Latest / Bookies' Favourite / The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller | Review | Booker Prize 2025

Transcript

The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller | Review | Booker Prize 2025 · Bookies' Favourite

• 0:13
  Hello hello, welcome to the Club, Boogie's favorite book
• 0:18
  club. We discussed literary shortlist
• 0:21
  and award-winning novels. This episode we're discussing
• 0:24
  the landing winter by Andrew Miller.
• 0:26
  I'm Hannah, and I'm currently rolling around the field trying
• 0:31
  to make my snowman. When we hadn't initially
• 0:36
  discussed this book on the shortlist, I was kind of like,
• 0:39
  oh, I don't want to read this at all, but I kind of find it a
• 0:42
  pleasant read. I was kind of shocked.
• 0:44
  Like, would I say it's the most groundbreaking thing I've ever
• 0:47
  read? No.
• 0:48
  But I enjoyable in a way. I don't know.
• 0:51
  Well, we'll get into it. But yeah, I read it all.
• 0:56
  And then I then listened to it a bit on audiobook just to kind of
• 1:00
  refresh. But yeah, it's overall OK read.
• 1:03
  One thing I did love about the book is that it reminded me of
• 1:06
  when I was living in Somerset and it mentions those different
• 1:11
  places that I've been to. Like I'm constantly in Bristol
• 1:14
  and I've been to Bridgewater to see like the Halloween like type
• 1:20
  things. But yeah, it has like a
• 1:22
  nostalgia best feeling for me. Hi, I'm Lucy and I'm currently
• 1:26
  on a spaceship and I don't know how I feel about this book.
• 1:34
  Well, I read it a while ago when it was first on the long list
• 1:38
  and I find it really boring. I find it really hard to get
• 1:42
  through. There's definitely some parts I
• 1:45
  liked about it and I think the writing's good but I just.
• 1:48
  It was a bit of a slog for me And then when I went, I've had a
• 1:52
  bit of a hectic week so I didn't get to rereading it, but every
• 1:54
  time I picked it up I was like, Nope, Nope, not happening this
• 1:58
  time. So I've kind of like tried to
• 2:00
  remember what the characters are and vaguely what happens.
• 2:03
  There's a couple of things I'm going to probably have to ask
• 2:05
  you guys what was happening, but.
• 2:07
  I'll be asking you as well, Lucy.
• 2:10
  I'm not going to have any answers.
• 2:13
  Hello. And hi, I'm Colin, I'm currently
• 2:16
  sipping a nice tall glass of Guinness with my pals in the
• 2:20
  bar. I audiobooked this and I mean, I
• 2:25
  think that helped and hindered. I think this is the kind of book
• 2:28
  which maybe isn't made for audiobooking because it's not
• 2:31
  very plot driven. It's a lot of like talking and
• 2:34
  like character and diving, which is this generally pretty good.
• 2:37
  But I would sometimes lose track of all what's going on.
• 2:41
  And like, I think I missed out a bunch of the depth of these
• 2:44
  people. And overall I actually thought
• 2:46
  this book was better than I thought it was going to be.
• 2:47
  I think the book is well written and it's oh, you know what, it's
• 2:52
  fine. Like I would never pick this
• 2:53
  book up to read it. It was fine.
• 2:55
  I, I, I wasn't, it's like straight down the middle.
• 2:59
  Not a bad book, not a great book.
• 3:00
  It's just fine. Hi, I'm Aaron and I am in a
• 3:06
  hospital ward, or at least I think I am.
• 3:10
  I've only read 6 pages. Aaron, I have been very busy so
• 3:16
  I I haven't been able to read this book so I'm going to not be
• 3:21
  chiming in on this on this episode unless there's a lot of
• 3:26
  plot to be discussed in the 1st 6 pages, then I can share my
• 3:31
  thoughts. But no, it's not one that I I
• 3:35
  was able to put time into. Hopefully I'll be able to read
• 3:39
  the rest of them. If I have enough time, I will
• 3:43
  come back to this and read it before the winner is announced.
• 3:46
  But judging by the length of the rest of these books, I can't
• 3:50
  commit to that because this seems like so much work to to
• 3:55
  get through. But I'm excited to hear
• 3:58
  everyone's thoughts. So to start us off this week,
• 4:01
  here's a quote from the novel. This, she thought, was the gate
• 4:07
  that Death would enter by. She opened it, closed it behind
• 4:11
  her and said across the field where exactly nothing was
• 4:15
  happening. Very apartment.
• 4:18
  Nothing was happening in this book.
• 4:22
  Spoiler warning from this point onwards if you haven't read the
• 4:25
  book and you're planning to come back to this discussion once
• 4:27
  you've done so. The Land in Winter is set in a
• 4:30
  frozen and fog bun village in post World War 2 England and
• 4:35
  centres around two young couples living as neighbors.
• 4:37
  In fact they can see each other across the fields.
• 4:39
  Eric, the local doctor, and his wife Irene live next to Bill, a
• 4:43
  first time farmer, and his wife Rita.
• 4:45
  They endure the grips of a brutal cold snap when their
• 4:48
  lives begin to unravel. What did everyone think about
• 4:52
  the way it was told? Because this is maybe one of the
• 4:55
  main issues I had with it is I struggle with like loads of
• 4:59
  point of view characters. Interesting.
• 5:02
  I just it's it's keep. Track of.
• 5:05
  It's just I don't, I find that I like I'm more interested in
• 5:09
  some, I'm less interested in other ones.
• 5:10
  By the time I get interested in them, I'm bored of the last one.
• 5:14
  I usually this type of book doesn't work for me.
• 5:18
  So like I was kind of like, I was really excited to read this
• 5:22
  book because I thought the snow thing, like the Blizzard and the
• 5:24
  the frost. And I remember I've like, I've
• 5:26
  heard about it as like a historical period and how bad it
• 5:29
  was. I thought it'd be really, really
• 5:31
  interesting. And then I was kind of like,
• 5:33
  this just seems like just, it was just too kind of like, oh,
• 5:37
  this is from this person's point of view.
• 5:38
  This is from the other. I've really struggled with that
• 5:41
  kind of type of book. I was just wondering what you
• 5:43
  guys felt to the fact there's like 4 point of view characters.
• 5:46
  Oh, I love that. I absolutely love it because it
• 5:49
  reminds me of that book. What is it by Coco Meller, isn't
• 5:53
  it? Is it like Cleopatra and
• 5:54
  Frankenstein and you have the different characters and you get
• 5:58
  to read through? I mean, there's always the
• 6:01
  chapters where you prefer 1 character over the other.
