Book club goes behind the scenes From its declara- tive opening exclamation of “I exist!” our cur- rent selection Behind the Scenes at the Museum, by Kate Atkinson, starts off with a MECAN VERCHERE bang. ——_——- BOOK REVIEWS And Iam opti- mistic that this award-winning first novel will outshine the last, rather watery, selection. With a decidedly British take on the dys- funciionai family, Atkinson’s humorous narra- tive winds its way through a century of life in the Lennox family. It is a wide-ranging family saga, and one that lends itself well to book club discussions. At our last meeting, the woman who sug- gested Behind rhe Scenes av the Museum gave us the following “topical” questions to keep in mind dunng our reading. @ What do cupboards have to do with the story? @ The novel has been compared to Tristram Shandy and the works of Marcel Proust and Charles Dickens, David Copperfield. What might these novels and novelists have in com- mon? @ How docs Atkinson update or expand upon the earlier books and use of narration? @ Why do you think Atkinson adopted the non-fictional technique of footnotes in her novel? @ What other fictional narrators docs Ruby Lennox bring to mind? ® What is che meaning of the book’s title? We are going to discuss our insights at the next meeting. She also suggested «ve create a family tree to organize the nove!’s characters -and their relation to cach other. Our club will meet just before the next column so I'll let you know what we come up with. In the meantime, I’d love co hear your thoughts and reviews on buth the above ques- tions and the book in generai. On a different note, at our fase book club mecting, we not only selected the current month’s read, but came up with a terrific idea for our club and others as well. The hostess of Foal GR Get va *] “ Bressuaiong _Aaddoson’s hurmineseant imagery a sure and topnisae2-#d. poetic and aarity come That buch In arvagous and tevbondy reared novel 4aha the author's fret ta aolutety astontsheng a behind the SCUNES at the museum KATE Atkinson’s novel has been com- pared to Praust and Dickens. our meeting was struck by how many won- derful books she had collected over the years, and decided to start a new tradition with which we will now end our mectings. She brought out a shopping bag full of old paperbacks and we all rummaged through, selecting ones that piqued our interest. At the next meeting, we will all do the same, bring- ing six or so old favorites to pass along to the other members for their enjoyment. Those that are left over or those that we have all previously read are to be donated to various schools and libraries. By “passing it your club can spread the wealth of the written word a bit more. . Happy reading! — Menan Verchere can be contacted at mverchere@ibm.net Or fax the News az 985- 2104. Watch for her book column every second Friday in the North Shore News This Week sec- tion. New guide plays it smart THE Knowledge Network begins airing TV version of Robert ©. Burns’ Sound Smari this month. ROBERT S. Burns has ways to make you sound smart. 101 to be exact. His new project Sound Smart: 101 ways to turn a phrase (Peanut Butter Publishing $7.95) has just hit the bookstores. It is both an entertaining vocabulary guide and interactive word game that teaches people to communicate cffectively. Burns will also be pre- senting sections of Sound Smartin short segments on The Knowledge Network. The first series of clips will start airing mid-June with a second set (co-produced with students from the Centre tor Digital Imaging and Sound) now in produc- “somec Ne ne BC WILL WIN * ; AT LEAST tion. In an arrangement with 7-Eleven Canada and The News Group $1 of each Sound Smart purchases at 7- Eleven stores will go to provincial literacy campaigns across Canada. The words/phrases are presented in five thematic categories: social applica- tions, work and professional usc, multi-purpose use, retorts and power comebacks and words for that special occasion. Some words have very short entries (Alleviate -— cl-leave-ce-ate — To lessen. To relieve) while oth- ers cake up several para- graphs. In the back of the book are score cards to use the phrases in an interactive word game. WIN DOUBLEDAY SUMMER BOOK PACK OF FOUR THRILLER NOVELS Doubleday Canada has released tour new thrillers for summer: Stephen Hunter’s Time to Hunt, Legai Briefs (Stories by Today’s Best Legal Thriller Writers) edited by William Bernhardt, Andy McNab’s Remote Control and Michael Ridpath’s The Marketmaker. You can win all four hardcover books by sending in your name and phone number with the name of your favorite thriller writer to the North Shore News, 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4. You can also fax your entry to us at 985-2104 or e-mail them to johng@nsnews.com. Deadline for the contest is Thursday, June 26, 5 p.m. Quiescence Esthetics a Full Leg & Bikini Wax a only $30 reg. $50 expires June 30/98 130 West 16th N. Van. 904-9977 Enlarged Prostate? Prostate Inflammation? @. SAW PALMETTO 500 mg $7... 343%... ion NDERSONS PHARMACY. Mon-Sat 273 Lonsdale AveJ3rd St. N.Van. 988-5271 Nabe Exp. duly 18/98 : cots H nO. purchase necessary ~ “ones coveon PER CUSTOMER « AVAILABLE AT THESE: LocarioNs’ ONLY » 1763 Marine Ds, W.Nen. (Across fiom Home Hardware} | 333 Brooksbonk, N.Von. (Pork & Tiford} § 1262 Morine Dr., W.Von. 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