Our final #CannonBookClub of 2018 is on November 2 and 3 is Between the Bridge and the River by Craig Ferguson as the second of our Anniversary Reads. This book has inspired a wide range of emotions and responses – everything from 1 star reviews to 5 star reviews and we are excited to see how all of your opinions come together in our big Discussion Post.
It’s time to get thinking about what we’re going to talk about, and this book travels across time and space in a way that I wasn’t quite expecting so our areas of discussion can go any which way. If there is something you are hoping to talk about, go ahead and leave it for me in the comments, and we’ll add it to the list either here or over on our other social media outlets (you are following us on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook page and Cannonball Read Book Chat Facebook group, right?).
As a refresher (or a final inducement to pick up this book and join us), Between the Bridge and the River is summarized thusly on Amazon: Bawdy, joyous, messy, hysterically funny, and guaranteed to offend regardless of religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, or profession Between the Bridge and the River is the debut novel by Craig Ferguson, former host of CBS’s The Late Late Show. Two childhood friends from Scotland and two illegitimate half-brothers from the American South suffer and enjoy all manner of bizarre experiences which, as it turns out, are somehow interconnected and, surprisingly enough, meaningful. An eclectic cast of characters includes Carl Jung, Fatty Arbuckle, Virgil, Marat, Socrates, and Tony Randall. Love, greed, hope, revenge, organized religion, and Hollywood are alternately tickled and throttled. Impossible to summarize and impossible to stop reading, this is a romantic comic odyssey that actually delivers and rewards.
Some of the topics we’ll be talking about are:
- This is a road trip book if I’ve ever read one – everyone is on the move. A quick list includes Paris, Glasgow, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Delray Beach, Florida, Birmingham, Alabama, and rural Georgia. Why do you think these particular locations are featured? What are they intended to add to the narrative?
- We also find ourselves adventuring into the realms of the subconscious. Fraser spends quite a bit of time in what might be Purgatory speaking to Carl Jung and others. How do you feel about the inclusion of these other realities? What psychologist would you have inserted into the story?
- We aren’t supposed to like the villains of our stories, and we’re supposed to root for the heroes. Why did hating Saul not fall into the natural place of villain?
- We see characters leaving home to go on a hero’s journey. Were they successful?
- The story is written in a rather standard, conversational voice and includes repeated phrases and ideas, as well as a bit of the fantastical. How did Ferguson’s debut authorial voice hit you? Was it what you expected from him as an author?
Remember, everyone is welcome at book club, whether you loved it, loathed it, or never got around to finishing it, we’re always wanting to know what you thought and felt. We’ll see you to chat in two weeks!
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