• 6:05
  But you know, what annoyed me is that I wanted more on the asylum
• 6:09
  like. Yeah, it's barely touched upon.
• 6:12
  Totally. Totally.
• 6:13
  Yeah. And like, it's at the beginning
• 6:15
  and then it's like, oh, OK, so we're just moving swiftly on
• 6:17
  from this. It is it comes back in in the
• 6:19
  fact that is it. Correct me if I'm wrong, Is it
• 6:23
  Rita's dad? Yeah.
• 6:24
  I'm from start, yeah. And you know, what's really
• 6:27
  silly is that for me, like I did not connect that because you
• 6:31
  know, the way the book is so long that I just feel like I got
• 6:34
  through bits and pizzas and then kind of forgot what that what
• 6:37
  was happening at the start. So I listened to the start again
• 6:40
  on the audio book and then I was like, I wrote in the notes on my
• 6:43
  phone, like after listening for the first minute be like read
• 6:46
  his father question mark and then like, Oh my God, it's
• 6:50
  Rita's father. Like how stupid was I?
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  Well, it's like I was, I was reading it like the whole time
• 6:55
  being like, what is the relevance to the first part?
• 6:58
  Yeah, the first part. It was so like I kind of really
• 7:02
  felt like, oh, you know, I thought it was one of the best
• 7:06
  parts. Well.
• 7:06
  It feels like a different story. Yeah, it.
• 7:09
  Didn't seem like it was the same book.
• 7:11
  Yeah. I know.
• 7:12
  That's why I was really surprised to read that chapter
• 7:15
  and then the next bit go on to like the characters.
• 7:17
  And then I was kind of like, huh, what?
• 7:19
  Yeah, I don't know if that's the way I would.
• 7:22
  Yeah, see, I think with my my view on like the multiple
• 7:25
  viewpoints don't really, I think that works.
• 7:27
  But I think in this book the characters to me just weren't
• 7:30
  unique enough or didn't really stand out in a way that I was
• 7:33
  like, oh, this is this person. I'm interested.
• 7:35
  It was like, oh, OK, so we're spending more time with cookie
• 7:39
  cutter Irene or what? Rita, whichever one this is,
• 7:42
  they're the same people, but pretty much like, I think while
• 7:44
  this character, this book is supposed to be like a very deep
• 7:47
  character focused story. I, I didn't really feel like
• 7:53
  they felt like unique to each other.
• 7:55
  You know, they had different things happening and, and
• 7:57
  different backgrounds and, and, and stuff happening, but I kind
• 8:01
  of found they all melded into the one.
• 8:05
  I yeah, I kind of know what you mean.
• 8:07
  I think the book from my perspective was at its strongest
• 8:11
  when Irene and Rita like, met each other and like spoke to
• 8:16
  each other and like had conversations and like built
• 8:19
  that snowman. I was kind of like, I really
• 8:22
  wanted more of that. And I think that was what I was
• 8:24
  looking for. I thought that again, this is
• 8:26
  what we've already said about the spoilers, but I like, I
• 8:28
  wanted them all to have something that brought them
• 8:31
  together almost. And I know that's probably just
• 8:33
  a bit wishful thinking for a book like this, but for me, I
• 8:36
  was kind of like, I wanted them to interact more.
• 8:41
  Yeah, I know, because I really enjoyed the chapters where it's
• 8:44
  like Irene and Rita are together, but sometimes I forgot
• 8:48
  who they were. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
• 8:51
  Like the only time I could decipher, she kept being like, I
• 8:54
  was at the pow wow club. Like, by the way, I Googled what
• 8:59
  a powwow club was and it's like, it says it's like an indigenous
• 9:03
  day of like celebration. And then I was like, I don't
• 9:06
  think that's what this was. And then it's like it's a dance
• 9:09
  and like a dancing club. Like it's like a scripture.
• 9:13
  Or something like. Oh, I.
• 9:15
  Don't know or like, I don't know, it just seemed but yeah,
• 9:18
  anytime there's like something about talking about voices in
• 9:21
  your head or the club I. Was like.
• 9:23
  Oh, it's Rita. In my head I knew that like one
• 9:26
  of them really loved sci-fi and I thought that was a really cool
• 9:28
  element. But then I'm like, but who is
• 9:30
  it? Which one of these women was
• 9:32
  that? I can't remember.
• 9:33
  If you ask me right now, I'm like Rita, question Mark.
• 9:37
  Do you think that that was because you were listening to an
• 9:40
  audio book? Yes, I think that partially
• 9:43
  Hanford it, but I also think like while I enjoyed the scenes
• 9:46
  of these two women talking, I also found like they that game
• 9:52
  there was just not all that much in the the way they were
• 9:55
  written. I think in terms of personality,
• 9:57
  coming across in the how they spoke to each other, that made
• 10:00
  them stand out as people. I think, yeah, like when I
• 10:06
  although I did just say that I wanted there to be more of a
• 10:09
  finality in the story or like something where they all came
• 10:11
  together at the same time. Like, I wouldn't have wanted to
• 10:15
  keep reading to find out, you know, if I found out another 100
• 10:20
  pages, I probably would have been like, I don't care either
• 10:22
  way. But that's the thing.
• 10:24
  Oh sorry, going to say go. Ahead.
• 10:26
  Oh, I was just like, that's such the point in Jamaican is is
• 10:29
  because I enjoyed the book, but I think it could have been much
• 10:34
  better maybe if it was like shorter and like more depth into
• 10:38
  certain characters. Like there's there's nothing
• 10:40
  really overly anything wrong with the story.
• 10:43
  I just think it was a bit long for what it was, if that makes
• 10:46
  sense. Yeah.
• 10:48
  And I also think, well, I mean, one of my main problems with it
• 10:51
  was, well, I thought the book was fine because it was a
• 10:54
  historical fiction and it kind of like I didn't feel any
• 10:58
  relatability to what was going on, the different themes that
• 11:01
  they were talking about. Like it all felt very sort of of
• 11:04
  the time. Like I think the Booker Prize,
• 11:06
  other books at least are commenting on something that is
• 11:09
  going on in modern life. And I kind of felt like this
• 11:12
  wasn't really that. And yes, you could argue that
• 11:14
  some of the same things and, you know, like this pregnancy and
• 11:18
  all these women talk about how they're treated as women and
• 11:20
  stuff that that still like translates in modern times.
• 11:23
  But I don't think like normally view writers use like the past
• 11:27
  to to, you know, reflect on the future or whatever.
• 11:30
  And I just did not get that from this.
