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A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon


Kell

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Anyone who would like to get hold of a copy of this book and join in the circle - there are quite a few copies available at

Green Metropolis

Our choice for October is A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon:

Synopsis

George Hall doesn't understand the modern obsession with talking about everything. 'The secret of contentment, George felt, lay in ignoring many things completely.' Some things in life, however, cannot be ignored. At fifty-seven, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden, reading historical novels, listening to a bit of light jazz. Then Katie, his tempestuous daughter, announces that she is getting remarried, to Ray. Her family is not pleased - as her brother Jamie observes, Ray has 'strangler's hands'. Katie can't decide if she loves Ray, or loves the wonderful way he has with her son Jacob, and her mother Jean is a bit put out by all the planning and arguing the wedding has occasioned, which get in the way of her quite fulfilling late-life affair with one of her husband's former colleagues. And the tidy and pleasant life Jamie has created crumbles when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to the dreaded nuptials. Unnoticed in the uproar, George discovers a sinister lesion on his hip, and quietly begins to lose his mind. The way these damaged people fall apart - and come together - as a family is the true subject of Mark Haddon's disturbing yet very funny portrait of a dignified man trying to go insane politely.

 

Some questions to consider:

1- Who was your favourite character and why?

2- Was there a particular part you enjoyed/disliked more than the rest?

3- Was this the first book you've read in this genre/by this author, has it encouraged you to read more?

4- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with?

5- Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience?

 

(You do not have to answer all, or indeed, any, of these questions, they are meant only as points for you to perhaps mull over as you read, and provoke more discussion. Please feel free to ask and answer any questions that come up as you read.)

 

Enjoy!

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  • 2 weeks later...

firstly say that I really enjoyed this book:readingtwo:

 

1. My favourite character was George- I felt I "cared" most about him - although each character gets to tell you things from their perspective i found it was George's dialogue that I was most interested in. I really felt for him during his "suffering" -having worked with mentally ill people I can understand a bit more about what he felt and why he acted the way he did.

 

2. I didnt particularly dislike any of the book although I found some of Jamie's dialogue more tedious than others at times. I really didnt "like" the rest of George's family - I thought it summed things up when Kaite tells George he's being selfish - i think that shows how selfish she is! and how little she understands of how her dad feels.

 

3. I had read the curious Incident of the dog in the nighttime - it was a while ago and I had no pre conceived ideas when i read this - it is different - i like them both equally.

 

4.Overall I really enjoyed this book - it kept me hooked I wanted to read on to find out what happened - the more i read the more supported George-

 

I think parts were so well written that they made me whince or cry or laugh out loud -

in particular the description of George in the hotel room and his description of Jean having sex on the bed were very well done. I thought it interesting how Jean's view of "making love" differred from George's view of the scene on his bed -basically 2 old people having sex - saggy skin, wrinkles and all ! lol

 

 

 

I also nearly cheered out loud when George hit David at the wedding - classic!! - shame he stayed with jean though - i felt she got off lightly with adultry!

 

 

looking forward to seeing what everyone else thought , must go as baby just woke up!

Kayx:lol:

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Right my thoughts. Really enjoyed it and found the way in portrayed George's depression very powerful.

Did not have much sympathy with him, felt a bit like a did with The Curious Incident and Christopher's character in that he was behaving in a way that was unusual and hard to comprehend but was believeable in him doing it.

I loved Ray, thought he was a very powerful character, he was the one I found provided the solidity for both Kate and Jamie that neither of their parents did.

Great story, well told, but the ending did not satisfy, it all sort of went back to how it had been for George and Jean which seemed odd.

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I really enjoyed 'A Spot of Bother' I liked George, I thought he was a brilliant character.

 

 

I loved the part when he hit David, I was saying to myself, 'go on George'.

 

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I see you have already read A Spot of Bother - I agree with your comments on bodily functions:tong:

 

I also have 7 year old son Josh i need to put a pic on of both to be fair! -i have a blog site for Kaitlyn as she was born with a heart defect - http://kay-kaitlyns.blogspot.com

 

happy reading:readingtwo:

 

 

I'm afraid I'm rather squeamish so I don't cope well with graphic descriptions (thank goodness I'm reading Thomas Hardy at the moment - I know I'm safe with him!). I read Black Swan Green after Spot of Bother - a similar kind of book and yet more bodily functions - 'here we go again' I thought to myself!

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I loved A Spot of Bother too but the copy I read was from the library and my memory is not so good.

 

My favourite character was George. I admit he was irritating at times and definitely neurotic, but I felt that part of his problem was that he had not really come to terms with being retired. Also His family seemed to have no interest in him except for how it affected them. Anyway I also liked Ray he seemed very solid, and just what the family needed although they did not seem to recognise this.

