It was good to meet up again in our very hospitable library on a cold and sunny day.
Drawing in part on his own boyhood, Patrick Gale’s novel Take Nothing With You was a book enjoyed by us all.
Inspired partly from a first visit to Weston-super-Mare and partly from the amazing cello teachers of his youth, the book explores childish hero worship, extremely messy adult love lives, the curse of being born with musical talent but lacking the essential spark of genius and coming to terms with how life has turned out.
As a group we all wanted Eustace, the protagonist, to be happy after his difficult childhood as he dealt with both his emerging sexuality and his musical talent. His courage and resilience as a young man, learning about life as a gay person, is clearly conveyed.
Throughout the book you are drawn to ask yourself about his mother and her relationships and how her choices affect the whole family. When his mother tries to imprison Eustance with a religious cult, believing they can cure his homosexuality, was unsettling and raised many questions and much discussion.
The insight into the technical skills of Eustace as a musician were very well written, particularly the understanding of the connection between emotions and the interpretation of the musical score.
Above all, Gale makes it clear that playing the cello is tough. Eustance’s dedication is such that he’s prepared to endure any amount of discomfort: “He decided the pain in his thumb was like the necessary agony of young ballerinas learning to dance on pointes, aspiring to grace even as their shoe tips filled with blood”.
A book that has inspired our group to read more from Patrick Gale.
The next book to be read will be "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.
This will be discussed on Friday 11th April 2025.