Valperga

5 August 2005

Donna's apartment, Valperga

Tonight was Wendy and Sabrina's first book club meeting. Welcome! Next month Erin joins us as well. In attendance were: Wendy, Sabrina, Manda, Donna, Paula, Anne, Beth, Cynthia and Rachel. (Paul joined us for the gelato portion to be discussed later). This was our first meeting post Jen moving to Iowa.

Though not *everyone* finished Valperga, enough of us had read enough of the book to join in the discussion (Donna gets the award for most books read). After a plot recap by Donna and Rachel most of us agreed that the first 100-150 pages were the hardest to get through but once you get past the historical background the story really picks up. We all liked Mary Shelley's writing and Donna reiterated how good Frankenstein is to read (note to those who haven't read it yet). Someone commented that Shelley modeled Euthanasia after herself since she disappears in the end. None of us knew the significance of the name Euthanasia but I just looked online and the Greek definition is "good death." I wonder if that means Shelley thinks disappearing is a good way to go.

After eating Donna's pizza and salads and after discussing the book to it's fullest as we always do (no celebrity gossip this time) it was time for gelato. Book club husband and upstairs neighbor Paul joined us for dessert at the Italian store at the end of the street. Returning to Donna's we posed for a picture on Donna's front steps with only slight protest from Sabrina.

Our next book is The Dante Club by Mathew Pearl. Talking points to for next month: Has Anne's downstairs neighbor gotten back together with Dan? What does she do for a job? Is she really a law student at Suffolk? Has anyone ever read Dante's Inferno?