J A N U A R Y

[Benjamin Law]

Y & R   B O O K C L U B   F O R   J A N U A R Y   2 0 1 0

Recently bookclub members voted for the two books they wish they'd read by now, but hadn't yet read. The results are in.

Because there is no bookclub in December, the Young and the Restless bookclub will meet in January to discuss both novels: 'The Bell Jar' by Sylvia Plath, and 'Midnight's Children' by Salman Rushdie.

S Y N O P S E S

'The Bell Jar' (Sylvia Plath, 1963)

It is 1953 and Esther Greenwood has won an internship on a national magazine and finds a bewildering new world at her feet. Although Esther believes she will finally realise her dream to become a writer, she finds herself spiralling into depression as she grapples with difficult relationships and a society which refuses to take women's aspirations seriously.

'Midnight's Children' (Salman Rushdie, 1981)

On the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947 — the day India proclaims its independence from Great Britain — 1001 children are born. Each child is also gifted with supernatural powers. Two of these boys  — the illegitimate son of a poor Hindu woman, and the male heir of a wealthy Muslim family — become inextricably linked when they are switched at birth.

A C C O L A D E S

The Bell Jar:

"A fine novel, as bitter and remorseless as her last poems — the kind of book Salinger's Fanny might have written about herself ten years later, if she had spent those ten years in Hell." 

— The New York Times Book Review

Midnight's Children:

"An extraordinary novel ... one of the most important to come out of the English-speaking world in this generation."

— The New York Review of Books

D E T A I L S

WHEN: Wednesday 27 January @ 6.30pm (last Wednesday of every month)
WHERE: Avid Reader, 193 Boundary Street, West End
WOW: Regardless of whether you're able to attend bookclub, all Y&R mailing list members receive a 10% discount off all bookclub titles until the end of that month. Just tell the friendly Avid staff members you're a member.

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Please do not reply to this email. If you have any enquiries about the bookclub, please email Benjamin on benja...@gmail.com