April 2012 Moms

Book Club discussion

Sarah's Key...and go.
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Re: Book Club discussion

  • I will start off by saying that although the book was an easy read, I didn't find myself enjoying it that much.  I am a huge lover of historical fiction and can appreciate and respect the topic of the novel, but I thought it was cheesy and predictable.  Seriously, I knew the ending long before I got there.  And on another note, I take issue with her big excursions to travel around the world to track down these strangers.  Not realistic.  Overall I could see English 101 students reading this book in their freshman year of college.  Not a well written piece of literature in my opinion.
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  • I tend to agree with Pina but even though I found it somewhat predictable I still cried my eyes out. I think part of the reason te book didn't do a lot for me is that I didn't love the main character. I felt that the story through her eyes was just not the best way to tell it.
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  • I agree with you both. The one thing I did like was the French influence, but that's a personal opinion for me. I took French in High School and have all but forgot it so it was fun to have some (minimal) words to play with. I really didn't love the main character at all. There just seemed like there was too much going on, and the focus seemed to be off all the time.

    I think if the author would have concentrated more on one topic and embelished a little it could have been better. Such as leaving out the affair, the grandmother, the everything else besides the main underlying story.

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  • I've been on a historical fiction kick lately. I've been reading Michelle Moran's stories about ancient Egypt, so was really excited to read this. I hated history in school so these books give me a chance to do my own research about a point in time that I'm often unaware.

    I enjoyed the book, but agree that it was quite predictable. I figured out that they were in their house pretty early on as well. I did like the parts about how her FIL carried the guilt with him.

    I hadn't thought about the fact that the main character was unsympathetic until Mrs. K posted it, but I completely agree with that.

     

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  • imageMarettie:

    I agree with you both. The one thing I did like was the French influence, but that's a personal opinion for me. I took French in High School and have all but forgot it so it was fun to have some (minimal) words to play with. I really didn't love the main character at all. There just seemed like there was too much going on, and the focus seemed to be off all the time.

    I think if the author would have concentrated more on one topic and embelished a little it could have been better. Such as leaving out the affair, the grandmother, the everything else besides the main underlying story.

    This.  I felt as though the author really focused on that woman's struggles and the relationships in her life and yet her struggles were so minimal compared to what Sarah went through, it made it feel somewhat distracting and petty.  I appreciated that she was trying to tell a "holocaust" story" from a different perspective but I think the story of the children in the velo de....(sorry blanking) is such a sad, untold story it deserved more attention. 

  • imageMrs.K23:
    imageMarettie:

    I agree with you both. The one thing I did like was the French influence, but that's a personal opinion for me. I took French in High School and have all but forgot it so it was fun to have some (minimal) words to play with. I really didn't love the main character at all. There just seemed like there was too much going on, and the focus seemed to be off all the time.

    I think if the author would have concentrated more on one topic and embelished a little it could have been better. Such as leaving out the affair, the grandmother, the everything else besides the main underlying story.

    This.  I felt as though the author really focused on that woman's struggles and the relationships in her life and yet her struggles were so minimal compared to what Sarah went through, it made it feel somewhat distracting and petty.  I appreciated that she was trying to tell a "holocaust" story" from a different perspective but I think the story of the children in the velo de....(sorry blanking) is such a sad, untold story it deserved more attention. 

    On positive note about this it did leave me wanting to know more, since the author wasn't as informative about the topic.

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  • imageMrs.K23:
    imageMarettie:

    I agree with you both. The one thing I did like was the French influence, but that's a personal opinion for me. I took French in High School and have all but forgot it so it was fun to have some (minimal) words to play with. I really didn't love the main character at all. There just seemed like there was too much going on, and the focus seemed to be off all the time.

    I think if the author would have concentrated more on one topic and embelished a little it could have been better. Such as leaving out the affair, the grandmother, the everything else besides the main underlying story.

    This.  I felt as though the author really focused on that woman's struggles and the relationships in her life and yet her struggles were so minimal compared to what Sarah went through, it made it feel somewhat distracting and petty.  I appreciated that she was trying to tell a "holocaust" story" from a different perspective but I think the story of the children in the velo de....(sorry blanking) is such a sad, untold story it deserved more attention. 

    I 100% agree. I like the telling of the Holocaust in a different way, but I would have preferred that the focus was on Sarah's story.

    I will say that the scene where the mothers adn the children were seperated was awful. Maybe it is the pregnancy hormones, but I had a tough time with that.

    I did find it educational, in that I had not previously known about the velodrom diver (sp?). I did a little bit of research on it and it is pretty shocling that more people do not know about it. I guess (and this sounds horrible to say), but when an event comes up against the totailty of the Holocaust, certain things get forgotten.

    Overall, I agree with Pina about the writing. There were moments that I really enjoyed the book, but overall, I think that de Rosnay bit off more than she could chew and that the book would have been more successful (to me) if she had not tried to write an epic tale.

