by Anne Enright
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/23/forgotten-waltz-anne-enright-readers-responses
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/books/review/the-forgotten-waltz-by-anne-enright-book-review.html?pagewanted=all
Summary of Discussion on Monday, 17 December 2012
[Present: Anne Van Calster, Paulette Duncan (hostess), Blanka Persinova, Christa Haberer, Vibeke Roosen Bell and Lisa Vershbow]
A comment from John Mullan’s review of Enright’s book for The Guardian read, “When Anne Enright came to The Guardian book club to talk about The Forgotten Waltz, her tale of ordinary adultery in modern Ireland, she was asked a good deal about her depiction of Dublin's smart, affluent professionals.” Our group too remarked that one of the first things the reader notices is that Enright supplies us with plenty of superficial details about her characters’ physiques, clothing, homes and furnishing, and less about what actually drives them. The book is focused on the affair between the main character, Gina, and an older man (a neighbor of Gina’s sister), Sean. The story is told from Gina’s point of view, as it unfolds to her.
In general, our group found the book less than satisfying. The timeline jumps around as the novel progresses, and that seemed frustrating for some of our readers. The most key elements of the story are not revealed until almost the very end, and our readers agreed that it felt a little tedious to get there. Gina leaves her husband and, in taking up with Sean, destroys his family in the process. Their affair does not seem so interesting until we learn there is something wrong with Sean’s daughter Evie. But it is not until the end of the book that this is fully revealed. We agreed that perhaps the author’s intention was for the reader to learn these things at the same time as Gina. An interesting idea, but it made the story seem a little slow.
Evie is revealed to have suffered from a form of juvenile Epilepsy. Dealing with her condition has driven a wedge between Sean and his wife. Gina is drawn physically to Sean and seems callous to the destruction she creates as she gives in to her desires. By the end, even Gina feels sympathy for Evie, but it doesn’t get her closer to Sean.
Some in our group were glad to have read The Forgotten Waltz and found the style interesting. But for the most part, our group decided that it’s not a book we’d readily recommend to our friends. The characters are not very appealing and the story takes too long to unfold. We found the actions of the characters to be unkind, especially the way both Gina and Sean treat his wife, Aileen. Gina’s involvement with Sean, destroying a family with a sick child, is very distasteful. Even the other people in the novel turn against Gina when Sean moves in with her. Is this particular to Irish society? Perhaps it’s meant to be a cautionary tale about adultery? With the exception of Gina and her sister’s relationship to their parents (and their deaths), we found most of the relationships difficult to believe, particularly Gina’s marriage to Conor and her pursuit of Sean. In addition, we wished there had been more information about Ireland’s economic crash, which takes place about two-thirds of the way through the book and has a major impact on the lives of the characters.
We discussed the title of the book, The Forgotten Waltz, and decided that it might be a metaphor for happiness, something the characters seem to have forgotten. Their lives have become superficial. We decided that Evie is actually the main character. We wondered how attainable Sean really is for Gina. Gina tries to get closer to Evie in order to get closer to Sean. Sean longs for a closer relationship with Evie but feels deeply that he has failed her and no one seems very happy.
L.V.
Contributed by Lisa
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/23/forgotten-waltz-anne-enright-readers-responses
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/books/review/the-forgotten-waltz-by-anne-enright-book-review.html?pagewanted=all
Summary of Discussion on Monday, 17 December 2012
[Present: Anne Van Calster, Paulette Duncan (hostess), Blanka Persinova, Christa Haberer, Vibeke Roosen Bell and Lisa Vershbow]
A comment from John Mullan’s review of Enright’s book for The Guardian read, “When Anne Enright came to The Guardian book club to talk about The Forgotten Waltz, her tale of ordinary adultery in modern Ireland, she was asked a good deal about her depiction of Dublin's smart, affluent professionals.” Our group too remarked that one of the first things the reader notices is that Enright supplies us with plenty of superficial details about her characters’ physiques, clothing, homes and furnishing, and less about what actually drives them. The book is focused on the affair between the main character, Gina, and an older man (a neighbor of Gina’s sister), Sean. The story is told from Gina’s point of view, as it unfolds to her.
In general, our group found the book less than satisfying. The timeline jumps around as the novel progresses, and that seemed frustrating for some of our readers. The most key elements of the story are not revealed until almost the very end, and our readers agreed that it felt a little tedious to get there. Gina leaves her husband and, in taking up with Sean, destroys his family in the process. Their affair does not seem so interesting until we learn there is something wrong with Sean’s daughter Evie. But it is not until the end of the book that this is fully revealed. We agreed that perhaps the author’s intention was for the reader to learn these things at the same time as Gina. An interesting idea, but it made the story seem a little slow.
