The Black Dahlia

Posting on behalf of Meg because she is a techno loser and can't figure out how to sign in AGAIN!

Ok I have to start (again!) by apologising for being uber slack about the blog!!! Sorry its just really NOT my thing and not helped by the fact that I can't access it again! Anyway I have done it at last!!


The book this month was "The Black Dahlia" by James Ellroy and the overall view of the group was that they didn't enjoy the book. In particular, a number of us felt that the characters were misleading and that there was too much about Bucky and not enough about the murder. While some thought the book had a strong voice in that you could easily picture the setting there was also a strong sense that it didn't read true. Many of us found it hard to get into and then often hard to follow.


Specifically:
Irene - 5/10 - Tried too hard to be complex

Liz - didn't read it

Debbie - 3/5/10 - misleading, hard to feel empathetic

Tahnee - 2/10 - misogynistic, superfluosly descriptive

Harriet (who shall now be known as Hannah) - difficult read

Kaye - 5/10 - more twists and turns than a contornist

Kerry - 5/10 crap writing, twist intrigued enough to finish

Meg 5/10 haven;t finished it yet - strong voice but disjointed and disconnected.



We then proceeded to have a great conversation about children which completely freaked Irene out and a very heated debate about whether the Black Dahlia asked for her death by her behaviour. While Toot did an exemplary job in arguing this, it really needed Trilby's passion!


The next book club meeting is tomorrow night and is at Trilby's place. The book is Push by Sapphire

The following book club meeting will be the 2nd Tuesday in November due to Cup Day and is at Irene's. The book is Tamil Tigress by Niromi De Souza
Colleen - 2/10 - badly written all US slang cheap crap cops and robbers story, hated the book

Trilby - 6/10 liked the noir feel but was longwinded. The afterword freaked me out.