Minutes May book: The Other Hand

***warning: these minutes may contain spoilers...read on at your own risk***

The Other Hand


by Chris Cleave



(chosen by Elster)



Elster chose this book on the recommendation of JM...who had bought it at Lorne over the summer, in a reaction against the reading of Twilight.


Chris Cleave is 36. He lives in London with his wife and three children.

His debut novel Incendiary won a 2006 Somerset Maugham Award, was shortlisted for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers Prize, won the United States Book-of-the-Month Club’s First Fiction award 2005 and won the Prix Spécial du Jury at the French Prix des Lecteurs 2007.

The Other Hand is his second novel (and is titled Little Bee in Canada and the US). It was shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards.

Chris Cleave has been a barman, a long-distance sailor and teacher of marine navigation, an internet pioneer and a journalist.

(general biographical details from the author's website)

What the publisher says about the book:

We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it.

Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this:

It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific.

The story starts there, but the book doesn't.

And it's what happens afterwards that is most important.

Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.

What we discussed about the book:

• Why was the title of the book changed from The Other Hand to Little Bee for release in the US and Canada?
• What was the other hand? How was this term used in the novel? e.g "When it hurt too much to prise open the box of washing powder, I used the other hand."
• Although some thought the African beach scene unbelievable in some ways, why was it necessary to create the point at which the the developed world collided with chaos?
• The power of imagining horror versus the actual telling of the story...why was it necessary for Sarah to hear the story of Nkiruka?
• How did we think the story ended? What happened?
• Was it a hopeful or a tragic ending? Or both?
• What did Lawrence represent? Why do we remember the description of the carpet tiles in his office?
• Was Little Bee's dialogue and insight beyond her years? What would cause that?
• The idea of "the girls back home" acting as a Greek chorus - "a foil in whose imagined reaction the cultural dissonance experienced by Little Bee can be made explicit" (from the author's website)
• Why did Little Bee seek the ways in which she could kill herself in every situation - what did this tell us about her and her experiences?
• What does the quote at the beginning of the book say about the British experience?
• Why did Sarah take action on the beach? Why didn't Andrew? What did each of their choices represent?
• How did the novel explore the idea of weighing up options? Rationalism vs emotion? On the other hand...
• Was this just Little Bee's story?
• What was the role of the other three girls released at the same time as Little Bee?
• What was the purpose of Charlie? Why did Batman see everyone in terms of goodies and baddies?
  

And then we were sidetracked into:

• Would we have taken Charlie to Nigeria?
• The role of journalism in exposing injustice, horror, corruption. How does the collection of a number of stories strengthen the story of an individual?
• Did this novel change our perception of how UK policy on refugees and detention compares with Australia's?
• What global forces create the corruption which causes situations from which people need to flee?
• Do we take our freedom of movement for travel for granted? How easy is it for others to obtain visas to visit Australia as tourists (e.g Indonesians?)
• How stories are framed differently by their telling.
• In what ways should/can multinational companies contribute to the local communities and make a difference?
• How many refugees are admitted to Australia each year?
• Why is a political hard-line on illegal immigration a vote-grabber?

In other news:

• We discussed the burqa issue in the media at the moment. What are our views?
• Why do some people wear sunglasses almost always?
• Gypsy recommended the movie, Welcome

Ratings:

Ratings range: 6 to 10

Ratings average: 8.6

Next book: Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (Chosen by LC)