We examined various examples of review writing, from a single paragraph to 4,000 words,covering films and novels, all using a standard structure of overview – summary – judgement. (An example, from me again – I promise to give up the habit – below.) The challenge for the next session is to write a review in about 500 words (which members of a book, film or opera group etc. might submit for posting,) or, as usual, anything you want to write!
I appealed for a co-ordinator or perhaps a rota of volunteers to do what co-ordinators do (handle money, refreshments, set up the room etc.)
Members were invited to contibute an article of about 100 words for the U3A magazine on the early days of the Writing for Pleasure group.
3 top tips synthesised from four hours of discussion:
– make your ending echo your opening
– you are in control of sentences – control the length for effect
– always use the smallest word that will do the job
Sarah Winman – When God Was A Rabbit
It’s not surprising to learn that Sarah Winman had a solid career as an actress in the likes of Holby City and The Bll before diversifying into writing with this, her first novel. One of the huge cast of eccentric characters is an actress, another is a Shirley Bassey impersonator and all are the sort of larger-than-life but thinly-drawn types that populate early-evening TV drama, with perhaps an added twist of eccentricity.
It’s difficult to say much about the story without spoilers.
Elly tells the story of her life in two sections, opening with a flashback to her early childhood, when she befriends the oddball Jenny Penny. There’s an encounter with a supposed concentration camp survivor, some detail on Elly’s close relationship with her brother and a darkly comic account of a school nativity play. It all seems to be developing into a charming, slightly edgy coming-of age story, but the main event is Elly’s father winning the pools and buying a bed and breakfast in Cornwall. As the family don’t need the money, this is clearly a creaky plot device allowing Winman to introduce a parade of weird and wacky guests; indeed, the only vaguely regular characters in the novel are the guests who are effectively turned away for being too boring. In the second half Jenny Penny’s life takes a dramatic turn and Elly and her extended family are swept up in the horrors of the World Trade Centre attack and . . . lots more stuff happens.
One member of our book group commented that When God Was A Rabbit reads like a book written for book groups and one can imagine writer and publisher with a tick list, considering how to turn a sweet tale of childhood friendship into something more grown up. The holocaust – tick. Child abuse – tick. 9.11 – tick. Cancer – tick. Gay sex scenes – tick. Domestic violence – tick. Liberal use of the F word – tick. There are some moving discussions around these issues – one of the best sections of the novel revolves around Jenny Penny’s refusal to see Elly when she visits her in prison – but many readers will find that there is simply too much drama and eccentricity and too many big issues for any of it to be believable. And there are similes! In paragraph one, recounting the story of her birth, Elly / Winman describes her mother’s waters breaking as she comes home in a heavy rain shower and washing down the drain ‘like the cycle of life.’ As if this is not enough for the reader, she goes on to describe it as ‘portentous’ and, still not satisfied, tells us that it is ‘poetic.’ This is a novel for readers who like a simile.
And what about the title? There’s some dialogue about the existence of God and plenty of scope for speculation on the possibility of divine intervention in tangled human affairs, so possibly the whole novel is underpinned by profound philosophical questioning? Or possibly someone noted the success of Judith Kerr’s When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and thought ‘Now there’s an idea for a book title . . .’
Spoiler: Elly is given a pet rabbit as a child and calls it God. She imagines it talking to her. It dies.
Last Updated on February 20, 2016