For the April meeting, we met in the book-lined surroundings of the library at The Vic for a chat about The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett. Described as a combination of One Day and Sliding Doors, the novel centres around the relationship between Eva and Jim and the possible different ways their lives could have taken shape depending on their actions.
Opinions were mixed, with Anne Marie stating that she wouldn't recommend it to anyone and Pauline and Linda saying they enjoyed it. Joan went so far to say that the author had a fairly boring story and it was only the structure of splitting it into three alternative tales that gave it interest.
One of the key areas of debate for our group was whether or not more should have been the same in each version of the tale. Joanne C suggested that it might have been better if Eva had done wildly different things, such as travelling the world. As it stood, the type of life Eva had was fairly similar in each incarnation. Specific characters and events were also consistent throughout, providing markers in the text to tie scenarios to.
Another topic of discussion was how confusing it was to follow. Several of us had intended to make notes of the defining features of each story to help us through, but nobody actually got round to it. This meant a few paragraphs of readjustment at the beginning of each chapter, which was not too much of a problem in the end. Joanne B read seven pages and was so confused she decided to give it a miss for this month!
As a group, we awarded The Versions of Us three stars.
The next meeting will take place at The Aletaster on May 4th to discuss Undercurrent by J A Baker.
No comments:
Post a Comment