The book..

Wild by Cheryl Strayed. This is a book about a woman’s journey by foot on the PCT trail in America, which she undertakes as a response to her mother’s illness and various other triggers in her life. She describes physical suffering as a way to combat the emotional suffering at the time.

We loved…

…that we had the book club’s first ever film night, and nearly all of us went to the Riverfront, Newport, to watch Wild the day before discussing it.
…how raw and real the writing was
…Michelle’s question boot
…Judy and Drew’s discussion:

Judy J: <some comment about the book>
Drew: ‘you would say that.’
Judy J: ‘I would, and I have.’
We didn’t love….
…that there was a lack of good description of the countryside at times and often we didn’t feel as though we were in the scenery with her.
…that it could be a little too self-indulgent at times.

We agreed…
…that there seems to be more of a rebellion involved in a woman taking off and going on a long journey just because it is not something that was as easy for them to do in the past with gender stereotypes and different roles.
We disagreed….
…about the first chapter. Some of us thought it was the best part of the book, and that it didn’t go on to live up to expectations, others thought that the opening was a little cheesy and that the writing got better over time.

…about whether she used her sexuality to get help along way.

We digressed….
…and talked about whether we would have thrown the second boot over the side of the cliff or not. Some of us were adamant that we would not have done that as it’s not very green, but others would have lost their temper and thrown it without a second thought.

Reviewed by:
Chris A, Judy D, Carol, Anne, Drew, Julie, Nadia, Michelle, Karen, Jackie, Judy J, and me J

Next month…
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami – White Hart, Llangybi, last Weds In May, 2015, 7:30pm.