Witches of Eastwick and Widows of Eastwick

Hi Every one, I know its been a while since the last post, but the summer holidays and having a baby created a delay to my blog. I hope that you all enjoyed your summer reading, and thank you for the great turn out on Monday and the wonderful discussion.

For those of you who didn't make it on Monday we had a wonderful discussion about the Witches of Eastwick and the Widows of Eastwick. The general consensus was that nobody would recommend these books to anyone unless they were particular fans of John Updike or had a very low opinion of women. However there appeared to be plenty of opinions on the books and its characters.

The main subjects of the novels are the fallout of sex and adultery and how it causes friction in relationships and also the development and change in society and how it affected a womans roles and social arrangments in the Sixties and Seventies. It's quite obvious that John Updike has a very low opinion of women and he reflects this in the novels. He suggests that women loose all sense of reality when they have been liberated and empowered presenting them as jealous and vindictive witches.The stories were perhaps weighed down by the epic descriptions that appeared in the middle of conversations and went on for several pages (I personally found this quite pleasing but the majority felt it dragged the story and made keeping up with the dialogue confusing).

The group found the discussion of aging something that they could all relate to.

In conclusion they were good but not great novels and the "Rabbit" series also by John Updike were considered much better.

After much discussion we have picked "Loving Frank" by Nancy Horan for the next book group meeting, which will be on the 2nd of November at 7pm. I have ordered copies on the inter library loan and will let you know when they come in, we also have one copy available at the library now if any one is interested.


I Look forward to seeing you all and hearing your thoughts

Happy reading

Ellie

Comments

Anonymous said…
what a great informative book club....a joy to behold....our book club in Great Britain has a different selection of material..one day we might share ideas?!
Anonymous said…
I'm sure you recognized the comment as a Rock idea!
Have you all read Wolf Hall....the latest booker winner?
ellie said…
I'm glad that you like it, What are you reading at your book club this month?

I haven't read the booker winner yet ... what do you think of it. Please post a review.

Popular Posts