Gatehouse & Stepping Stones Bookclub

If you like reading books,
seeing films,
going to gigs
or plays
and discussing them
you are invited our Bookclub.
Talk to or email:
Bruce (moodyseptic@hotmail.com),
Chris (gatehouse_gatehouse@yahoo.co.uk)
Andrew (gateho@aol.com)

Suggestions for next book:

Charlotte's List

With the movie 'Capote', theres more interest in his
brilliant journalistic novel 'In Cold Blood', which
could open eyes to more ideas on the cult of the
outsider and the writing of a non fiction
novel...though this is quite a dense book.
One way to approach this is reading one of Capotes
short stories 'Music for Chameleons',
which is a prison interview with Bobby
Beausoleil...reading this could generate more interest
in 'In Cold Blood' and could promote a lot of
discussion.

Capote; despite being as camp as hell he went into small cells with
notorious killers...Sirhan Sirhan/Bobby Beausoleil
and others, and asked really bolshie questions;
situations that would freak out the most macho of men.
Capote may have been gay, but he had bollocks...and
also had a life that was very alienated and
traumatic...the proverbial outsider.
(I have this short story and could photocopy it for
you.)

Philip K Dicks paranoic novel 'Through A Scanner
Darkly' is surreal, has a drug and paranoia angle but
is also interesting look at the concept of police
states.

Angela Carter though considered a mainly feminist
author is fab, ditto Isabelle Allende (and again uses
a mix of realism and fantasy that could inspire).

Primo Levis 'The Periodic Table'about Auschwitz is
incredible, and gives a lot of insight into surviving
trauma and the guilt that goes with it...something
that helped me out a lot when I was pulling myself out
of my hole and off the streets.

Upton Sinclairs book, 'the Jungle' is amazing and the
fact it helped change legislation at that time makes
it more so,
Its pretty accesssible too.

Orwells 'Down and Out...' goes without saying...could
provoke a rewrite!

'Fear and Loathing in Las vegas' is a good one in some
ways as it could open the discussion up to gonzo
journalism and its fun and accessible.

'Morvern Callar' (can't remember the author) is very
good, and more contemporary, and looks at the
personality/morality disassocation that e culture
produces in a much more personal and less noisy way
than Irving Walsh.

' The Beach' by Alex Garland is a good read and would
probably be appreciated and mulled over.




Read on to see some of the comments from our last book choice:
‘Stuart a Life Backwards’ by Alexander Masters.
Tells the story of a friendship between a writer and illustrator (‘a middle class scum ponce, if you want to be honest about it, Alexander) and a chaotic, knife-wielding beggar whom he gets to know during a campaign to release two charity workers from prison. We have a limited number of review copies to give away.

Meeting with Alexander Masters

Alexander came along to a special session of the Bookclub on 27th March at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival. He seemed a nice enough chap and took our various comments in good part - saying later that some of his harshest critics were now homeless people - and mentioning specifically the session he had just with us during which various points were made - for and against the book:



Such as:
'The book goes on a bit - too wordy'

'Is it all true or has the author made some of it up?'
To which Alexander assured us it was all true,
and that he had resisted attempts to jazz it up.

Others thought:
'The book is more than fair to Stuart - perhaps too fair?

'It does challenge people's views about homelessness - but some of the bad language is a bit much and is going to confirm a lot of prejudice - not all homeless are so crude or impolite.'




Even so:
Many have recommended the book to friends and wished they could have met Stuart to see what he was really like.


Many thought it was a story that really needed to be told and were happy that Alexander had managed to tell it like it is - and wanted to know whether that was a common reaction to the book?

Others thought that no book can really tell the whole story - you have to have done it (been homeless and all the other things) to really get it - so the book is a pale reflection of the reality ? Some thought the author had failed to show enough of the positive side to homelessness. It isn't all tough - some even thought Stuart seemed partially to blame for his predicament - he had some good chances but then blew them - one rough sleeper thought they would have done better had they had Stuart's chances - several thought that there was an element of 'bad luck' in being homeless - all this tends to strengthen people's view about the homeless - ie that they are to blame for their own troubles although others thought it was -
whats your opinion - was there anything in stuart's life that was of value??

Again - the issue of bad luck or not enough good luck was what many see as the crucial factor in homelessness. The book is supposed to be about the homeless but Stuart isn't really homeless - he has a nice flat, etc - which many of oxford's real rough sleepers would really die for?

Many people liked what they read about Stuart but weren't so sure about the author. Some felt the author's 'voice' got in the way of Stuart's Others thought Alexander was a bit of a mystery although in the time we spent grilling him, we got to know him and what made him tick a lot better. I guess we's all want to thank Alexander for writing such a thought provoking book and for agreeing to spend so much time responding to our comments whilst defending his own corner so eloquently

Stuart: A Life Backwards (Jane's Questionaire)
(Please leave a comment, see previous comments & reviews below)


Is this book fair?

Is it possible to portray Stuart fairly, given that he's a pretty complicated guy?

Will this book challenge people's attitudes and opinions of people who are homeless?

Would you recommend this book to anyone else?

Would you like to go for a pint/coffee with Stuart? With Masters?
(This will be happening on monday 27th March)

There's a real contrast between the author's voice and Stuarts
- is this good?

What about Master's categories of homelessness?
Its a bit 'us' and 'them' (e.g. he writes "It
isn't a bedsit and employment they need; it is a
new brain." ). Is this too easy? Is he just re-enforcing stereotypes?

Masters seems to want to know why Stuart is the
way he is (aka someone/something to blame). Is
this the right question to be asking? Would knowing ‘why’ make a
difference?

Masters should have written about his own life,
its a bit parasitic to write about someone elses?
Has Master taken advantage of Stuart?

Based on what we learn about him, would Stuart like this book?

gatehouse virtual community

More on Stuart a Life Backwards
(This time from Stepping Stones)

Because the book is written "backwards" it's harder to be
sympathetic with Stuart, 'tho it's interesting stylewise. It makes it
appear that his childhood experiences with school, bullying,abuse, and pain are like mitigation for later behavior rather than an understandable basis for his path to violence,substance abuse,crime,etc.

Though Masters himself is from a different world,and he did veer from being sympathetic to "cut and dried" in his attitude to homelessness I think Stuart would mostly liked the book - though there could have been more humorous anecdotes, which may have stopped the book dragging a bit after the midway point.

Many homeless people have a sharp/"near the knuckle" sense of humour which can be essential to survival/dealing with their situation.

As to the author's assertion that the homeless "need a new brain", apart from showing up his occasional callousness, he could be right in a way. Unfortunately, after any long period of time people become institutionalized and any treatment like
perhaps cognitive behavior therapy (if offered!) become harder to gain
positive results from - not to mention that people with chaotic lifestyles
would find it near impossible to take part in such regular treatments.

I hope this book might make people think about their attitudes to homelessness, but it may well confirm things they already thought as well. I
would happily have a coffee with either of the 2!....cheers,

B
pp (Stepping Stones)