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The Field of the Cloth of Gold - Book Group Discussion Thread

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McGoohan Nov 2017 9:58pm, 29 Nov 2017 32,081 posts	Quote Pin McGoohan (To the prev point - I have no knowledge of Saints of any kind.)
GregP Nov 2017 6:15am, 30 Nov 2017 97,446 posts	Quote Pin GregP Happy St. Andrews’ day by the way. (Columbers - my ‘new’ church is an All Saints, which after 50-odd years of St Giles with an occasional foray to a cathedral in part dedicated to St Cedd rather feels like cheating).
Columba Nov 2017 10:15am, 30 Nov 2017 14,247 posts	Quote Pin Columba Ah, McG - so sad you didn't find him funny. While I turned pages and pages without a smile, every now and then I burst out laughing. Greg - mine is "Our Lady of Ransom and the Holy Souls", - bit of a mouthful.
McGoohan Nov 2017 10:24am, 30 Nov 2017 32,085 posts	Quote Pin McGoohan That sounds like a job for Jack Reacher, all 15' 10" of him. "Nobody kidnaps Our Lady for ransom. Nobody." Have you any examples, Columba? I am genuinely bemused but intrigued by what could make anyone laugh in Magnus Mills. Terry Pratchett makes me laugh, but he has a nice line in jokes. I don't see any funnies anywhere here.
Serendippily Nov 2017 10:30am, 30 Nov 2017 4,171 posts	Quote Pin Serendippily I think I laughed when they started to polish the bath. I didn’t necessarily read it as consumerist as I imagined all shiny it was a thing of beauty and it appealed to my sense of the ridiculous. I have been asked to admire shiny taps in my time
Columba Nov 2017 10:35am, 30 Nov 2017 14,249 posts	Quote Pin Columba For example, in The Scheme for Full Employment, four of the characters settle down for a game of cards to while away a long afternoon. I was expecting it to be poker (or similar). Turns out to be Happy Families. But this is not stated, you discover it incidentally, and the understatement contributes to the humour.
Columba Nov 2017 10:39am, 30 Nov 2017 14,250 posts	Quote Pin Columba Incongruity. That's probably the word I'm looking for. Some of them are very black. The Restraint of Beasts, for example, and All Quiet on the Orient Express.
Columba Nov 2017 10:41am, 30 Nov 2017 14,251 posts	Quote Pin Columba Seren - yes, that too. He does see the ridiculous in what people accept as Ordinary Life.
McGoohan Nov 2017 10:42am, 30 Nov 2017 32,088 posts	Quote Pin McGoohan I think I see what you mean. I suppose that ties in with the gold bath - it becomes a status symbol and a source of dispute and pride etc - though no-one ever uses it for its intended purpose.
Serendippily Nov 2017 10:48am, 30 Nov 2017 4,173 posts	Quote Pin Serendippily Yes but it’s not necessarily “a point” about society etc although you can read it as such. It’s just visually ridiculous. And somewhere I think I have a vision of all those muddy Glastonbury’s where to be clean was like a spiritual experience. So I’ve added my own layer