Journal Entry 1 by LyzzyBee from Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Saturday, October 09, 2010

03 Apr 2010

As we know, I'm a big fan of Paul Magrs' novels. So when I heard that one of them featured Iris Murdoch popping up in a chatroom, I couldn't resist picking it up. It nearly went to the IM Conference with me, in fact, but there wasn't room in my rucksack!

Anyway, I am pleased to report that Iris does, indeed, have a starring role in this excellent read. The book is based around a week in the life of a group of interconnected people living in Norwich. The webs of interconnection become clearer throughout the book; the characters are all very different, and relate to one another in different ways (I particularly like the way Robin, an ageing English lecturer with a growing dislike of his students, changes when he's in the chatroom: "Funkymonkey was Robin's name. When he was Funkymonkey he came on like an animal: all teeth and hair and no holds barred"), often having their characters subtly changed by their encounters with one another. Although each character is given their own set of chapters, and there is obviously a plan behind the book, it doesn't feel at all forced or creative-writing-class-y (you know I'm going to compare it to "If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things" - well, that book could learn a lot from this one) and all the characters have their own voice and independence.

Of course, I love Robin and his encounters with Iris Murdoch, as well as his wonderfully-described University life, full of postgrads trying to squeeze literature to fit their own particular theories; and I also really liked John and Darren, whose friendship is unlikely, tender... but is it too close? An involving, funny read that's hard to put down. Fans of Iris Murdoch will not be disappointed; I loved the way she came across and thought it pretty darn perceptive and authentic.

Not so much magic and darkness as the Brenda and Effie series; this is more aligned in his oeuvre with the slightly-magical Exchange or perhaps the ensemble pieces like Marked For Life and Does It Show.

I will be offering this on a BookCrossing BookRing soon, to share a marvellous, touching and funny read. 

Journal Entry 2 by LyzzyBee at Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Sunday, October 10, 2010

BookRing!

Rules:

1. Journal the book when you receive it
2. Try to read it and send it on within 1 month
3. PM the next reader and send it to them - make a release or journal entry on the book so we can all see its status
4. If you have any problems reading the book in time or getting hold of the next reader, please PM me or use the email address on my profile!

PARTICIPANTS:
Mafarrimond UK (Eu pref)
Cross-Patch UK (anywhere)
Peamartian UK (anywhere) <--- it's here!
Amethystlady64 UK (anywhere)
Sarabe1 Sweden (anywhere)
katisha50 UK (UK)
Heaven-Ali UK (UK)
...back to me to send to Pamela 

Journal Entry 3 by LyzzyBee at Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Saturday, October 23, 2010

Released 1 yr ago (10/23/2010 UTC) at Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Posting to Mafarrimond today. Enjoy! 

Journal Entry 4 by mafarrimond at Hawarden, Wales United Kingdom on Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Sorry forgot to journal when it arrived!

I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the Brenda and Effie books but it was intelligently written and gave a glimpse into a variety of people's lives all bound together in some way or other! 

Journal Entry 5 by mafarrimond at Hawarden, Wales United Kingdom on Saturday, November 20, 2010

Released 1 yr ago (11/20/2010 UTC) at Hawarden, Wales United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Posted onto Cross-patch. Enjoy! 

Journal Entry 6 by Cross-patch at Leicester, Leicestershire United Kingdom on Friday, November 26, 2010

Arrived today. Thank goodness I have just about caught up with my ring reading ( held up by my very slow reading of Rabbit is Rich). Thank you LyzzyBee and mafarrimond. 

Journal Entry 7 by PeaMartian at Durham, County Durham United Kingdom on Saturday, January 15, 2011

Received with thanks! My TBR pile isn't too big at the moment, so I hope to be reading this one in Feb... 

Journal Entry 8 by PeaMartian at Durham, County Durham United Kingdom on Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Well, I guess I was over-optimistic thinking that I would get to read this book in February! It finally made it to the top of the pile in July, and I do think it was worth holding on to. I enjoyed the changing characters resulting from the various situations, and not surprisingly I was entertained more by some than others. I wasn't so interested in the chat room chats, but I did like the descriptions of what some characters thought of others based on their "real-life" encounters, and found some of these very moving (and unexpectedly close to home for me). So, I consider this a good book because it provoked strong emotions in me, as well as entertaining me. Thanks for sharing!

I've PM'd the next person on the list a couple of times but haven't had any response so far... What do I do next?

 

Journal Entry 9 by PeaMartian at Durham, County Durham United Kingdom on Friday, September 30, 2011

After a quick check with Lyzzybee, and a hiatus while I was on holiday, I've been in touch with sarabe1 and posted the book on to her in Sweden today.

Thanks again for sharing! 

Journal Entry 10 by sarabe1 at by mail, --by post or by hand (ie ring, ray, RABCK, trade) -- Controlled Releases on Sunday, January 08, 2012

Have had this book for far too long and am deeply sorry about that! Have read and will now send onwards. 

Journal Entry 11 by sarabe1 at n/a, by mail -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Released 4 mos ago (1/10/2012 UTC) at n/a, by mail -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Off to Katisha50! 

Journal Entry 12 by Katisha50 at Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Saturday, March 24, 2012

I really thought I'd cured myself of the terrible habit of not doing an immediate JE on receiving a book. Clearly not! Thanks for sending, Sarabe1!

I did enjoy this, although not as much as Brenda and Effie. The style/structure really kept up the pace. Puzzled all the way through as to the meaning of the title, though.

Will pass to heaven-ali this afternoon. 

Journal Entry 13 by Heaven-Ali at Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Saturday, March 24, 2012

Passed on to me today. Not sure if I'll read this or not - I wonder if it is my kind of book. TBR for now at least.