The Immortalists - Book Group March 2020 discussion thread

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McGoohan
McGoohan
Feb 2020
8:57am, 25 Feb 2020
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McGoohan
Here's a house, here's a door. Windows: 1 2 3 4. Ready to knock? Turn the lock – It's Book Group!

Shall we see what window we're going to look through today?

Let's try the arched window. Ah, Brian Cant has got Big Ted in a headlock and he's screaming "Die! You furry bastard! Die!". Maybe not then.

Don't look through the round window, Jemima! It'll tell you the day you will die! No, don't do it Jemima. Too late.

Children, let's look through the square window instead. Oh look, it's Hamble and she's reading The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin.
runnerbean
runnerbean
Feb 2020
9:22am, 25 Feb 2020
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runnerbean
Hamble needed to get a life. She gave evil eyes to Jemima . Just saying

As you were
McGoohan
McGoohan
Mar 2020
7:53am, 2 Mar 2020
43,642 posts
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McGoohan
I thought I wasn't going to like this much at first: I found the first fifty-ish pages or so almost hypnotically boring. The set-up seemed quite dreary and not very enlightening about the characters. It sprang into life when it turned all Armistead Maupin with Simon off to San Francisco. It romped along then and was a very easy read.

However, I sort of tired of it as it went along as well. The third one, Daniel, was ludicrous. Same flaw again as Sherlock Holmes and Dark Is Rising. By this stage you can completely see the workings. Each character feels like a cipher, representing a different reaction to 'knowing' the date of your death in advance. Simon: hedonism, Klara: suicide, Daniel: revenge, Varya: hypochondria. The last two felt to me completely contrived, like puppets only behaving a certain way because of certain demands of plot. Secret son, Luke is pulled out of the Deus Ex Machina bag like a rabbit from a hat.

As for the ending? Was there a point? Varya's a bit less nutty? Perspective shift to Ruby: da yoof are da future. That it, is it?

This all sounds a bit negative, but I enjoyed it while I was reading it and breezed through it. I finished on leap day as well and was first to finish so that gives me three extra squares on WSW and a four CQ zones. Go me!

I've given it a 6 which feels a bit low but 7 felt too high.
LindsD
LindsD
Mar 2020
11:11am, 19 Mar 2020
34,304 posts
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LindsD
I liked this very much. In fact, it's one of my favourite books of this year. I gave it an 8. I really liked the characters and the style of writing. It reminded me of William Boyd and also Armistead Maupin, although that might have been the subject matter of Simon's chapter.

I was slightly annoyed that the 'surprise' of the death dates was then no longer a surprise after Simon, but thought on reflection that it was quite well dealt with. The one character I thought was not well drawn was Daniel. I couldn't get that he was in the military - it seemed really odd for the family and for him, and I just felt I didn't know enough about him.

Did the fortune teller die in the end? I don't remember her name or the name they used for her. And I don't remember now whether Daniel killed her (I don't think so) or we found out what happened to her.

I might look for her other books. There was a sample chapter at the end of my edition that I also quite liked.

Reading back now. Am unused to being one of the early finishers. Shows you something about the book.
LindsD
LindsD
Mar 2020
11:11am, 19 Mar 2020
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LindsD
Armistead Maupin! :)
LindsD
LindsD
Mar 2020
11:12am, 19 Mar 2020
34,306 posts
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LindsD
Daniel!

McG, we are twins. Apart from the liking/not liking thing, of course.
McGoohan
McGoohan
Mar 2020
11:16am, 19 Mar 2020
44,035 posts
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McGoohan
I'm feeling like I should have 7ed it now.

Also, I love(d) Maupin when I first read TotC but you have to turn a big blind eye to the huge amount of mega-coincidence. He's always pulling 'surprise children' etc out of the bag as well.
McGoohan
McGoohan
Mar 2020
11:17am, 19 Mar 2020
44,036 posts
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McGoohan
Yes, I've 7ed. It was more enjoyable than a 6
LindsD
LindsD
Mar 2020
11:30am, 19 Mar 2020
34,308 posts
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LindsD
It's true, but I loved Maupin too.
westmoors
westmoors
Mar 2020
1:06pm, 19 Mar 2020
3,839 posts
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westmoors
After the introduction, I thought I would hate this and find it dark, but I didn't and it wasn't. It did make me think whether if we know a certain outcome if we unconsciously change our behaviour to ensure the outcome.

About This Thread

Maintained by McGoohan
Here's a house, here's a door. Windows: 1 2 3 4. Ready to knock? Turn the lock – It's Book Group!

Shall we see what window we're going to look through today?

Let's try the arched window. Ah, Brian Cant has got Big Ted in a headlock and he's screaming "Die! You furry bastard! Die!". Maybe not then.

Don't look through the round window, Jemima! It'll tell you the day you will die! No, don't do it Jemima. Too late.

Children, let's look through the square window instead. Oh look, it's Hamble and she's reading The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin.

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