesus he might have been completely forgotten. And that unfortunately, people being what they are, the church would not have been successful without the supernatural elements to the story.

So we are left to consider what the world would be like if Jesus had been forgotten.

 

TRACEY CHEVALIER: 'Remarkable Creatures' (2010)

MK Humanist Book Group Meeting 2 Aug 10 

Five members of the Book Group met at the Camphill Community Café for lunch to discuss the relative merits of “Remarkable Creatures” by Tracey Chevalier and “Cat’s Cradle” by Kurt Vonnegut..

'Remarkable Creatures' by Tracey Chevalier

Based on a true story, “Remarkable Creatures” tells the intertwined stories of two very different Victorian women, brought together by their interest in the newly-discovered fossils of Dorset. Mary Anning was born into grinding poverty in Lyme Regis, Elizabeth Philpot and her two unmarried sisters into a more genteel version of the same, when her brother’s marriage forced them out of their comfortable home in Red Lion Square, London. Once installed in a modest cottage in Lyme in 1805, hatchet-jawed Elizabeth can pursue her interest in palaeontology, and tall Louise her gardening and salves. They find greater freedom and fulfilment than they ever did in London, though their prettier sister Margaret pines for a lost world of fashionable frivolity and the hope of a conventional marriage.

Mary and Elizabeth narrate alternate chapters, their relationship developing as they become mutually dependent. Elizabeth has to learn from the twelve-year-old Mary the hard graft of digging out the fossils, and under her tuition, Mary’s attitude to the fossils begins to change as both begin to realise the implications of their discoveries and question the received wisdom on the creation of life as expounded in the Bible. The relationship between the two women is often abrasive and fraught by misunderstanding. When Mary’s most famous discovery, the “crocodile”, is sold and exhibited in a London show as a freak dressed in human clothing with a cigar in its jaws and its tail deliberately straightened, she is amused and gratified by the attention it receives. Elizabeth is outraged by the trivialising of such a momentous event and the inaccuracy of the presentation; both women know by its shape that it cannot be a crocodile. In fact it is the first complete icthyosaur , more like a prehistoric dolphin. 

Various other contemporary characters are introduced, some invented, some real, like William Buckland, to explore the range of opinions excited by the publicity given to Mary’s discoveries. The writer resists the temptation to ridicule the precise calculations of Bishop Ussher as to the exact date when these creatures were drowned in Noah’s flood, and is careful to avoid any mention of Charles Darwin, whose work was not generally known at the time.

All members of the group agreed that it is a fascinating read in itself, but some of us felt the “happy ending

” very contrived as Mary lived in poverty most of her life. Many anachronisms were pointed out, both in language and in fact; no ocean-going ship could possibly moor at the Cobb in Lyme Regis, as the writer must have known if she had ever visited the place. Did she choose to retell this momentous story out of real interest in the issues it raised at the time, or did she simply want to exploit the current wave of interest in all things Darwinian?

The details of character and setting, so important to this story, the male characters in particular, were seen as sometimes thin and unconvincing beside the more powerful evocation of the same period by John Fowles forty years ago in “The French Lieutenant’s Woman.”

KURT VONNEGUT: 'Cat's Cradle' (2008)

The book initially focuses on the creation of the atom bomb and the scientists involved. The narrator starts off by doing research in order to write a book about people’s memories of what they were doing on the day that the bomb devastated Hiroshima. He tracks down the children of one of the inventors, Felix Hoenneker. Newt, the ‘midget’ son of Hoenneker remembers his father was playing cat’s cradle with a piece of string when the bomb was dropped.

Hoenneker, ever-oblivious to the possible downsides of his work, in response to a request from the Marine Corp, goes on to develop another dangerous invention called ice-nine, a compound that can ‘train’ water to crystallise. After the death of Hoenneker, his offspring divide the ice-nine between them.

The book then centres on the activities of the inhabitants, natives and visitors, of the island of San Lorenzo where the cult of Bokononism is encouraged by banning it. It’s a religion which requires its followers to be blissfully happy, accept misfortune as fate and is based on lies. Like other religions, Bonononism is convoluted, full of illogical beliefs and ultimately nonsensical. As well as parodying religion and the faithful through his descriptions of Bokononism, Vonnegut takes a swipe at corrupt politicians and the military - for example in the myth of the Hundred Martyrs to Democracy, a celebration by the islanders of what was actually a military disaster.

Through a mixture of incompetence and corrupting power ice-nine eventually has an effect on the island that was never envisaged by the inventor nor the visitors who brought it to the island.

