As most of you may have read in my previous entry, I moderated this month’s book discussion for Flips Flipping Pages. I chose one of my favorite books, “I Capture the Castle” and we hied off to Bacolod City for a change of scenery and a complete countryside experience.
Tag: book club
Never Let Me Go
It’s been a busy month for Flips Flipping Pages, with not one, not two, but three book discussions crammed within the month. Earlier this month, we Flippers met up with National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose to conclude last year’s Rosales Saga readalong, then two Saturdays back we had the unofficial discussion on Helene Hanff’s “84 Charing Cross Road” (which I moderated).
Last Saturday’s book discussion, my third for the month, and the official discussion slated for March, was on Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Never Let Me Go,” moderated by Flippers Haze and Sana, held at a medical facility in Pasig.
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street
Still on the “84 Charing Cross Road” high, I had managed to convince enough of my book club friends to join me in an unofficial discussion of the book last Saturday. At Flips Flipping Pages, we normally do unofficial discussions (outside of the monthly schedule) for certain books when one person (or more) needs closure feels strongly about it and elects to moderate.
Of course, being the highly suggestible people we are, it’s normally not a big challenge to gather up enough people for a discussion, but considering I kept having to move it all throughout March due to scheduling conflicts, I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout (I love you Flippers!).
Flippers meet F. Sionil Jose
We finally concluded our Rosales Saga read-along last Saturday over at Solidaridad Book Shop, with no less than the author, National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose.
Armed with a bunch of snacks and stacks of books, we found ourselves holed up in FSJ’s private quarters above the bookshop and spent over three hours talking about his life as a writer and reader, the Rosales books, the bookshop and so much more!
House of Leaves
Our book club’s first unofficial discussion for the year was “House of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski, and I had gotten the book with the intention of joining the discussion last Friday, but I wasn’t able to finish it in time so I stayed home (in fear of discussion spoilers) to make some headway on the book. I did finish it a few days later, and I was well and truly befuddled.
In “House of Leaves,” multiple narratives converge to tell us the strange story of a young man (Johnny Truant) who comes across a manuscript by his old neighbor, Zampano. Zampano has written a study of what appears to be a non-existent film (“The Navidson Record,” a Blair Witch-y documentary by award-winning photographer Will Navidson about a house that is (*gasp*) bigger on the inside, with closets and hallways popping up and disappearing every so often.