UB Libraries Book Group discussion

Feel free to keep commenting on Wolf Hall. But Mr. Penumbra's is our next book. Rena will lead our discussion starting on February 24th.

hey All -- I have the UL copy of Mr. Penumbra and will return it tomorrow (or pass it along to whoever wants it).

I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to read Wolf Hall -- sounds like a good one!

I have the audiobook version of Mr. Penumbra if anyone would like it. I found the reader very engaging.

Hi all, We'll start discussing this on Monday, Feb 24. I really like the online format of the book club. For example, I have been meaning to read Wolf Hall but haven't yet. Because of that I probably would not have attended the meeting, but I really enjoyed the discussion. Now it is even higher on my list.

Mr. Penumbra is just about half the length of Wolf Hall and is a very quick read - I'm looking forward to hearing comments. No spoilers until next week!

We're officially open for discussion! I, computer nerd and book lover that I am, liked this book quite a lot although there certainly were some flaws. For starters, I think this book should be classified YA - does anyone else think so? It seems to me that it is a topic that would appeal to a YA audience.

I enjoyed the idea that Google could solve a problem in a short time when it took humans many years (if ever) to come to a solution. That said, it is simplistic to think that this would be possible in this situation.

So here are some other questions to get things going -

What did you think of the character Mr. Penumbra?

(from the internet) The characters remind us that fifteenth-century technologies of the book were met with fear and resistance, as well as with entrepreneurial competition and the need to teach new skills. This is very much like the launch of e-books. If you try to picture what literacy will look like even one hundred years from now, what do you see?

I thought that many of the situations were too convenient - rich friend, Google employee, etc. I could suspend disbelief since I enjoyed the story line, but really now!

I'm giving it 3 1/2 stars out of 5 - what do you think?

Thoughts?

I loved this book, and gave it 5 stars. Yes, everything was terribly convenient, but isn't that what happens when you can create your own world? It wouldn't have been the story it was if those things hadn't been conveniently in place.

This book might better be classified as New Adult, which is a relatively new genre encompassing books about people in or newly out of college, figuring out their "adult" lives, getting their feet under them.

Regarding the future of literacy, I think that the interactivity of ebooks will change things a lot. I've caught myself recently absently touching a word in a print book when I wanted a definition. That's just the beginning. It will be interesting to see what can do with ebooks in the future.

I loved the book! Raced through it. I would be more likely to put it in YA. They put books by Terry Pratchett in YA and a number of his books are coming of age books.
I liked Mr. Penumbra and all the characters. I was a little disappointed that there was no magical thing at the end. More a life lesson. I still enjoyed the story and the hopeful, energetic tone/theme.
I just listened to the followup book, Bring up the bodies, by Hilary Mantel. It was very good as an audiobook. Easier for me to follow along and know who was speaking. I would recommend that one as well.

I'm going to deviate from the group consensus so far. It wasn't that I didn't like the book. It just didn't grab me. When I put it down, I wasn't motivated to pick it up again. Then when I did, I found I had forgotten what was happening and had to go back and refresh my memory. A sure sign that the book is just not engaging me.

I was really looking forward to this book, so it disappointed me. I thought the premise was great and the characters had a lot of potential. I'm having a hard time figuring out what was missing for me.

Sorry ... I sort of feel like a failure :-)

Ellen, I'm with you. I knew nothing about this book going in and also (similar to Rena) assumed it was YA. I found the characters a little flimsy and not super engaging(esp the narrator). 150 pages in I felt like not much was happening; it was jaunty and easy flowing but I never really got too sucked in to the "mystery" of it all.

I was more interested in Manutius and the typography stuff so it did launch me on an internet search path to find out more about him. That did actually help me like the book a little better because the author incorporated some clever things. For instance, (according to the mighty wikipedia) Manutius used as a publishing symbol the image of a dolphin wrapped around an anchor (like the bar in the book, The Dolphin and Anchor).

I liked Mr. Penumbra and his openness to change (progress?) in spite of the pressure against him. I liked some of the quirky characters, just wish we got a little deeper into them all.

Stacy - good point on the convenience of everything - that surely can be what happens when you can create your own world. I know that you are more of a fantasy/scifi fan than I am, so maybe that is what makes people like scifi.

I liked the character Mr. Penumbra a lot and I think that is what kept me going in the book. He started out so bland, but as the book progressed, I thought he became much more interesting. I bet his "codex vitae" would be a good read.

Becky, not to change the subject, but how many hours was Bring Up the Bodies? Do you think it would be better in print or audio?