• 11:33
  I yeah, I agree with you there, Colin.
• 11:34
  I think that this book is, you know, I think contrasting it to
• 11:40
  audition where I think it's very clear, like this is what we're
• 11:43
  talking about. This is the issue and we're
• 11:44
  trying to get into depth. So this this is just not really
• 11:48
  doing that. Something though, that I did
• 11:50
  note when I was reading through the long list was that a lot of
• 11:54
  the books not audition, audition is not one of the books that I'm
• 11:58
  talking about, but a lot of the books deal with like class and
• 12:02
  it really fit in with the long list books there for me.
• 12:05
  I was kind of like thinking a lot about like how we relate to
• 12:08
  like class in general and like, because a lot isn't I mean
• 12:12
  Eric's and you know, he judges the dude with the farm.
• 12:17
  What's his name? Bill Bill.
• 12:18
  Like he's like, there's all this this kind of quite like there's
• 12:22
  there's a lot of relation to class.
• 12:24
  And I think class is obviously like a massive thing in England,
• 12:28
  like, and not that it's not a big thing here, but I think
• 12:32
  we've got other things and like, but it was, I thought it was
• 12:36
  really interesting because a lot of this stuff is like based on
• 12:39
  that. And a lot of the other books
• 12:41
  that I read, I thought, oh, there's quite a working class or
• 12:44
  home working class. People relate to money.
• 12:48
  Not that that sounds really bad. Sorry, just ignore me.
• 12:51
  Aaron cut that. No, I know.
• 12:53
  I think that was good. Yeah, because in a lot of like I
• 12:58
  once I finish a book, I think we all do that where I go through
• 13:00
  and I read different reviews to see if anyone thinks the same as
• 13:04
  me. And one of the themes like you
• 13:06
  said Lucy's class and people were saying how well he like
• 13:09
  weaved it through the story in subtle points.
• 13:15
  And then because if you go back to like the different
• 13:18
  characters, because it's that thing where we're like, is it
• 13:23
  Eric is from Birmingham, which I don't think is overly known for
• 13:27
  people being like, like more like Southwest England is like
• 13:31
  more rich, but like Birmingham wouldn't be known for that.
• 13:35
  But then he becomes, you know, this doctor, but he doesn't also
• 13:38
  like Irene's parents because they come from money and they're
• 13:42
  all very like socialites type thing.
• 13:45
  And then you have Bill, his father.
• 13:48
  Bill is from London and his father is an immigrant who they
• 13:52
  obviously have found a way to make money and make loads of it.
• 13:55
  But now he's not proud of Bill because he wants to be a farmer
• 13:59
  and not a lawyer. So it's quite like and then
• 14:02
  obviously Rita, it just comes from, I don't know, like a
• 14:05
  working class type background maybe.
• 14:09
  And like you just see those subtle differences even in the
• 14:13
  characters and then like how they're reacting, you know, the
• 14:16
  things about their homes, even in the heating and all that way
• 14:19
  or yeah, it was just because there's that one scene.
• 14:23
  You know, they're at the party. No, they're I wait, Irene got
• 14:28
  These names are so hard to remember.
• 14:30
  So Irene is talking to Bill about meeting the neighbors and
• 14:33
  then says he says, oh God, I hope you haven't invited them
• 14:36
  over. It seems like such a classist
• 14:39
  type thing in the novel. Yeah, I thought that was the how
• 14:45
  the man kind of related to each other over how the women related
• 14:48
  to each other. It was kind of almost like, I
• 14:49
  think it's the very start of the book.
• 14:51
  I genuinely can't remember too much about it, but I feel like
• 14:55
  Eric is driving past Bill and he's just like that guy from
• 14:59
  London who's and you were saying like his his dad's an immigrant
• 15:04
  and he's done very well for himself and then probably
• 15:06
  privately educated his sons. And then they've they are kind
• 15:09
  of in a different world than their dad.
• 15:11
  No. And it's like that kind of idea
• 15:14
  of like the fact that one generation is working class and
• 15:19
  you can't really change that. And then their children will be
• 15:22
  this these upper class people who will not really be able to
• 15:25
  relate to their parents anymore because they've not grown up in
• 15:29
  that same world. I thought that was kind of
• 15:31
  interesting. But I like the fact that Eric is
• 15:32
  like slagging off Bill when he sees him in the story.
• 15:37
  And he's just like, what does he think he's doing?
• 15:39
  Like trying to get a farm and trying to sort it out.
• 15:40
  And he thinks of him as like a big, tough kind of guy.
• 15:43
  And it's kind of like then we we get to like see Bill and Bill's
• 15:46
  not necessarily that kind of character.
• 15:48
  I thought that was quite interesting.
• 15:50
  I have such anger at Eric throughout this whole book.
• 15:53
  Like I just think he's an ass like.
• 15:58
  He doesn't come across well, definitely.
• 15:59
  No, he doesn't like and out of everyone, I just every time he
• 16:04
  came up, I'm like Eric again, flipping through the chapters
• 16:08
  like I'm like, how rude of you to like cheat on your wife.
• 16:12
  And then basically like, I don't know, this idea that like he has
• 16:15
  his wife who wants to be like perfect at all for him and then
• 16:18
  he's just being an asshole about like the things she likes for
• 16:21
  him. I think it's so interesting how
• 16:23
  Eric was written because there's a lot of thing of him like
• 16:26
  looking at women like, and it's it's one of the more character
• 16:30
  focused bits. I think, like where we're
• 16:31
  actually seeing the the the lens of this man, like how he views
• 16:34
  the world. I don't think the others quite
• 16:36
  do it as well as this, but are the other characters represented
• 16:39
  as well? But like, I think that was so
• 16:41
  fascinating because like, you know, he's got this wife, but
• 16:44
  like the women to him are just so well, like they're just
• 16:48
  objects. Do, you know, really like the
• 16:49
  things to claim or whatever. And which I find quite
• 16:52
  interesting because like he's obviously off a position where,
• 16:56
  you know, he's not like it. I think what I'm getting at is
• 17:01
  that it's right representing probably what a lot of men would
• 17:04
  have been thinking at the time. And like maybe that's where I'm
• 17:07
  wrong and that men still think like this and these days and
• 17:11
  like women still face this. But I don't know.
• 17:13
  I just think they're like how far and, and how far and how
• 17:18
  stuck into the past it was. I just really struggled to like
• 17:21
  connect with any of these themes or people.
• 17:24
  Yeah, no, I think Eric is definitely quite a struggle,
• 17:27
  especially like yeah, how he treats his his wife.
