The CBB
http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/

Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters
http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=8170

Author:  brie [ Sun Jul 25, 2010 9:31 am ]
Post subject:  Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Hi!

Here is the thread for discussing this months book.

Did you find it to be a "chilling" ghost story as the blurb (or at least the copy I have's blurb) says?

Did you like the first person narration and the narrator himself?

Were there any parts of the plot that you found either unecessary or particuliarly stimulating?

If you have read any of her other novels how do you think this book compares?

and of course as many other points as you may like to raise!

Next month's book can be voted for in the poll above, and I will leave it running only until the thirtieth to allow people time to get the book.

Once again please, please send me book suggestions. You can PM me as few or as many as you like. I will use them all even if it's not all in the same month. I will also try and re-poll any titles that did not win the vote the first time, as some people did still vote for and nominate them.

There may be spoilers in the posts below so I wouldn't recommend reading any further if you haven't yet read the book.

Author:  emma t [ Sun Jul 25, 2010 2:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters

I love Sarah Walter's style, and have already read 'The Little Stranger' so won't give too much away - except that it is a wonderful read and a twist at the end :)
When my friend was teaching in London; she worked with Sarah Waters best friend, who was attending a party with Sarah Waters to celebrate the release of her first book, 'Tippping the velvet' - they were having champagne and oysters!

Sorry to sound as though I am showing off with this... :oops:

Author:  Mia [ Sun Jul 25, 2010 5:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters

emma t wrote:
I love Sarah Walter's style, and have already read 'The Little Stranger' so won't give too much away - except that it is a wonderful read and a twist at the end :)


I'm a bit confused... Could someone please enlighten me as to how these discussions work?

Author:  brie [ Sun Jul 25, 2010 8:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters

I'm assuming your asking about why emma t didn't want to give away the twist?

These discussions are meant for talking /arguing (amicably if thats not an oxymoron :lol: ) about the plot in full, which is why the title's are given in advance to allow everyone time to read the book. I guess it is the posters own perogative whether they wish to take advantage of that or not.

I'm not sure if that makes sense or not, but basically feel free to discuss the plot in as much detail as you like, The title post of each months thread does contain a spoiler warning.

Brie

Author:  Mia [ Sun Jul 25, 2010 8:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Yes, I am being a bit thick. I'd like to join in this one as I read it fairly recently. Thanks for clarifying.

Author:  cestina [ Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters

I really didn't enjoy this book at all I'm afraid - and I was annoyed about that because it's the first Sarah Waters I've read, and I have two others waiting on the shelf :(

Before I started it I read all the quotes from the reviews that were printed at the front, and also a review from the Guardian, and then I spent the whole book waiting for it to get as spooky (and as good) as the quotes had made out it was going to be.

I found all the characters very unattractive, I couldn't relate to any one of them, and the "scary" stuff felt to me rather like the Ghost Train or Haunted House at a fairground: fake and predictable.

I ploughed on to the end but had it not been for the CBB Book Club I would have given up less than a third of the way through.

I shall be very interested to see if anyone else felt the same way......

Author:  Elle [ Thu Jul 29, 2010 6:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters

I agree with Cestina. I didn't really like this book. I have read a couple of other Sarah Walters books and really enjoyed them, so I felt really let down by this one. I can't really put my finger on what I didn't like about it, I just didn't. I will have a flick through it later and see if I can come up with something more specific about what it is I didn't like!

Author:  Billie [ Thu Jul 29, 2010 9:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters

I actually really liked this book when I read it last year, though I have to agree about the characters - they weren't very likable and I wanted to hit the main character around the head! I found the mystery compelling, was desperate to find out what was haunting Hundreds Hall (I think that was the name of the house?) Then when I realised Waters wasn't going to tell us, I discovered that actually that didn't bother me after all - that any definite answer would be less satisfying than my vague imaginings.

Author:  JS [ Fri Jul 30, 2010 9:39 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters

I didn't think anything was haunting the house, actually - I thought it was all down to the chip-on-shoulder, overly-impressed with posh folk doctor.
I may say that we did read this for our village book club and I was in a minority of one in that view, although my friend's husband subsequently read it and agreed.
And I felt very sorry for the dog.

Author:  Loryat [ Thu Aug 19, 2010 4:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters

I found this very disappointing. Not scary at all and far too long for what it was.

The Night Watch is great though, so if you've got that one cestina hopefully you will enjoy it.

Author:  Lolly [ Thu Aug 19, 2010 7:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters

have to disagree with everyone (except Emma T)...I really enjoyed it. I like a book that doesn't spoon feed you - the characters are challenging and quite difficult to like which gives the book quite an edgy feel, and they are so complex and well written that you can really believe in them. I also enjoyed the fact that there is no easy answer. Reminded me a bit of 'The Turn of the Screw' actually, which is a book I love and would read and re-read if it didn't scare me too much. I found it atmospheric and well written, and unlike Loryat (clearly made of stronger stuff than wimpy me :lol: ) I found it very spooky.

Author:  Julie C [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 6:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters

I wrote about TLS on the Book a Week March 2010 thread. This is locked now so I can't quote properly but these were my thoughts..

"On the basis of having thoroughly enjoyed every other Sarah Waters novel, and reading the gushing reviews on the back promising me that I'd be 'sleeping with the lights on' I ploughed through page after page waiting for the suspense/mystery/horror to kick in. After 500 pages it never did . This was one of the few books where I was left not really caring what happened to the characters either way - I only finished it because I'm too stubborn to let a book defeat me."

It seems I'm not alone on this one! Can reassure anyone concerned that the rest of Waters' novels are far far better :D .

Author:  Cathie [ Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Book club: The little Stranger by Sarah Waters

I loved it. I read it on holiday so it was a little while ago. The characters were, in my opinion, really well written, with a lot of depth. It was the characters that really made the book I thought, as the plot whilst good felt a little slow at times. It didn't really feel scary, a little unnerving at times but no more.

All times are UTC
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/