 

I don’t think there were any parts that I did not like, but I do agree the ending was a little flat, and there were certainly bits that made me feel squeamish.

 

I had also read ‘The Curious Incident……’, but I liked this better. I was a good easy, interesting, funny read.

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I had also read ‘The Curious Incident……’, but I liked this better. I was a good easy, interesting, funny read.

I preferred 'A Spot of Bother' to 'The Curious Incident...' as well Renniemist. x

What was it in particular that made you prefer A Spot of Bother over Curious Incident? Was it the writing style? the characters? the plot? Or something completely different?

 

I read Curious Incident a couple of years back and got a lot out of it (I actually gave it 10/10, if I remember correctly!) and, although I've not yet read A Spot of Bother, I plan to start very soon.

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I've been meaning to read Curious Incident but never gotten around to do it. As for A Spot of Bother, I wanted to join in the discussion but it seems there's a long queue for it in the library, so I don't think I'd get it very soon.

 

I'd also be interested to know the difference between these two books, as asked by Kell above. :)

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What was it in particular that made you prefer A Spot of Bother over Curious Incident? Was it the writing style? the characters? the plot? Or something completely different?

 

I read Curious Incident a couple of years back and got a lot out of it (I actually gave it 10/10, if I remember correctly!) and, although I've not yet read A Spot of Bother, I plan to start very soon.

 

 

Well it may have been the characters, who to me seemed more alive and perhaps more familiar in ‘A Spot of Bother’, than in A Curious Incident…. where they were just seen through Christopher’s eyes. Unfortunately I do not have either book still in my possession to consult.

 

I am not saying that I did not enjoy ‘A Curious Incident…’, in fact I think with its unique viewpoint it is probably the more memorable book. However ‘A Spot of Bother’ suited me at the time of reading and as an easy enjoyable read I liked it better than ‘A Curious Incident….’:lol:

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I'll be moving onto A Spot of Bother in about another week (looks like it'll be the tail-end of the month at this rate!), but having already read Curious Incident, it's interesting to hear how the two compare. I'm looking forward to reading it myself.

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I started this book yesterday and have been making good progress. It's not usually the type of book I would go for but I'm enjoying it pretty well, even if some parts read as something I've seen a million times on a soapie.

 

Has anyone else noticed that Mark Haddon has a penchant for similes? I found it slightly irritating at one stage when he wrote two in as many sentences, but I've gotten used to them now (well, either I'm used to them or he's not using them as often!).

 

I don't feel as though I'm getting to know the characters very well (and I'm having trouble keeping all their names straight for some reason! I have to keep pausing and thinking, 'now which one is Graham again?'). It seems to be written in a slightly dry manner, which I don't think is helping my character identification.

 

Overall, though, I'm finding it a good read so far and I'm feeling quite sorry for George. I also like Haddon's observations on life - I've found myself thinking a few times 'Yes! That's what I've always thought!'. You know the type of observations on human nature that you think only you have noticed, and then you're amazed when you see it written on the page in front of you? I wish I had an example to give but I can't remember any off-hand.

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I'm about to start chapter 43, therefore, if you're not up to/past that point yourself, don't click on the spoiler.

 

 

I'm not really enjoying this as much as I'd hoped I would. None of the characters are really appealing to me, apart from me feeling a little sorry for George. And I can't understand why everyone is so down on poor Ray - so far he seems like a perfectly nice and likeable man. Yes, he has a temper, but as far as I can see, he doesn't hit Katie or Josh, and tends to get out of their way when he's in a mood, which is admirable for someone who knows his temper can flare easily.

 

 

So far, I'm not enjoying this nearly as much as I liked Curious Incident - I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I know I was expecting something better than this is so far. Maybe it'll pick up and I'll begin to see the point of it all, but if it doesn't happen soon, I may well decide not to bother with the rest of it.

 

ETA: The short chapters are both a blessing and a curse as far as I'm concerned - they make reading in short bursts much easier, but it feels like the story is jumping all over the place and I never really get much of a chance to get settled with any of the characters or their story threads.

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What was it in particular that made you prefer A Spot of Bother over Curious Incident? Was it the writing style? the characters? the plot? Or something completely different?

 

I read Curious Incident a couple of years back and got a lot out of it (I actually gave it 10/10, if I remember correctly!) and, although I've not yet read A Spot of Bother, I plan to start very soon.

 

As Renniemist mentioned, I think it was the characters, especially George, he was a very real character (if that makes sense), As much as I liked 'The Curious Incident' and it is very worthy of any 10/10 it receives, I just felt that it lacked something, heart I think it was. :D

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I completely agree about Ray, Kell. Do you think the character was written this way on purpose or did something go amiss in Mark Haddon's characterisation? Because if I was supposed to dislike this character the way the other characters did, well, it didn't work!

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