• 17:30
  And then my favorite part of the book, I think was when his wife,
• 17:35
  he's like heavily pregnant, decides to leave him during this
• 17:38
  Blizzard. I think this is a good me time
• 17:40
  where I really felt like, right, there's a Blizzard.
• 17:42
  It's not just. Yeah, I know.
• 17:44
  Yeah, It's like, where was it hiding?
• 17:47
  I think it should have been said like the blur being like it was
• 17:50
  a foggy time or whatever, because like, I did not get
• 17:53
  snowy vibes until it meant like snowman or whatever, yeah.
• 17:57
  Yeah, I think like the only time where I'm like this is more than
• 18:00
  just a normal winter was that time where she's like get she.
• 18:04
  So she's trying to like leave her husband who she's just found
• 18:06
  out has been cheating on her and she's heavily pregnant and she
• 18:10
  goes on a train to go to her parents house and this string
• 18:15
  gets stuck because the weather is so bad and she has to leave
• 18:20
  on foot to school like half a mile away.
• 18:24
  And she's like, completely. Blind, wasn't it was good for
• 18:28
  the blind, yeah. I'm sorry, but this was just so
• 18:31
  bizarre to me. I'm like, this is the place
• 18:33
  you're going to put her like. I don't think they had a choice.
• 18:36
  See this is where. I think because she goes
• 18:37
  unconscious, doesn't she? And then she's like just wakes
• 18:40
  up there. Yeah, I also thought it was so
• 18:43
  interesting. Like her parents are like,
• 18:45
  obviously human when they find out that Eric's been cheating on
• 18:48
  her and all, but and they're kind of like, come back to us.
• 18:51
  And then they're also at the same time, like washing their
• 18:54
  hands over. With.
• 18:56
  Kind of behind her back almost. And they're kind of like just go
• 18:59
  back to him. But it's such mixed messages.
• 19:02
  I felt very sorry for her. I think that she was probably
• 19:05
  one of my favorite ones. Irene or Rita I quite like.
• 19:08
  Yeah, just when you're talking about being at the school,
• 19:10
  there's this line by the like, matron or whatever that's there.
• 19:14
  And she says like, oh, when you're cold, obviously like the
• 19:18
  baby is cold. I think what does she call them
• 19:20
  like her little traveler or something like that.
• 19:22
  And then there is like this line of like, well, wherever you go,
• 19:26
  they have to go. So it was kind of like to me it
• 19:29
  was like, Oh well, if you're choosing to like leave the
• 19:32
  father, you know, your child has no choice but to go with you
• 19:35
  type thing. Like because I was listening to
• 19:38
  it on audiobook again and that they came up and I don't know
• 19:41
  why I just hit harder reading it the second time.
• 19:44
  Interesting. Yeah.
• 19:45
  One of the things I actually did quite like about the book was
• 19:48
  the atmosphere that it was like creating.
• 19:50
  I feel like that's maybe where the, the like writing, you know,
• 19:54
  energy was, while the characters felt flat.
• 19:57
  I think like the vibes were really, really good.
• 20:00
  And I think, for example, the school that we were just talking
• 20:03
  about, but also the first part with the, the psychiatric
• 20:07
  hospital, they all felt almost like horror tinged like when
• 20:10
  she's, when she wakes up in the bed, she's like what's
• 20:13
  happening? And she thinks like the worst,
• 20:15
  you know, like, you know, whatever happened to her on the
• 20:18
  way there, she she blacked out. She doesn't remember.
• 20:20
  But as well as that, like all these kids were in her bed,
• 20:22
  these blind, like these blind children are watching her or
• 20:25
  whatever. And.
• 20:26
  It's just the vibes were really, really cool and I think
• 20:28
  sometimes it felt like had this eerie overtone to a lot of the
• 20:32
  scenes, but like nothing ever came of it.
• 20:34
  But the atmosphere was there. This kind of like winter is
• 20:37
  almost like the winter was like watching them or something, you
• 20:39
  know, surrounding them. Yeah, it's like one of the parts
• 20:43
  without the school as well. It's like at the end of the
• 20:46
  chapter when they say when they get Irene to get up and speak to
• 20:49
  the children. And then she starts almost.
• 20:52
  She talks as if she's reader, doesn't she?
• 20:54
  Because she says like, oh, I own a farm.
• 20:58
  They're close friendships. So she feels like she can, like,
• 21:01
  tell her story in a way, but also like, does she want to not
• 21:04
  live in her own world right then?
• 21:06
  So she partakes and, like, readers.
• 21:09
  But these are like the small snippets in it where I'm like,
• 21:12
  oh, this could have been like, really good, like little bits.
• 21:16
  And then it just like falls flat.
• 21:18
  But like, yeah, I love the idea of like, this stormy, foggy,
• 21:22
  snowy, cold time in England, like post World War 2.
• 21:28
  Like, And I'm not even a period drama type or novel person, but
• 21:32
  like I just do you know why I could relate to it or like think
• 21:36
  about it. It's because like I've been to
• 21:37
  so many of those little villages and I've stayed there and when
• 21:41
  there's like nothing else around other than like just farm
• 21:44
  animals, there's no big supermarkets or anything like
• 21:48
  that. It just so I can have I
• 21:50
  envisioned myself in this little place pretending that I'm like,
• 21:55
  Oh my neighbor has a farm like. I'm surprised Colin you weren't
• 22:00
  able to relate to this more because of your farming
• 22:02
  background. Oh yeah.
• 22:04
  I've they barely touched on the farming thing?
• 22:08
  Were you like this man has never farmed in his life?
• 22:11
  Why is he writing this story? Like this is the thing they have
• 22:15
  touching all these themes, but they never are like these ideas.
• 22:18
  Like I feel like the sci-fi is maybe the deepest we get into
• 22:20
  that in terms of like, you know, background, like the farm stuff
• 22:23
  and the hospital stuff, it's all touched on.
• 22:24
  But there's no like depth to it. Like, you know, they're not very
• 22:28
  like, I don't know, I feel like I love it's quite surface.
• 22:31
  And maybe that's the problem with the characters.
• 22:33
  There's just like a surface surfaceness to them, even though
• 22:37
  they're trying to be deeper there, it's trying to get at
• 22:39
  something deeper with them. Because you think as well with
• 22:42
  the character Gabby, the other doctor, where he's trying to
• 22:47
  talk about like it's like at the party and stuff like that, where
• 22:51
  he's like subtly, not so subtly trying to talk about his past
• 22:56
  and like his own language and things like that.
