Bienvenue sur le site de Lectures croisées / Book crossing
Un projet des bibliothèques de Sèvres et Mount Prospect
Book discussion in the U.S.A
The Mount Prospect Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
On June 15, 2010 the Mount Prospect Literary (and on that occasion Potato Peel Pie) Society held a session at Nancy Pritchard’s house of the Mount Prospect Public Library staff, a cosy place and a warm hostess, who received the Sèvres delegation and treated them to a delicious authentic potato peel pie and a great discussion around the book ! A great way to start the week in Mount Prospect indeed !
After eating the pie, the group finally decided to get the job done and engaged in a witful conversation concerning the pros and cons of the book.
First of all, it is the literary form that intrigued and some people found it difficult to follow the story through Juliet’s mail, while others found it enthralling and a good way to say a lot in a few words, while also providing multiple points of view effortlessly. It was noted by one of the participants that nonetheless the style of the letters was very homogeneous, and that the writing itself was not very varied or particularly “brilliant”. To this, another participant answered that the letters did have their own “voices” and that the authors had deliberately written an easy text, wanting to touch a large audience.
The next subject was the war period, the occupation and Guernesey. It was noted that the strength of the book was to describe a harsh period in a way that is not overtly dramatic and even often comical while still being evocative and informative. The group discussed the island of Guernesey : some had been there and others now wanted to visit it very much ! A few participants also shared they own personal experiences through the stories of their parents who had been prisoners of war during that period. Some readers were very interested by the description of the era and wanted the book to tell them more about it, while others found the subject harsh and were content with the way it had been treated. It was noted that the other book of the Book Crossing, “Suite Française” was very focused on that period and made for a good follow-up for those interested by the subject. The participants also talked about how the book depicted the occupation in a non-manichean way, how the Germans were not systematically portrayed as “evil” and how it showed that the war was a terrible experience for all parties involved, and that all values had been turned upside down : the “incorrect” love story between Elisabeth, who dies in a concentration camp, and Christian, the german doctor, illustrating that dramatically.Finally, Juliet’s romance was discussed, bringing about a hectic argument about how plausible it was that she would abandon a rich handsome american dandy to a poor farmer of Guernesey. A male reader suggested that this was, after all, fiction !
To conclude this nice discussion, the group agreed that this was a charming book with many facets, hiding under its refreshing wit and humor some deeper meanings about many difficult subjects such as the war, collaboration, individual freedom and self-realization.
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