Ellen, I know what you mean about not knowing why it didn't grab you. I read it a while ago and it was a quick read and I thought it was great fun. I skimmed it again before this week so that I could remember it and it really isn't a book that stands up to a second read. Maybe it's a little too facile. Personally, I liked the geek humor, but it may not be for everyone.

Kathy, I'm glad you looked up the wikipedia stuff because I was thinking of doing the same. I wondered what was real and what wasn't - so Manutius was real but the Gerritszoon typeface was not. The Dolphin and Anchor bar was a nice touch.

I loved this book! Yup, it was flimsy. Plot holes like Swiss cheese! But for me, the best books are not always the best books- I know that doesn't quite make sense, but stick with me. The best books are in the timing more than anything, and for me, it was the perfect book at the perfect time. Breezy and fun. And the last line of the book summed it up perfectly: "...the right book exactly, at exactly the right time." I gasped out loud when I read that line- it was exactly how I was feeling!

Rena,
Bring up the bodies was 16 CD discs. Probably 4 hours total. I found it easier to follow. It might be that I am used to the flow now.
I agree the characters don't seem that full, the plot a little too pat. But if logic is suspended, I found it fun.
Of course, I prefer books most often classified YA. :-)

Amy,
I love that thought, the right book at exactly the right time! :-)

That might have been my problem. For some reason, I had a totally different impression of what this book was beforehand. If I had been expecting something light and breezy, I might have liked it better.

So the typeface thing was not real? I didn't look it up.

I can't remember--did the narrator read Mr. Penumbra's codex? What was the jist of that?

Coincidentally, my former book club in Portland also read this book this month and one of my friends said the same thing as Amy; he was feeling reflective and found this the exact right book at the right time. He also brought up the meaning of the word penumbra as outer shadow or partially illuminated and thought the book used a lot of contrast. San Fran, Google, open source, new knowledge compared to NYC, underground, old way of doing things. Things I did not notice during the reading.

The typeface thing was not quite real though the real Manutius did commission a slanted typeface from a punch cutter/type designer named Griffo that we know as italics. Manutius was also focused on preserving great Greek and Latin literature and introduced the publishing of pocket/personal editions. He used italics in the printing because of its narrow profile it made pocket sized books easier to print.

Also, I did not mean to imply that YA was a criticism; I read a lot of YA myself and assumed this was part of the genre, just not as compelling to me as other books. And actually, for it to have generated this much discussion (as well as online curiosity) I'd say I reflect more kindly on the book in hindsight than while I was reading it. :)

I really loved reading this book. It *was* the right book at the right time for me. It was like the Neverending Story: The main character has to participate in the story learn the lesson. He joins forces with his friends, old and new, to solve the mystery, which is that the key to immortality is... friendship. I like the idea that we learn about ourselves by reading; that we can do amazing things when we play to people's particular strengths and talents; and that technological advances may speed things up (and make information more accessible in more formats), but they'll never displace the joy of reading your favorite book.

P.S. I also loved that the elderly bookseller was really excited about technology and computers!

I didn't know that about the meaning of "penumbra-" how interesting!

Like Kathy, I also have an interest in typography and did some additional digging while reading. I think the detecting fun I had influenced my view of the book as well. (I also read it over the holidays, and there may have been hot toddies involved, but I digress!). There's a book by Simon Garfield called "Just My Type" that's a terrific primer on typography if anyone's interested.

And I like Stacy's idea of classing the book as "new adult." It has elements of YA, it's coming of age, but it's also a contemporary story.

I didn't know that Griffo was a real person. It's good when a book makes you wonder about what is real and what isn't. I also like the thought that San Fran is new/modern/light and NYC is old/dark/underground. That had not occurred to me at all!

I listened to the audiobook so I didn't "get" the spelling of the typeface. I searched phonetically but, of course, didn't find anything. I was wondering if it had a parallel in another typeface like Garamond or something. When the MC was talking about looking around the bookstore and all of the signs were in that font, I was thinking either Arial or Times New Roman. I love the extra info from Kathy and Amy. Thanks, guys.

I wish there was a " like" in Goodreads. I am really enjoying all the different comments and perspectives. :-)

I love Marie's comment that the key to immortality is friendship. I realize that one of the problems of this book was that I found it confusing. And that made me miss out on the good stuff ... drat! But I'm starting to like the book more based on this conversation.

I agree. This discussion has clarified a lot for me, especially the ending. Sometimes I have trouble with books that seem to end abruptly. It feels like the author has decided he/she has written enough pages and now needs to wrap it up quickly. Although I didn't quite have that feeling with this book, I thought that the ending was a little bit flat. Now that I think about it again, I realize that this was the best possible ending.

Thank you Rena for facilitating our discussion! I will open the next discussion folder for our March book, but feel free to keep commenting on Penumbra.