• 23:00
  So we're kind of getting a background of people trying to
• 23:03
  discuss like the time during the war, but then it feels like it's
• 23:07
  almost cut short and then you're back on to something else again.
• 23:11
  But is that maybe like a sign of the times of like those horrors
• 23:15
  had just happened? And it's probably like those
• 23:17
  things that you, the things those people would have seen,
• 23:20
  like the way those people, like people are coming back from the
• 23:24
  war, like the people who probably raised the four main
• 23:28
  characters and probably suffered so much and seen so many things.
• 23:33
  Like, we probably can't imagine what, like living in the 60s
• 23:36
  would have been like for people who were in the 60s.
• 23:39
  You know, like that was. Yeah.
• 23:42
  Because by the time we came along, it was like people who've
• 23:46
  been involved in the war, we're all kind of much older and we're
• 23:49
  children at the time. Or, you know, it's not like we
• 23:52
  have. It wasn't as fresh.
• 23:55
  Yeah, it's like we have grandparents that would have
• 23:57
  been fighting in the war. Or I mean, that could be
• 24:01
  incorrect. I bet you my mom's going to be
• 24:03
  listening and going to be like, actually all of your
• 24:06
  grandparents fought the war. But do you think about if you
• 24:10
  relate it back to say, like living here in the north of
• 24:14
  Ireland in that like, also we didn't escape all the trauma
• 24:18
  that our parents went through with the Troubles, but we don't
• 24:20
  live like the daily life that they did lead at that time.
• 24:25
  So it's like we don't live in that trouble, but we don't
• 24:29
  escape it either, like the past of it.
• 24:31
  So that's how I kind of tried to relate, you know, the stuff with
• 24:36
  like characters. You're trying to mention the
• 24:37
  war, talk about it, but there's lots of people to move on.
• 24:41
  But there's that lingering sense of it just sort of around.
• 24:45
  I suppose it is like, you know, when you're like talking to
• 24:48
  someone like, because we, we lived in relatively peaceful
• 24:51
  times here. But it's like you speak to
• 24:53
  someone who's like older than us and they tell you a story as if
• 24:55
  it's completely normal and it's still like just like.
• 24:59
  Barbaric. Yeah.
• 25:03
  I like people you know, and people you've like, known your
• 25:06
  whole life and they're just like, oh, yeah, no.
• 25:08
  And they tell you this mad story that is like terrifying.
• 25:12
  That would, if I thought could happen to me in the near future,
• 25:16
  I would not be living in Belfast.
• 25:20
  Just saying it as if it's really flippant and funny.
• 25:22
  And you're like. What?
• 25:24
  This is like, so traumatic and yeah.
• 25:27
  And like, it's not like people talk about it all the time or
• 25:29
  like say things, but then when they do say things, you're just
• 25:31
  like, what? I don't know.
• 25:34
  That's how I feel about the whole thing.
• 25:36
  I feel like this is like Rita and Irene's relationship because
• 25:39
  Rita's like the movies and like clubs and dancing and Irene is
• 25:43
  like watch like because there's that part where they go to like
• 25:46
  the movies in Bristol and she's seen like a person of color and
• 25:51
  she's a bit like, oh, what's this like type thing?
• 25:55
  Oh, she's like, do you know this person or something?
• 25:59
  She said something like I've never seen, oh wait.
• 26:02
  She says something like they work here or I can't remember
• 26:06
  because she's in London when she goes to London and she oh wait,
• 26:09
  am I missing? These two parts, Bristol, yes.
• 26:11
  And she's like, wow, do you know there are people like that
• 26:14
  living here? I know.
• 26:16
  And it's like, and it's like the idea that Rita could be friends
• 26:19
  with them. It was.
• 26:22
  So, cosmic holidays. Like Irene would be like Rita's
• 26:26
  so wild like. She's like a known white friend.
• 26:32
  I think I loved Rita, like I loved her character more, but
• 26:35
  like that's because she was thinking of like sitting by the
• 26:39
  like oven or whatever, reading her sci-fi.
• 26:41
  And then I thought one of the ways the character like there
• 26:46
  was so much potential in that way, like the voices in her
• 26:49
  head, you know, and she's like obviously struggling.
• 26:53
  It must be like with her mental health and but that's obviously
• 26:57
  not a thing back in like the 60s, you know, like we would
• 27:00
  talk about it and I but I thought there was so much more
• 27:02
  potential. Maybe I thought, the voices
• 27:04
  would talk to her to maybe do something.
• 27:06
  Yeah, they just kind of were mentioned and it's like, oh, OK.
• 27:08
  Yeah. Like that's.
• 27:10
  A part where like Eric is looking through the window.
• 27:13
  Yes, yes. Stuff like laid around and I'm
• 27:17
  like, could we not have explored this a bit more?
• 27:20
  Like I also really liked the part the chapter words like Rita
• 27:23
  goes to Bristol. You know, when it's like really
• 27:26
  snowy and her husband said he's not going to be back for a few
• 27:29
  days and she goes to Bristol and then she's like, it's almost
• 27:34
  wanting to explore her old life, like going back to the club and
• 27:38
  then meeting her friends and stuff like that.
• 27:40
  And I don't know if that's like the thing of when pregnant
• 27:44
  women, people always are saying to them like, oh, your life will
• 27:46
  never be the same again. Like you'll never be alone
• 27:49
  again. And I've heard so many women say
• 27:51
  like, that's the most overwhelming thing.
• 27:53
  So it's almost that thing you think of she's trying to run
• 27:57
  away back to her life, maybe to escape what's to come type
• 28:01
  thing. It's like kind of like that
• 28:03
  adventure and then with Bill in London that the part where is
• 28:10
  his brother is bringing them to the clubs.
• 28:12
  Yeah. And then he asked them like
• 28:14
  Colin. Is his brother's called Colin?
• 28:20
  Wow. There needs to be two of us,
• 28:25
  Lucy and an Aaron in some of these other.
• 28:27
  Books. There's got to be.
• 28:29
  We had a Hannah last. Year we did have a Hannah.
• 28:33
  Because isn't there a bit in the book where they're in the bar
• 28:36
  and the brothers, like, oh, what do you think of those?
• 28:38
  Like is it two men? Yeah, yeah, dancing.
• 28:42
  Yeah. And I was like, are we going to
• 28:44
  explore this more? Yeah, And they didn't at all.
• 28:47
  Yeah. It was almost like I was like,
• 28:49
  oh, is this going to be Collins coming out or something?
