Rainbow Readers Lancaster - Meeting 7pm Sunday 20th July

Just a quick reminder that Rainbow Readers, Lancaster’s premier book group for the gay, lesbian, bi and transgendered  community will be meeting in Lancaster later today.

The meeting will be held at 7pm in the Sun Hotel on Church Street. We will be discussing Quentin Crisp’s The Naked Civil Servant. Even if you haven’t read the book feel free to come along and say hello.

Tonight we will be discussing the reading list for the next 6 months which was drafted in preliminary form last month. The book group itself is still only a few months old and we are still finding our feet, but each meeting is now seeing some very interesting discussions.

The group is still looking to expand further and if you would like to come down to see what it is all about then you are more than welcome. We are a small, but perfectly formed!! and very friendly bunch of people with a mix of different social backgrounds.

Everyone at Rainbow Readers look forward to seeing you there.

Thoughts on Michael Cunningham’s The Hours

Rainbow Readers met up last month to dicuss The Hours by Michael Cunningham. As the novel concerns the Lesbian, Gay, Trans. and bi, not to mention literary community it seemed fitting as a choice for our book group.

The novel it’s self is structured around the lives of three women who each affect the next in different ways; Virginia Woolf is imagined, at her death and at the time she is writing The Hours, the novel which later became Mrs Dalloway; Laura Brown a dissatisfied and lonely housewife in California, reading Mrs Dalloway in the fifties and Clarissa Vaughn a contemporary woman in New York City whose own life echoes that of Clarissa Dalloway in the novel

Without wanting to spoil the novel and tell the whole plot I do want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I love the way that it blends reality, imaginings and fiction. I especially love the part in the book where Meryl Streep appears and causes a commotion; it’s at this point in the film the author of the book is actually visible as an extra for a fraction of a second.

One of our members also said “ it was beautifully crafted (even if “Mrs Dalloway - to which it continually made literary reference - had sent me into  a literary coma years ago.)  Good to read a novel laced with gay and lesbian characters and references, sharp characterisation and a shocking denouement.”

All in all the book was well received. 

Rainbow Readers is a Lesbian, Bi, Trans and Gay reading group, the discussion is all inclusive and everyone is welcome. It’s not necessary to finish the book before the meeting, however it’s recommended that you read as much as you can or be left behind! All suggestions for books will be made at the meetings. The next meeting for the reading group is June 8th, and we are reading “The Well of Loneliness” accompanied by “Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis” Please email rainbowreaderslancaster@gmail.com for more info.

Rainbow Readers - Swept away at Chesil Beach

After a busy week at work picking up the threads that were left before I went away on my holiday I have finally made time to pass on my comments about Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach.

For those of you that don’t know, this isn’t an official book of the Rainbow Readers Book Groups. This was my own choice to slip in my case should I find time to pick up a book. At only 166 pages this small but perfectly formed offering, published by Vintage, was an excellent choice. I didn’t have the time to spend reading I am pleased to say and so had to finfish it off on the flight back home.

I don’t really want to go into too much detail as I do hope that Lancaster’s Rainbow Readers, and I am sure many other book groups, will select this as a choice at a future date.

In short it is a love story which from the outside seems to have all the makings of seeing the central characters, Florence and Edward, live “happily ever after”. As the reader is transported backwards and forwards from the present to the past we slowly start to understand the make up of these fragile and flawed people.

What struck me was the fact that throughout the majority of the book it was the author’s narrative which relays the story, there is next to no speech from anyone, and when it is used it carries with it a weight and ferocity which makes the story all the more life like.

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for something viewed from a different perspective and who wants to become immersed in a well crafted study of life and attitudes in the 50’s and 60’s. If you have read it, and it doesn’t matter whether you are a member of the Lancaster Rainbow Readers or not, then feel free to share your comments on the book on our blog.

 

The Beginnings of Rainbow Readers

Rainbow Readers is a pretty new book group on the Lancaster scene; and new for the book group scene and also the gay, lesbian, bi and trans scene. I came back to Lancaster from a stint abroad in Milan where I was surprised to find gay groups meeting up to all sorts of things; swimming, skiing, reading, political groups, parent groups, hiv groups and even just plain old socialising groups. Milan isn’t a metropolis on the scale of Paris, London or New York though, and while it’s Italy’s largest city I think it may even be slightly smaller than Birmingham in terms of it’s size.

Lancaster on the other hand is a small town and when I came back I knew that there wouldn’t be as many groups to get involved with other gay, lesbian, trans and bi people but I was surprised that a google search returned few listings in the area.  