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  • I really did enjoy this book,

    however.......

    I think it's honestly because prior to reading it, I hadn't read anything good.

    There are redeeming qualities to the book; namely, the subject matter. I do love historical fiction, and I didn't know very much at all about July 1942 or French history. I enjoyed the method that she wrote in, going back and forth, and I was actually annoyed that it stopped about 2/3 of the way into the book. I would have liked to know more about Sarah, and less about Julia.

    She also did a lot of things that made the book predictable, as PP's have mentioned. I knew the husband was going to leave her at some point, I mean, isn't it the general formula- he is handsome, charming, etc. Of course he'll be unfaithful forever. And I felt Julia was totally self-indulgent. The whole apartment thing and the trip and just... well, it was a little drippy.

    But again, I did enjoy it. I definitely didn't hate it. I liked the supporting characters- the friends, the coworkers, and Zoey.

    Since I enjoyed the author's writing style, I just read her second book. I do not recommend. I would say that 100 times if I could.

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  • imageMrsMVM:

    I really did enjoy this book,

    however.......

    I think it's honestly because prior to reading it, I hadn't read anything good.

    There are redeeming qualities to the book; namely, the subject matter. I do love historical fiction, and I didn't know very much at all about July 1942 or French history. I enjoyed the method that she wrote in, going back and forth, and I was actually annoyed that it stopped about 2/3 of the way into the book. I would have liked to know more about Sarah, and less about Julia.

    This is how I felt. I was mad that I didn't get to hear more about how Sarah's life went from her perspective. It was so abrupt how the format ended as well.

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  • Not placing blame, but this book kind of stinks for a book discussion.  We need some good contraversey to stir things up with our next book.  This was just blah for me.  When I was teaching we had our little teacher book club and we always chose books that had some kind of topic in it that would get people thinking..... and arguing.... in a good way Smile
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  • I really liked the beginning of the book and like PPs I agree that it was very predictable.  I didn't like the emphasis on Julia and could really care less about her whole affair situation and everything.  I found the historical aspect very intriguing and that's what I wanted to hear more about.  I would have liked to hear about Sarah's life more too.  I didn't like the back and forth, but I've never liked that in a book - just a personal preference.  So, I guess my thought on the whole book was "Ehhh" it was ok.  But it could have been better.
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  • SusieBWSusieBW member

    I liked it, but I've definitely read a lot of better historic fiction.

    I agree with everyone else that said that there should have been more focus on Sarah's story and less on the other main character lady, who I also didn't care for.  And that it was totally predictable.  And I didn't love the writing.  Was it this author that I saw somewhere that English isn't her first language, and this was written in English initially, so maybe that had something to do with the quality of the writing?  Or was that someone else?  Sorry, that's tangential to the whole discussion, I guess.

    I also agree with PP that our next book should be something more controversial (Tiger Mother, perhaps?).  I recommended this one because I had heard wonderful things about it, and that it would make for good discussion.  Perhaps I was mislead.  Apologies. I hadn't read it before recommending it.

    All of that said, though - I still enjoyed the book, as much of a bummer as it was.  I liked that it was about a whole story from the Holocaust that I had never even heard about.  I like to learn new history when I read historic fiction, so this book definitely accomplished that for me.  That was a little jarring though, actually.  It really put into perspective what an enormous and horrifying undertaking the Holocaust really was, that huge events like the velodome event in this book can be all but forgotten in the collective consciousness, overshadowed by so many other events just like it.  Sad.  I guess this is really why I would rather have heard more of Sarah's story and less of the modern story - it was just SO much more compelling and relevant.  Sarah's story made the other main character's issues so petty, and really, made her less likable because of it.  I think someone may have already posted something just like that.

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  • Totally agree, Pina- this turned out to be a blah discussion book. Especially because we all seem to agree on it!

    I read Tiger Mother and think that would make quite an interesting discussion book. Another one (that I have also read) is The Immortal Henrietta Lacks. I may have that title a bit wrong, but I will look it up for whenever we vote on the next book. Both of these are non-fiction, but extremely discussable.

     

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  • imageMarettie:
    imageMrsMVM:

    I really did enjoy this book,

    however.......

    I think it's honestly because prior to reading it, I hadn't read anything good.

    There are redeeming qualities to the book; namely, the subject matter. I do love historical fiction, and I didn't know very much at all about July 1942 or French history. I enjoyed the method that she wrote in, going back and forth, and I was actually annoyed that it stopped about 2/3 of the way into the book. I would have liked to know more about Sarah, and less about Julia.

    This is how I felt. I was mad that I didn't get to hear more about how Sarah's life went from her perspective. It was so abrupt how the format ended as well.

    I agree with this! I wanted more of Sarah's life! 

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