A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople by Patrick Leigh Fermor (Upton 43)

We met at a new Scandinavian restaurant, Upton 43, where the menu was interesting, the food fairly good, the service slow, and the prices high.  Our discussion started and ended with politics, mostly on the national scene, and we had fun squabbling about--er, debating--the merits and demerits of the various personalities.  The book, the first of three volumes, is an account of a walking trip across pre-WWII Europe.  It's a 19 year old Brit's engaging and erudite memoir, actually written (from careful notes) 40 years after the event.  Including many literary and cultural references (some pretty obscure), it was a little hard to get into, but the author's personal stories and the superb quality of his writing made it well worth the effort.

The next book is Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher.  Other titles considered were The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen and Some Luck by Jane Smiley.  We'll meet on June 28. Paul will suggest the following book.

James Madison and the Making of America by Kevin Gutzman (Merlin's)

Merlin's was a last minute choice and it turned out to be a fine British-themed pub, not at all fancy but perfectly good food served to us in a quiet corner.  There were only four of us so we could all hear the conversation about travel (mostly to India), the Masters' Golf Tournament, and a bit of politics.  We agreed that the book was a bit tedious and textbooky, a rehash of old political science courses about the formation of American political institutions, but there was plenty of material new to all of us that made up for it.  It would have been nice, however, for the author to have included more personal material about Madison and some overall analysis and conclusions about the job done by the founders.

The group decided that next month's book will be Patrick Leigh Fermor's 1930's travel book, A Time of Gifts.  Also considered were H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald, Destiny of the Republic by Candace Millard, Killing a King by Dan Ephron, The Map Thief by Michael Blanding, and As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee.  We'll meet on Tuesday May 31.  Don can suggest the next book.

Driftless by David Rhodes (Dixie's)

We met at Dixie's, a long-established, southern-style restaurant in St. Paul.  They had recently updated their menu and we had high hopes for the new offerings, but most of us thought the food was just so-so.  It was not busy, however, and the service was good.  Our general conversation focused on travel (e.g. to Antarctica) and electoral politics.  We thought the book was pretty good, but flawed. It was fairly well-written with interesting character portraits and good sketches of local culture, but it seemed too episodic and jumpy.  We felt it was time to try a non-fiction title next time: James Madison and the Making of America by Kevin Gutzman.  We also considered The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot and The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal.  Don suggests the book for the following month; we'll meet on April 19.

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast (Sober Fish)

Very different in their approach and appearance, these two books focus on similar issues: aging and death, and how we deal with these issues as family members and as a society.  We thought these books were very well written and discussed these difficult issues directly and honestly.  We rated both books highly, but gave the edge to Chast because her innovative and humorous approach better captured the poignant and human dimensions of the issues.

In addition to the books, we talked a lot about travel but somehow skipped politics, perhaps because the topic is so ubiquitous and annoying.  Sober Fish, adapting the space formerly occupied by True Thai, proved a happy choice.  A Thai/Japanese menu, excellent food, attentive service, and an excellent value.

Our next meeting will be on the Ides of March (the 15th), and we'll read David Rhodes' Driftless.  Other titles considered were Lori Sturdivant's Citizen Swain and Ashlee Vance's Elon Musk: Inventing the Future.  Jim is on deck for our next book selection.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (Forepaugh's)

Located in a historic house in one of St. Paul's oldest neighborhood, Forepaugh's has a reputation for dressing up for the holidays.  When we visited, the place was charming and the food was very good.  Too bad it was so slow in coming out of the kitchen.  More than an hour for a basket of bread, entrees 90 minutes.  We conversed some about politics, but spent a good chunk of time talking about the book, Behind the Beautiful Forevers.  A grim story about life in the slums of Mumbai, it is beautifully written--almost novelistic--but hard to read.  Next time we'll read two books: Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast.  We plan to meet on Tuesday, January 12.

Stories about the end of the world (The Salt Cellar)

We read several science fiction short stories about the end of the world suggested by one of our members who is teaching a class about the subject.  Stories from E. M. Forster to Isaac Azimov constitute a mixed bag, but we all found something of interest.  The restaurant is a beautiful place and the menu is innovative, but the service was mediocre even though the number of staff seemed to outstrip the number of diners. Expensive, too.

Our next meeting is scheduled for December 15 and we're reading Katherine Boo's book about India's underclass entitled Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Other titles considered were Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee.  Bill is on deck for the next book selection.

The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert (Parella)

Whether it's frogs, corals, trees, or glaciers, today is not your grandfather's world. Literally, according to Kolbert.  She says it's the 6th time in geologic history that huge numbers of species are going extinct, and it's the first time that it's caused by one of those species--humans.

