We are delighted to announce that TV3 will be coming on the 8th of August to film the Under the Table book club! We are very excited to have the oppurtunity to showcase our book club on a national scale!
June’s book!
Hey there everyone, June’s book is “Transatlantic” by Colum McCann. This novel looks to be a gripping read.
On another note, there will be no book club meeting in the month 0f July.
Review of “Wolfhall” by Hilary Mantel
Tudor England. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is charged with securing his divorce. Into this atmosphere of distrust comes Thomas Cromwell – a man as ruthlessly ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages.
A fantastic retelling of the life of Henry VIII, this book was enjoyed by all.
May’s book!
Hey everyone! Our book for the month of May is “Wolfhall” by Hilary Mantel, one of the more recently written books we have read. We hope you enjoy it!
Review of “The Good Soldier” by Ford Madox Ford
A Tale of Passion,” as its subtitle declares, The Good Soldier relates the complex social and sexual relationships between two couples, one English, one American, and the growing awareness by the American narrator John Dowell of the intrigues and passions behind their orderly Edwardian facade. It is the attitude of Dowell, his puzzlement, uncertainty, and the seemingly haphazard manner of his narration that make the book so powerful and mysterious. Despite its catalogue of death, insanity, and despair, the novel has many comic moments.
“The Good Soldier” was enjoyed by all here at Under The Table.
April’s book!
Hey everyone! April’s book is “The Good Soldier” by Ford Madox Ford. This one is a staff favourite here at Khan’s so we hope you enjoy it!
Review of “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca is a slow, but not at all tedious, read. Daphne du Maurier gradually creates an unbearably tense atmosphere, which was many of ours’ favourite aspect of the novel. It was unlike anything prieviously read. We’d feel the atmosphere when the terrifying Mrs Danvers entered the room when Mrs de Winter was alone, and we’d keep thinking about it long after the book had been put down. Some of our readers did not find the novel thrilling – the mystery was unexpected, but not horrifying – but we agreed that it was certainly suspenseful.
March’s book!
Hey there everyone, this is just a quick post to let you know that March’s book is “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier. It is a classic crime/romance novel and we trust you will enjoy it!
Review of “Stoner” by John Williams
William Stoner is born at the end of the nineteenth century into a poor Missouri farming family. Sent to the state university to study agricultural science, he instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar’s life, so different from the labouring life he was born into.
And yet as the years pass, Stoner encounters a succession of disappointments: marriage into a “proper” family estranges him from his parents; his career is not progressing; his wife and daughter turn coldly away from him; a transforming experience of new love ends under threat of scandal. Driven ever deeper within himself, Stoner rediscovers the stoic silence of his forebears and confronts an essential solitude.
John Williams’s luminous and deeply moving novel is a work of quiet perfection. William Stoner emerges from it not only as an archetypal American, but as an unlikely existential hero, standing in stark contrast against an unforgiving world.
We thouroughly enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to anyone,
February’s book!
February’s book is “Stoner” by John Williams, it looks to be a great read and we hope you all enjoy it!
Under the Table 