Cat’s Cradle is a fairly quick read. The responses of our group ranged from those who thought it was a classic and excellent, to one person who found it rather tedious.

 

EMMA DONOGHUE: 'Room' (2010)

Most of the Book Club group felt distinctly uncomfortable reading this book, but all acknowledged that it was a riveting and unusual experience, and irrespective of the deeply disturbing subject-matter, a compelling story convincingly told. It opens on the fifth birthday of “Jack,” the narrator throughout, and it is immediately clear that he lives in strange circumstances, perhaps the most obvious being that he has not been weaned and derives great comfort from the fact.

This well-established author has perhaps unwisely admitted that the story told in “Room” was inspired by the case of Josef Fritzl in 2008, who imprisoned his daughter Elisabeth in his cellar for 24 years from the age of 11, and fathered her seven children, one of whom died. He told her mother that she had run away to join a cult, but managed to integrate three of her children into his household by pretending they were left as foundlings on his doorstep. Three others remained captive with their mother until the serious illness of the eldest child revealed the truth. Fritzl was sentenced to life-imprisonment. Elisabeth and her six surviving children are still recovering.

Some reviewers have been so preoccupied by the association with the Fritzl story that they fail to notice that sexual abuse is not the main theme of “Room.” “Old Nick”, as the abuser is always called, is no relation to his victim, but he is the father of her five-year-old son Jack, her first surviving child. By choosing Jack as the narrator of events he doesn’t fully understand, the author focuses on her real subject, which is the nature of motherhood, and all it entails.

Jack, like his mother Ma, is sensitive and highly intelligent, but has been reared from birth in a room only 12 foot square, with one small skylight. To him, the shabby collection of objects around him, Rug, Rocker, Bed, Door, Wardrobe (where he hides during Old Nick’s nightly visits), his favourite Meltedy-Spoon and Room itself, are beings with life and character like himself and Ma; he knows that what he sees on TV is not “real” in the same way.

Ma is totally committed to the cause of Jack’s welfare and upbringing, which she promotes with energy and stealthy optimism: he must never see himself as a prisoner, and she must keep him physically and mentally as healthy as she can, to prepare for escape into a world that he only knows from what she has told him. This is not easy, as Old Nick is both cunning and ruthless, and not above trying to chill and starve them into submission.

Those of the group who are parents or teachers, or both, applauded the authenticity of Jack’s highly imaginative and often poetic descriptions, suggesting extensive research into the language and development of young children. Some were disappointed by the apparent change of tone in the second part of the story when Jack has to come to terms with the real world, to meet his mother’s family and be rehabilitated from a situation that he had never recognised as abnormal.  

It is only at this stage in the story that his strange upbringing is justified. Ma’s decision to delay weaning Jack, which troubled some of the group, can be interpreted on several different levels. Physically, in the absence of sunlight, she must sacrifice the calcium from her teeth to form his bones. Emotionally, he must be capable of trusting and bonding with another human being.

But inevitably, as all mothers must accept, “love is proved in letting go,” and he has to learn this too. When the weaning/separation begins, it is arguably more painful for Ma than it is for Jack. But her highly-personal style of maternal care is vindicated as he is able to accept social training, and adjust to new relationships more easily than the rest of his family.

The group responded differently to the first more imaginative part of the book than they did to the second, which is much more factual, but equally enthralling. It is indeed a novel like no other that we have read, and has much to say to anyone involved in the rehabilitation of victims of abuse. Though the ostensible subject may be deeply disturbing, it is a story that celebrates the power of love to overcome all obstacles.                                    EL

 

READING LIST - Our Top Ten

We are looking to produce a reading list of books on humanism, atheism and religion that provide a good, balanced overview of the subjects

The rules are simple: we will keep the list to just ten books. Anyone wanting to suggest a new title, should also name a book that should be removed. This way quality is retained. Here's a start:

  • Blackham, HJ (1968): 'Humanism', Pelican
  • Dawkins, Richard (2006): 'The God Delusion', Bantom Books [0-618-68000-4]
  • Dennett, Daniel (2006): 'Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon', Viking (Penguin) [ISBN 0-670-03472-X] 
  • Hitchens, Christopher (2007): 'God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything', Twelve Books [ISBN 978-0-446-57980-3] 
  • Smoker, Barbara (2005): 'Humanism', South Place Ethical Society [0 902368 23 0]
  • Benson, Ophelia & Stangroom, Jeremy (2009): 'Does God Hate Women?', Continum