OutReaders:2020-02
2/15/20 2-4 pm
Kirkwood Library
Touch by Claire North
Robert Allen was the coordinator. 10 people attended, including 1 new person.
We went over these items:
- Next meeting is Saturday March 21. Book is The Shadow of the Sun by Barbara Friend Ish. Jamar picked the book but will be out of town, so Robert will lead the discussion.
- That is the weekend of Outlantacon. Will anyone be attending? Should we move the location?
- Reminder: we have a Facebook group.
- Vote on April’s book.
Book discussion recap:
Characters: Main character is not very likeable and you don’t get invested in the characters. Not developed enough for us to care about them. Kepler resets a lot so it’s hard to be invested in her character.
Gender: Is the main character male or female? No consensus. Main character can be ambiguous and occupies different bodies throughout. Is it a queer novel? The issue of swapping genders kind of makes it so in a way. Main character seems to be ok in other genders’ bodies.
Morality: Is the main character moral? We debated this and it’s hard to say. She was born with the ability to ghost so it’s her nature, but she has to steal to live. Compared her to a vampire like Lestat from the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. Also the main character is not as bad as other “ghosts” like her.
Consciousness: Where does it reside? Where does memory reside? The main character could inhabit bodies but not do what they could do. Why? Are ghosts just consciousness, or more?
What we would change: More on the gender exploration. More on picking people that were not always pretty and wealthy.
Author’s writing style: She writes like a travel blogger and her descriptions of locations were well written. Seems to really capture the locations.
Overall: Mostly thumbs up, people liked it but no one loved it, mainly because the characters are not likeable.
April Book Nominations (winner in boldface):
- Hild by Nicola Griffith
- Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
- First 15 Lives of Harry August by Claire North
- A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
- Fruit by Brian Francis
