Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead - July 2022 Book Group discussion

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McGoohan
McGoohan
Jun 2022
3:48pm, 23 Jun 2022
51,531 posts
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McGoohan
Elton John so very rightly warbled:

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
Some say, "Eat or be eaten"
Some say, "Live and let live"
But all are agreed as they join the stampede
You should never take more than you give

In the circle of life
It's the wheel of fortune
It's the leap of faith
It's the band of hope
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle, the circle of life

And it's almost certain that Maggie Shipstead was thinking primarily of The Lion King when she sat down at her quite fancy new computer to write her latest Novel, Great Circle.
McGoohan
McGoohan
Jun 2022
3:49pm, 23 Jun 2022
51,532 posts
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McGoohan
Or possible her kids had come back from kindergarten and she was commenting on their artwork. 'Great Circle, Maggie Junior,' she might have said, 'But your triangles are shit. Now go to your room.'
McGoohan
McGoohan
Jun 2022
3:50pm, 23 Jun 2022
51,533 posts
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McGoohan
Anyway, when you have reached the end of this tome maybe you would like to complete the circle, the circle of liiiiiife by writing your thoughts below.
LazyDaisy
LazyDaisy
Jun 2022
10:06pm, 23 Jun 2022
36,144 posts
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LazyDaisy
I can leap straight in as I finished this last night.

Having come to this novel immediately after reading Ms Shipstead's Seating Arrangements, which was quite a quick read and, I suppose, a bit 'shallow' (but enjoyably so), Great Circle immediately felt more of a magnum opus. Not least because it's over 600 pages long!

For the most part it's the story of Marion Graves, a pilot who grew up in the early days of flight. There's a lot of background to this life story and sometimes you might wonder why so much detail is needed. It does all come together though.

There's a second time-line, a Hollywood actress called Hadley, whose life is something of a disaster movie of its own. Obviously eventually we get to find out why this secondary plot line is needed, but I wasn't convinced. I felt it interrupted the far more interesting narrative of Marion's story and was a slightly clunky way of getting to the reveal at the end.

But for the most part, I enjoyed it. I cared about the characters in Marion's story and some of the writing is really good - the wartime segment particularly so I thought. But the Circle flight seems almost an afterthought, and the wrapping up of the novel felt a little as if her editor said 'you've got to stop now, it's getting far too long!'

A final thought. In today's Times Laura Freeman has written an article thetimes.co.uk about 'choke lit'. It happens in this book too. It's really not OK and I wished Marion hadn't had an ambivalent attitude to it.

I'll give this 6.5 (are half marks allowed?) If not, I'll go up to a 7.
McGoohan
McGoohan
Jun 2022
8:59am, 28 Jun 2022
51,551 posts
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McGoohan
The poll is now available over there if you like LD et al >>>>>>>>>>>>
McGoohan
McGoohan
Jun 2022
8:59am, 28 Jun 2022
51,552 posts
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McGoohan
(Or down there on mobile VVVVVV)
Columba
Columba
Jul 2022
6:34pm, 14 Jul 2022
21,852 posts
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Columba
I returned this book to the library this morning. The librarian asked what I had thought of it. Very mixed, I said. Good in some ways, but I felt a lot of it was a waste of time.

Specifically, I liked the basic story, the Marian/Jamie/Caleb story.

Some of the blurb characterised it as "ferociously clever" - yes, it was "clever", in the sense that the different stories wove in and out and connected with one another.

The author has a nice way with phrases, descriptive and otherwise.

Nevertheless, I couldn't get up any strong feelings about any of the characters; when Jamie died I just thought, "that's him disposed of, then", even though I had quite liked Jamie.

The style in much of the book really annoyed me. Can't quote from it now (having returned it) but I'm thinking of the way so much of it seemed to go at a self-consciously fast gallop, short sentences breathlessly following short sentences, all piling up.

Having no first-hand acquaintance with any of the "worlds" (aviation, the art world etc.) which feature in the book, I don't know whether or not the author gets all her facts right. I suspect she probably doesn't, as one thing I do know about was old gramophones and gramophone records - the example in the book is in 1942, and what I am remembering is more like late 40s - early 50s, but the records, 78rpm, fragile, shattered if you dropped one on the floor - were the same. One of the characters is described as "dropping" the playing arm onto the record. You most certainly did not drop the playing arm (which was heavy) onto those records; you placed it carefully.
I must admit to a weary sigh when the LGBT theme appeared, even though I'd anticipated it would. Seems to be obligatory for twenty-first century novels.
Maclennane
Maclennane
Jul 2022
7:33am, 19 Jul 2022
29,301 posts
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Maclennane
Making steady progress but feeling it's heavy weather. I don't dislike the interwoven stories, but often it feels like one is being used to pad the other, snd we can have a switch to a timeline and back without any real contribution
LindsD
LindsD
Aug 2022
1:17pm, 5 Aug 2022
56,130 posts
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LindsD
I liked this in the end. I struggled with the parallel stories and complicated family relationships at the beginning and felt a bit like it was all hard work. I did get into it though, and quite like the tying up of ends. I felt like the Marian story could have stood on its own without the modern stuff, and, conversely, the modern stuff could have been made more of. It was obviously very meticulously researched and I learnt a lot. I still like Seating ARrangements better. I gave it an 8 though.
LindsD
LindsD
Aug 2022
1:18pm, 5 Aug 2022
56,131 posts
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LindsD
Actually I see I gave it a 9

About This Thread

Maintained by McGoohan

Elton John so very rightly warbled:

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
Some say, "Eat or be eaten"
Some say, "Live and let live"
But all are agreed as they join the stampede
You should never take more than you give

In the circle of life
It's the wheel of fortune
It's the leap of faith
It's the band of hope
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle, the circle of life

And it's almost certain that Maggie Shipstead was thinking primarily of The Lion King when she sat down at her quite fancy new computer to write her latest Novel, Great Circle.

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