• 28:52
  Like what's going on here? Like, and then, oh, OK, Never
• 28:55
  mind. You just said that for no
• 28:56
  reason. We're just moving swiftly on.
• 28:58
  Yeah. And then they crash the car and
• 29:00
  then follow up from that either you're just like back to it.
• 29:03
  That's the thing, these things happen and then nothing comes of
• 29:06
  it like like I don't really understand, like the
• 29:08
  consequences of these things. Because I thought what like when
• 29:14
  there was the car crash is happening and I'm thinking, Oh
• 29:16
  my God, this like briefcase of money is going to go missing and
• 29:19
  he'll never get his form. And then we never find out what
• 29:22
  happens to his big the briefcase of money and the farm dream
• 29:25
  like. This really reminded me of
• 29:28
  Fargo. Have you guys seen the film?
• 29:30
  You know, yeah, yeah, I get what you mean.
• 29:32
  You know what this book did sort of bring to my mind?
• 29:35
  This was pre podcast, but we all read Cold Comfort Farm by Stella
• 29:39
  Gibbons. Yes.
• 29:40
  I thought I'd. Like.
• 29:41
  That too, I'm like, while this book I think like, I mean, I
• 29:44
  think cold comfort farm is a lot better than this book because
• 29:47
  the characters at least feel like characters there was like
• 29:50
  it was giving me that same sort of feeling like I don't know how
• 29:53
  to describe it. It's just like domestic sort of
• 29:56
  farm farminess, like. And there is that bit of sci-fi
• 30:00
  with cold comfort farm that I think kind of adds to that.
• 30:05
  I there's sci-fi and cold comfort farm.
• 30:07
  I actually feel like we went over this the time we went over.
• 30:11
  The time. Is it something about time
• 30:13
  traveling? Oh.
• 30:14
  My goodness, it's like the whole book and neither of you is
• 30:16
  picked up on it, right? I don't.
• 30:17
  Remember it? But it's like it was written in
• 30:19
  the early 30s. But oh.
• 30:21
  Yes. In the late 30s, so she's just
• 30:24
  guessing at things. That happened.
• 30:27
  You're right. I knew it was something to do
• 30:28
  with time. Because I was like, she does a
• 30:32
  video call and we're neither of you guys.
• 30:38
  It's so funny that you say that is because I know someone here
• 30:41
  read Cold Comfort Farm and I was like, I think I know a book that
• 30:43
  you might want to read and I suggested this one.
• 30:46
  And they were like, Oh yeah. And that's really funny that we
• 30:48
  all thought the same. Yeah, I did not think about Cold
• 30:53
  Comfort Farm when I was reading this at all.
• 30:55
  I think cold Comfort Farm is a different league.
• 30:58
  Oh, I mean, it definitely is, I think.
• 31:00
  But I think I realized how good Cold Comfort Farm was reading
• 31:03
  this. You know, it made me feel like
• 31:05
  bring back Stella Gibbons. Like I need that.
• 31:09
  We maybe we should do a Christmas one off, you know, is
• 31:12
  it called Comfort Farm at Christmas?
• 31:15
  Oh. Sequel.
• 31:17
  Yeah. I didn't know there was a
• 31:19
  sequel, that's quite cool. Yeah, we could do a Christmas
• 31:22
  spinoff. There's one chapter I really
• 31:24
  wanted to discuss. Oh.
• 31:26
  Okay. Like I feel.
• 31:27
  Like it's, I feel like this is going to be unused segment of
• 31:31
  the podcast because. Favorite weird chapter?
• 31:34
  But literally it's the last chapter of the book because I'm
• 31:37
  like like reader, obviously like miscarries.
• 31:41
  And then I think it's like a helicopter is come in and then
• 31:46
  the next minute it's like spaceship question mark.
• 31:49
  Like I was buried. And I also finished this at like
• 31:52
  one or two in the morning and I message everyone being like, I
• 31:54
  don't think I got the end of this book.
• 31:56
  And just like pasta. I thought it was a spaceship,
• 32:00
  hence why I was on a spaceship to be early.
• 32:02
  Do you? Think did you think she like
• 32:05
  passed away or do you? Think, no, I think it's her.
• 32:08
  Like, I think it's her making sense, you know, in this like,
• 32:11
  moment of like seeking refuge in that sort of sci-fi, you know,
• 32:15
  that pulpy sci-fi. And I feel like because I
• 32:18
  haven't had a strong opinion in this episode, I'm going to have
• 32:20
  to come up with a very strong opinion.
• 32:22
  Here we go. It was not metaphorical.
• 32:25
  It was a real spaceship. Oh.
• 32:26
  Here we go. It's the errand of the errand of
• 32:29
  the podcast. I think there was a real
• 32:33
  spaceship. She got into it and yeah, they
• 32:38
  all went to space. Oh, I get it now.
• 32:41
  Because she's into sci-fi. Yeah.
• 32:43
  Oh my God, why am I so stupid sometimes?
• 32:46
  But I think it's her imagining. I think it's like, you know,
• 32:49
  escapism in a way. Like she's escaping this
• 32:51
  through, like that's what she's been doing her entire like life
• 32:56
  really has been escaping through this sci-fi.
• 32:59
  Yeah. Do you know what's like seems so
• 33:01
  strange to me. Like I know that their parent is
• 33:04
  like quite random like Bill and Rita because he she just like
• 33:08
  showed him the house and they kind of like fell in love.
• 33:12
  But like I feel like I felt more love like in the pages between
• 33:16
  them then obviously like Irene and Bill, like there's just
• 33:20
  seems to like sterile or something I don't know.
• 33:22
  You mean Irene and Eric? Yes.
• 33:25
  Oh no, it's too easy. I'm just looking at the
• 33:27
  character list because I keep mixing up who's called Eric.
• 33:32
  Oh, it's such a the name just sort of for you forget, you
• 33:36
  know. Honestly, like if I was thinking
• 33:38
  of someone from Birmingham named Eric, I just don't get it.
• 33:41
  Also I don't know what people in Birmingham are mostly known by
• 33:44
  anyway, but like Eric, I just doesn't seem like a English
• 33:48
  name. I can't.
• 33:48
  Picture an English person called Eric if you're called.
• 33:51
  Eric. You are from Scandinavia or
• 33:53
  America, and I will not, I cannot handle an Englishman
• 33:58
  called Eric. Bill Irene Raider.
• 34:04
  All grand. Eric No.
• 34:05
  You kind of hit the nail on the head, Lizzy, by saying you don't
• 34:08
  have a strong opinion on this book.
• 34:09
  I don't know of any of us do. Like this book is just so fine.