So rather than sit about fantasizing about a move to Manchester or Brighton I thought I’d get on the job myself and start an area book group for lesbian, bi, gay and trans people (and their friends) in the area. It started with me emailing all of my friends and facebook aquaintences and starting a group there, where response was a little slow but promising none the less.

Soon after I met three other friends who now co-run the group,  (if you get in first you get power!) originally called Queer Book Group Lancaster, but I was gracioulsy advised this may be a little too provocative a title for a social book group. Now we seem to be going from strength to strength, with a wonderful blog (thanks, Graham and monthly meetings- the next in June, 2nd sunday of the month as always, The Well of Lonliness) and it makes me proud to think now when lancaster book group is entered into google our group shines at the top of the board, where only a few weeks ago the only results were in Pennsylvania, USA. (I’m also proud of my attempts of publicity with the flyer I made- however this has received mixed results.) I’m looking forwared to seeing our entry in Wikipedia, but it hasn’t happened yet, but as soon as I work it out, we’ll be immortalised forever in the internet annals (don’t snigger). It may take some time so if you’re a local historian it may be quicker to make an entry yourself.

Is Chesil Beach on the itinerary?

This is going to be my last missive before I go cruising (don’t snigger). Now whilst some of you may think there is nothing new with a gay man going cruising, my own particular adventure does involve a huge boat, several stops in three countries around the Mediterranean and possibly a huge volume of raincoat wearing Americans called Chuck and Ethel.

Before I get to the point of this posting my mind has wandered back to the cruise on the Pacific Princess which Armistead Maupin’s characters Mary Ann and Mouse took in More Tales of the City. The awkward mealtimes sat at the dining table with Arnold and Melba Littlefield who “always wore matching clothes. Today in deference to their destination they were sporting identical Mexican flour sacks outfits.”

In some ways I dread it happening to us, but having said that it could be quite good fun, and certainly something to blog about.

There is always a little bit of room in a bag or case to stow a book. My book of choice for the trip is Ian McEwan’s  latest offering, On Chesil Beach. This fairly short book is only 166 pages, but then again size isn’t everything, and it was short listed for the 2007 Man Booker Prize. I suppose it’s brevity was one f the attractions of the book anyway, after all I am hoping that I wont have too much time to be reading and I would like to be able to give it closure whilst I am still away.

As I am currently in the midst of packing suitcases I will cheat a little and supply you with the publisher’s synopsis (Vintage) to read rather than my own. I do hope however that the book may be able to form one of the monthly choices for the Rainbow Readers, Lancaster’s LGBT book groups.

The year is 1962. Florence, the daughter of a successful businessman and an aloof Oxford academic, is a talented violinist. She dreams of a career on the concert stage and of the perfect life she will create with Edward, the earnest young history student she met by chance and who unexpectedly wooed her and won her heart. Edward grew up in the country on the outskirts of Oxford where his father, the headmaster of the local school, struggled to keep the household together and his mother, brain-damaged from an accident, drifted in a world of her own. Edward’s native intelligence, coupled with a longing to experience the excitement and intellectual fervour of the city, had taken him to University College in London. Falling in love with the accomplished, shy and sensitive Florence – and having his affections returned with equal intensity – has utterly changed his life.

Their marriage, they believe, will bring them happiness, the confidence and the freedom to fulfil their true destinies. The glowing promise of the future, however, cannot totally mask their worries about the wedding night. Edward, who has had little experience with women, frets about his sexual prowess. Florence’s anxieties run deeper: she is overcome by conflicting emotions and a fear of the moment she will surrender herself.

From the precise and intimate depiction of two young lovers eager to rise above the hurts and confusion of the past, to the touching story of how their unexpressed misunderstandings and fears shape the rest of their lives, On Chesil Beach is an extraordinary novel that brilliantly, movingly shows us how the entire course of a life can be changed – by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.

 

Armistead Maupin on Michael Tolliver Lives

On a recent foray on YouTube we came across a clip (if 48 minutes can be called a clip) of Armistead Maupin discussing his latest offering, Michael Tolliver Lives.

This Authors@Google clip is a great way to get to know Armistead Maupin and the first book chosen by the Rainbow Readers book group. I hope you find it as interesting and entertaining as we did. For anyone who may be debating whether a YouTube clip approaching 50 minutes is worth checking out we can wholeheartedly recommend Mr Maupin as being every bit as entertaining as his books.

 

What’s on your bookshelf?

Rainbow Readers are already starting to create quite a bit of interest in and around the Lancaster and Morecambe area.

We are getting emails and enquiries through from a wide variety of sources all wanting to know more about the book group. Hopefully the next few meeting s will see the group grow to encompass people with a wide variety of tastes and backgrounds that will help create a superb range of books for the future.

