Again, not one from the pile, but for Book Group. It is a modern classic so I was quite interested in it, but with such a disgusting person as the main protagonist it’s difficult to feel any empathy. One keeps going by admiring the prose and the inventiveness. Another problem is the fact that it reads like a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, and if you only like realism it just won’t appeal.

Interestingly, both Judith and I who had read to the end, had more sympathy for the character overall, seeing him as a tragically deformed character who could have been saved. So for the others who wanted to give up reading it, we recommended they try to finish.

I don’t really like the book group. I think it is neither a friendship group nor a group that is interested in books. I always think these things take time but I have given it quite a bit of time, and it hasn’t evolved.