• 34:15
  Made. You know, yeah, there's just, I
• 34:18
  don't feel anything really beyond, yeah, you know, that was
• 34:22
  fine. It is like, I feel like our
• 34:26
  conversation has made me kind of be like there's there was bits
• 34:29
  that I was thinking. I really liked that bit.
• 34:31
  And I think, I think when you were saying, Colin, about the
• 34:33
  fact that it gets very atmospheric at times, I just
• 34:36
  wanted the whole book to be atmospheric.
• 34:38
  Yes, I agree. I agree.
• 34:40
  Yeah. I was kind of chasing those bits
• 34:43
  and then it was every so often you did get this really, and I
• 34:46
  do think it's. Like it seemed like it was going
• 34:48
  somewhere. Yeah, I it upsets me that
• 34:51
  there's so many people that like got stuff from this book and I
• 34:55
  didn't. I'm very annoyed because I know
• 34:57
  little who's like opinions. I really like respect and they
• 35:00
  loved it. And I'm like, why did I not get
• 35:03
  this? I don't like when that happens.
• 35:04
  When I feel distance. I'm like, and it might just be
• 35:08
  I'm simple, but I think I really struggled to care.
• 35:13
  I really struggled to care. And I think it's going to make
• 35:16
  this podcast more hard to do. I don't feel like we're giving
• 35:19
  it a fair shot. Yeah.
• 35:24
  Oh, yeah. But I just.
• 35:25
  Don't think I don't think we do care really about this one.
• 35:28
  And that's tough because like, at least audition, we believed
• 35:31
  in our version of reality. You know, this book is just not
• 35:34
  doing that. Like we're like, we all agree
• 35:37
  that all these things are concrete.
• 35:39
  Like there's no discussion really about these things.
• 35:41
  And like, this is the problem. I don't think the book discusses
• 35:44
  all that much really. I don't think it dives deeply
• 35:46
  into to unearth and like make us question things, you know, it's
• 35:50
  just surface. It's just like Skims across so
• 35:53
  many different things. But that's the thing, I I don't
• 35:57
  know if you all do it as well. Like when you read the book,
• 36:00
  you're thinking, what did the judges see in this?
• 36:03
  To make it on. A short list and I like I'm not
• 36:06
  just in the book like there's like completely, you know, I
• 36:09
  didn't like love or hate it. It's just like it's in the
• 36:13
  middle for me, but I'm thinking I'd have see scraper and
• 36:18
  antlings like this beat it. I I'm not I just sound.
• 36:22
  I feel really bad saying that, but like, you know, there was so
• 36:26
  much more I think to those like to like to discuss or I do not
• 36:31
  even discuss. I don't know, there's just there
• 36:32
  was more of a passion I had for those, whereas these I'm just
• 36:36
  like. But I think another question I
• 36:39
  want to ask people is, after reading this book, would you
• 36:42
  give any of his other stuff a chance?
• 36:46
  I don't think I'm convinced to be honest.
• 36:48
  No. This did not inspire me.
• 36:52
  Yeah, I'm probably with Colin. It wouldn't make me want to run
• 36:55
  out and and get like buy all of his books, but it also wouldn't
• 37:02
  necessarily make me be like if someone said came to me and
• 37:07
  went, oh, he's written a book that's really, really good,
• 37:09
  you'll really like it. And I read.
• 37:11
  I would give it a chance because I think he is a good writer.
• 37:13
  Yeah. Also, I definitely think it's
• 37:16
  not the worst on the shortlist. So I'm kind of like, but yeah,
• 37:23
  like I was thinking about this and compare Harrison to the
• 37:27
  International Booker. And I feel like even when I was
• 37:31
  reading books in preparation for the international Booker, it was
• 37:35
  like all the books I read around the international Booker in the
• 37:38
  in the long list or to the long list, I was like all of them.
• 37:41
  I just had like, I was like, these are books you could just
• 37:44
  talk about forever and you could just keep talking about them.
• 37:47
  Whereas I was really kind of like not feeling it for this.
• 37:52
  I'm not. And some of the other books in
• 37:54
  the the shortlist as well. I'm kind of like the only one
• 37:57
  I'm really excited, was really excited about was audition.
• 38:00
  And because I, I do find them quite like lacking and, you
• 38:06
  know, usually when we have these conversations, I think that it's
• 38:09
  like really good and beneficial, but it's like, I don't think
• 38:12
  that our conversation is making me want to rate this any higher.
• 38:16
  No, definitely. Yeah.
• 38:17
  Normally you find something new, a new angle from someone,
• 38:20
  something someone else has. But no, no, no, no one's
• 38:22
  bringing that this time. Maybe Aaron would have finished
• 38:25
  the book, but. But yeah, maybe that's our
• 38:27
  missing the secret sauce. Yeah, I think it is Aaron
• 38:31
  Arnold. He'd have read it in a
• 38:33
  completely different way. He would.
• 38:34
  Have been like they were Martians.
• 38:36
  They were Martians living in England.
• 38:39
  Did you guys not get the hint that Eric is actually Rita's
• 38:42
  father in a past life or something like that?
• 38:46
  Or I don't know, like, yeah. Sometimes I just want to read
• 38:50
  stuff from Aaron's perspective and like get something new from
• 38:53
  things where I just think I'm still one track mind, but I just
• 38:56
  read it and I'm like, yeah, that's how it is.
• 38:58
  Like let's move on, you know? I need more imagination in my
• 39:01
  life, I think. Do you guys have anything else
• 39:06
  you want to I? Really, I really don't.
• 39:10
  I genuinely, I, I was thinking about this before we did this,
• 39:13
  like, oh, what's there to talk about?
• 39:15
  And I was like, like, what is there to talk about like.
• 39:20
  Yeah, what do you anymore, Lucy? Do you always find it
• 39:24
  interesting? Is like, there's so many times
• 39:25
  where I've been like, I don't know if we could talk that much
• 39:27
  about this book. And then we've sat down and we.
• 39:30
  Find so much, yeah. Yeah, lined off like 2 hours
• 39:33
  have passed and it's like you've still been patent.
• 39:36
  Whereas now I'm just kind of like, what did, what did you
• 39:39
  just think of the snow? Yeah, that's snow, huh?
• 39:43
  Yeah, I thought there was a lot of, like, cute bits in it, like
• 39:48
  nice, sweet things that people did with another.
• 39:50
  And I kind of like the dinner party again.
• 39:52
  The dinner party was a good scene, I will give it that.
• 39:54
  Yeah. And you do you know what,
• 39:57
  though, I think if it if I'd have enjoyed it better.