Kolbert's book influenced our group in different ways.  Some expressed despair about the earth's future, others accepted the prognosis as "nature's way". Interestingly, the whole issue seemed more infused with politics than science.

Paul suggested we read a couple of classics next time (Beau Jeste, or Three Musketeers) or a collection of short stories about the "end of the world" he selected for a class. Given our mood of the night, we chose the latter.  Paul will send the PDF files.

Phil will suggest the next book.  We'll meet Monday, Nov. 2.

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger (Public Kitchen)

We enjoyed dinner at Public Kitchen, a relatively new place on Mears Park in Lowertown, which offers an eclectic American-style menu.  Good food and good service.  Our conversation touched on presidential politics, travel, summer activities, sports, etc.

The book, Ordinary Grace, was an unexpected hit that impressed almost all of us.  It was a story well told and well written about small-town characters and relationships that was emotionally moving and deeply meaningful. It could be described as a coming-of-age story, a murder mystery, or an evocation of 1950s or 1960s Minnesota.  One criticism was the plethora of characters and the unlikely coincidence of multiple deaths from diverse causes in a short time.

The next book is The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert.  Other titles considered were The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner and A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople by Patrick Leigh Fermor.  Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, September 29, and Paul will suggest the next book.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Third Bird)

This is an easy-to-read novel about the convergence of two young lives during WWII: a blind French girl and a radio tech-savvy member of the Hitler youth corps. It's a simple--some might say simplistic--story related in beautiful prose (although some of us found the non-chronological presentation needlessly confusing).  If you want a somewhat romanticized story about the war, with little realistic grit and almost no cursing, this is for you.  It won a Pulitzer, probably for the prose,  The Third Bird is a new place on Loring Park with a quirky menu and mixed quality.  The biggest complaint was about service.

The next book is William Kent Kreuger's Ordinary Grace, a coming-of-age story set in rural Minnesota.  Other titles considered were Mary Ellis' Bohemian Flats and Daniel James Brown's Boys in the Boat.  We'll meet on Tuesday, August 11, and Roger will suggest the next book.

The Black Count by Tom Reiss (Nye's Polonaise)

The Black Count is the story behind the 18th century novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas.  It's a fascinating, engaging history covering the years surrounding the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon.  And, yes, Dumas' father was a swashbuckling black man born in Haiti who rose to be a top general in the Republican Army.  We gave this one a top rating.  The rest of our discussion focused on the Tesla motorcar and the foibles of the legislative session.  Nye's Polonaise was the same as ever.  As we remarked, "it is what it is."

Our next book is All the Light That We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.  We also considered The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee and 1215: Year of the Magna Carta by Danny Danziger. We'll meet on Thursday June 18; Don will suggest the next book (if he's back in town).  Roger is next.

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson and A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre (Trattoria da Vinci)

Scheduling conflicts forced us to skip a meeting, so we ended up discussing two books at the same dinner, not a desirable thing to do but it worked out well.  We had a voluble discussion about one book and pretty much shunned the other.  The spy book was uniformly praised as an informative, interesting, and intriguing account of the Hollywood-like exploits of the WWII/Cold War spymaster, Kim Philby, who was the leader of a group of loosely-affiliated, idealistic Cambridge students in the 1930s.  Written in a breezy style, the only questions unanswered by the book were why did Philby follow his youthful communist vision in the face of Stalin's outrages, and how did he fool so many of those closest to him?

The other book, set in contemporary North Korea, reminded us of other novels describing life in totalitarian societies, like 1984, but was so confusingly organized that we almost lost interest.  Most of us plugged on, trying to see the spark of brilliance the Pulitzer committee saw in the novel.

We met at a place we previously visited 15 years ago--and despised.  This visit was better, but the large portions of richly-sauced pasta still didn't quite make it.  The Cioppino, however, was pretty good.

Our next book is Tom Reiss, The Black Count, the story behind the Count of Monte Christo.  Other titles discussed were Evan Thomas, Ike's Bluff, and Jon Mecham, Winston and Franklin. We'll meet on April 29.   Here's the batting order: Don is up next, followed by Jim, then Roger.

Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves (Corner Table)

Graves' memoir of the years surrounding WWI, published in 1929, is a stunningly vivid account of the Great War from a personal perspective. His prose is sober and hauntingly beautiful.  We had few quibbles and rated it as one of our best book choices, appropriately timed to remember the war's centennial.  Our restaurant choice was also popular, and we had a lively discussion about a range of other topics like almost travelling to Antarctica and the hack of Sony Pictures.

Our next book is Adam Johnson's Orphan Master's Son.  Other ideas were Moon's Blue Highways and Kerouac's Lonesome Traveler.  We plan to meet on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 6:30 pm.  Bill is up next.