Evie is revealed to have suffered from a form of juvenile Epilepsy. Dealing with her condition has driven a wedge between Sean and his wife. Gina is drawn physically to Sean and seems callous to the destruction she creates as she gives in to her desires. By the end, even Gina feels sympathy for Evie, but it doesn’t get her closer to Sean.
Some in our group were glad to have read The Forgotten Waltz and found the style interesting. But for the most part, our group decided that it’s not a book we’d readily recommend to our friends. The characters are not very appealing and the story takes too long to unfold. We found the actions of the characters to be unkind, especially the way both Gina and Sean treat his wife, Aileen. Gina’s involvement with Sean, destroying a family with a sick child, is very distasteful. Even the other people in the novel turn against Gina when Sean moves in with her. Is this particular to Irish society? Perhaps it’s meant to be a cautionary tale about adultery? With the exception of Gina and her sister’s relationship to their parents (and their deaths), we found most of the relationships difficult to believe, particularly Gina’s marriage to Conor and her pursuit of Sean. In addition, we wished there had been more information about Ireland’s economic crash, which takes place about two-thirds of the way through the book and has a major impact on the lives of the characters.
We discussed the title of the book, The Forgotten Waltz, and decided that it might be a metaphor for happiness, something the characters seem to have forgotten. Their lives have become superficial. We decided that Evie is actually the main character. We wondered how attainable Sean really is for Gina. Gina tries to get closer to Evie in order to get closer to Sean. Sean longs for a closer relationship with Evie but feels deeply that he has failed her and no one seems very happy.
L.V.
Contributed by Lisa
Information provided by Vibeke (FT review by Claire Kilroy):
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ReplyDeleteSummary of Discussion on Monday, 17 December 2012
ReplyDelete[Present: Anne Van Calster, Paulette Duncan (hostess), Blanka Persinova, Christa Haberer, Vibeke Roosen Bell and Lisa Vershbow]
A comment from John Mullan’s review of Enright’s book for The Guardian read, “When Anne Enright came to The Guardian book club to talk about The Forgotten Waltz, her tale of ordinary adultery in modern Ireland, she was asked a good deal about her depiction of Dublin's smart, affluent professionals.” Our group too remarked that one of the first things the reader notices is that Enright supplies us with plenty of superficial details about her characters’ physiques, clothing, homes and furnishing, and less about what actually drives them. The book is focused on the affair between the main character, Gina, and an older man (a neighbor of Gina’s sister), Sean. The story is told from Gina’s point of view, as it unfolds to her.
In general, our group found the book less than satisfying. The timeline jumps around as the novel progresses, and that seemed frustrating for some of our readers. The most key elements of the story are not revealed until almost the very end, and our readers agreed that it felt a little tedious to get there. Gina leaves her husband and, in taking up with Sean, destroys his family in the process. Their affair does not seem so interesting until we learn there is something wrong with Sean’s daughter Evie. But it is not until the end of the book that this is fully revealed. We agreed that perhaps the author’s intention was for the reader to learn these things at the same time as Gina. An interesting idea, but it made the story seem a little slow.
Evie is revealed to have suffered from a form of juvenile Epilepsy. Dealing with her condition has driven a wedge between Sean and his wife. Gina is drawn physically to Sean and seems callous to the destruction she creates as she gives in to her desires. By the end, even Gina feels sympathy for Evie, but it doesn’t get her closer to Sean.
Some in our group were glad to have read The Forgotten Waltz and found the style interesting. But for the most part, our group decided that it’s not a book we’d readily recommend to our friends. The characters are not very appealing and the story takes too long to unfold. We found the actions of the characters to be unkind, especially the way both Gina and Sean treat his wife, Aileen. Gina’s involvement with Sean, destroying a family with a sick child, is very distasteful. Even the other people in the novel turn against Gina when Sean moves in with her. Is this particular to Irish society? Perhaps it’s meant to be a cautionary tale about adultery? With the exception of Gina and her sister’s relationship to their parents (and their deaths), we found most of the relationships difficult to believe, particularly Gina’s marriage to Conor and her pursuit of Sean. In addition, we wished there had been more information about Ireland’s economic crash, which takes place about two-thirds of the way through the book and has a major impact on the lives of the characters.
We discussed the title of the book, The Forgotten Waltz, and decided that it might be a metaphor for happiness, something the characters seem to have forgotten. Their lives have become superficial. We decided that Evie is actually the main character. We wondered how attainable Sean really is for Gina. Gina tries to get closer to Evie in order to get closer to Sean. Sean longs for a closer relationship with Evie but feels deeply that he has failed her and no one seems very happy.
L.V.
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