If you have any ideas about future books then please let us know, as an LGBT based group there is bound to be some choices which reflect members of the group and their identity, but there will also be a good selection of other books I’m sure.

As you sit there thinking of what you may want to suggest why not go to your bookshelf and see what hidden gem you have tucked away. Maybe there’s a book that has a certain significance, or perhaps it was just a great read from start to finish.

                                                     

As for me I love Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie. It was a Christmas present nearly 10 years ago and every now and then I will revisit it and lose myself in its pure magic as it tells the story surrounding one man’s love and respect for his dying former college tutor. Another really hard hitting book, and funnily enough a present from the same person, is Chris Kitch’s Pavement For My Pillow. This is a story of a real struggle for survival, the fight against drugs and prostitution and how the hopeless became the hopeful.

Please let us know what your favourites are so that even if we don’t discuss these as a reading group others may perhaps be pointed in the direction of a book that otherwise they may not have come across.

 

 

Rainbow Readers on Buying Books

The one thing that all the members of the Rainbow Readers (Lancaster’s only LGBT book group) have in common is their love of books. But after a quick straw poll with other members of the book group it seemed to be pretty much split as to how our members prefer to buy their books.

I suppose if you are lucky enough to live in a large city like Manchester or London you will not have a shortage of large, good or interesting bookshops. The Morecambe Bay area is lucky to have two Waterstone’s branches in Lancaster and one of the largest second hand book shops in the north west of England in Carnforth. Hardly a wide choice but at least we have got access to a fairly ready supply of literature.

There are other places that you can look of course for instance Lancaster University has a great bookshop and if you want to travel a bit further a field there is a really nice little bookshop (Henry Roberts Bookshop) in Kendal. I guess however one of the largest threats to traditional bookshops, especially in less urban areas, is the internet.

Whilst I am keen to support local shops with my purchases I do struggle to come to terms with the cost of books. As a for instance, I have just purchased The Hours by Michael Cunningham in readiness for Rainbow Readers Lancaster’s second meeting. The book was located on Amazon and was purchased, brand new, for the princely sum of 1p! The postage has cost another £2.75 but it still means I bought my brand new book for only £2.76.

Waterstone’s are currently selling the book for the RRP of £7.99 and they show their online price as £5.59. Without going through the whole process of registering with them online I don’t know if there is any extra cost for postage.

Saving money on books and CD’s by buying online is fairly commonplace now and for the more price conscious amongst us it is obviously not a bad ting. The flip side to all this is that buying from Amazon, eBay or any of the other new and second hand online retailers isn’t exactly a satisfying retail experience.

There is something quite unique about being able to browse through thousands of books at your own leisure. Treating yourself to this wonderful indulgence is quite unique. Losing yourself in your favourite section of the books shop where as your eyes scan a packed shelf you suddenly set sight upon a real gem, something you just wouldn’t have spotted with a clearly focused online search.

There is also another advantage of shopping in an actual books shop. You can seek advice, check out the very latest literary wonders to hit the shelves and occasionally get to go to a book signing, reading or other event that they may be promoting.

The verdict is pretty much that whilst book shops have been hit hard by the shopping antics of the more fickle amongst us nothing can replace a visit to the book shop.

 

 

Home of the Rainbow Readers

Being a book group makes Rainbow Readers a pretty portable sort of entity. For the moment we have chosen the Sun Hotel on Church Street in Lancaster to be home.

It has already hosted our first event at the start of this month, and unless we need to move to a bigger venue it is probably going to become a regular venue for some time to come. The Sun has a nice welcoming atmosphere and is easy to reach for most people and probably most importantly it can cope with bigger numbers as the group continues to grow.

Everyone at the Lancaster Rainbow Readers looks forward to seeing you soon.

 

What sort of books will Rainbow Readers choose?

Each month the Rainbow Readers will choose a new book to read, review, dissect, ponder and fingers crossed, enjoy.

Based in Lancaster in the north west of England and we are looking to fill a gap in the local gay social calendar  and hope that over time we will grow to become an established local event that will also be able to link up with other local events.

If you have any suggestions for future books then let us know. Our first book was Michael Tolliver Lives by Armistead Maupin. The next one that we have chosen is The Hours by Michael Cunningham. What we choose in the future is very much down to you.

 

Just because we are primarily a LGBT based book group doesn’t mean that books need to have a gay theme. After all there’s nothing wrong with a bit of diversity! So horror or humour, biography or romance, it’s your group so please feel free to shout.  

If you want to contact us then please either post a comment on this blog or send us an email to rainbowreaderslancaster@googlemail.com.