• 40:00
  I don't mind the idea that like, I don't understand everything
• 40:03
  that's happening in the book. It doesn't bother me as I don't
• 40:05
  understand most of the things that happened in these books,
• 40:07
  but I I didn't care. That was my main issue.
• 40:11
  I just. I didn't care.
• 40:12
  No, I agree. I yeah, there is a lack of
• 40:16
  interest, you know, towards the characters in the world and
• 40:18
  stuff. Colin, do you have like an
• 40:20
  alternative title for this book or?
• 40:24
  I couldn't care less to decide a different type of this.
• 40:27
  I tried and I was like literally nothing is coming to me.
• 40:31
  Like absolutely nothing. Not that I'd be particularly
• 40:36
  good at ever trying to do this, but yeah, I didn't.
• 40:39
  I don't know, The London winter, I think gives too much weight to
• 40:43
  the winter element. It does, but I was so excited
• 40:47
  when I read this book that it was going to be like, I just
• 40:50
  was. I wanted it to be so
• 40:52
  atmospheric. I wanted to feel claustrophobic.
• 40:53
  I wanted to feel that, and I didn't feel that.
• 40:55
  And I get that at times. He was definitely going for it,
• 40:58
  but it never fully registered. Can I just say that I thought
• 41:04
  that when I read the blurb of this book that what would happen
• 41:07
  is like two people were completely stuck, like could not
• 41:12
  leave the house type thing. And it was going on about like
• 41:15
  an event or like a week or like a couple of days in their house
• 41:18
  and like their relationships and things like that.
• 41:20
  So this novel to me did not seem anything like the blurb in my
• 41:25
  head. And it was when it started
• 41:27
  saying fog. I'm like, it's supposed to be
• 41:29
  snow. Bring back the snow.
• 41:33
  I just think the London winter, too, is as nondescript as these
• 41:36
  characters are. You know, like, like it just
• 41:38
  that's it. The land and winter.
• 41:40
  I'm like, OK, cool. Like it even.
• 41:42
  It even feels surface level. I think now we should give the
• 41:45
  book a rating out of five. OK, I'm going to go 1st and I
• 41:53
  like the book. I just thought like we said,
• 41:56
  didn't go over enough like in detail or expand on certain
• 42:00
  things and it was fine. I think it was maybe a bit too
• 42:03
  long for me for like what it was so I'm going to give it a 2.75.
• 42:09
  2.75. Are you trying to kill Aaron?
• 42:14
  I don't know. I'm like, I think between the
• 42:16
  2.75 and a three. I don't know how to do.
• 42:19
  Fair. Enough.
• 42:20
  Should I give it a three? Does that seem better?
• 42:22
  Because my, I keep thinking of when we read the rest of our
• 42:24
  lives and I don't want to get so angry, you know?
• 42:28
  No, actually. OK, right.
• 42:29
  It's made. So I'm going to give it a mid
• 42:31
  score. I'm going to give it a three.
• 42:32
  I feel I feel better. Three, not 2.75.
• 42:35
  It's a 3 made mid. Mid.
• 42:38
  That's it, That's it. I'm this is the thing about
• 42:44
  reading is that it's like, so I'm thinking about other books
• 42:47
  in my head and I'm like, I have to, you know, I would read it.
• 42:52
  It is. I'm in the exact same position
• 42:54
  as Hannah. I think having if I hadn't had
• 42:57
  this conversation, I'd have been happy with three because I've
• 42:59
  been like, it's well written and I feel like it has to be badly
• 43:03
  written or there has to be something horrifically awful
• 43:06
  about it for me to like push it further back.
• 43:10
  But I am like, OK, I'm going to go with three.
• 43:13
  But yeah, I'd I'd be tempted with the 2.5 but.
• 43:20
  I just keep thinking about all the bad books I've read before
• 43:23
  and give it like a 2.5 and I'm like this book doesn't deserve
• 43:27
  it in my weird scoring in my head but like.
• 43:30
  Well, you see, see, to me, I think even bad books sometimes
• 43:34
  have something that like draws you in in a deeper way.
• 43:37
  This was so did not do anything for me.
• 43:40
  I'm giving this A2. I know that sounds really cruel,
• 43:43
  but I just think in sheer, sheer enjoyment from this book and
• 43:47
  like what I wanted from it, it just it fell flat for me.
• 43:50
  And like writing is the writing is good.
• 43:52
  It's nothing to do with the writing.
• 43:54
  It's just the overall like, I mean, so many, so many elements
• 43:57
  of this just didn't didn't grab me.
• 43:59
  And I think that is that like landed in it.
• 44:01
  I mean, this could be maybe my lowest on the shortlist.
• 44:06
  I don't know. We'll see.
• 44:08
  I mean, Andrew Miller, if you're listening, could you please
• 44:10
  write a book about the asylum part?
• 44:12
  Because I feel like that would have made an excellent story.
• 44:16
  Like, it drew me in at the start.
• 44:19
  I was like, let's go. And then it went off something
• 44:22
  different. And I'm like, huh, like.
• 44:24
  Yeah, the side of the winter. Yeah, no.
• 44:27
  How give her that be do? You think that Aaron would
• 44:31
  actually have enjoyed the book because he stopped?
• 44:33
  Reading in the middle. Of the asylum, it's like all of
• 44:35
  us kind of agreed was a really good part in it, but he
• 44:37
  obviously wasn't. So do you reckon if it had gone
• 44:40
  straight in with Eric he'd have been like, I love this?
• 44:44
  I can see it just to be contrarian.
• 44:47
  You know I. Reckon Aaron will never read
• 44:51
  this book? He'll sit on the cell and he'll
• 44:54
  never finish it. I think if I was placing backs,
• 44:59
  I could have told you that Aaron wouldn't read this book.
• 45:02
  I knew as soon as we were starting this list.
• 45:05
  Look, he's reading it now. There we.
• 45:06
  Go. If you can only see the video.
• 45:09
  I don't think it's a criticism of you.
• 45:10
  It's a criticism of the book. It actually is not a criticism
• 45:14
  of you at all. I just do not think this book is
• 45:16
  really even slightly. Well that's the guys were our
• 45:22
  thoughts on the land in winter. Read along and share your
• 45:26
  thoughts on Instagram. We're at bookies favorite book
• 45:29
  club. You can also e-mail us at
• 45:31
  bookiesfavoritebookclub@gmail.com. We'll be uploading an episode
• 45:35
  each week until we finish the Booker Prize shortlist.
• 45:38
  Next week we'll be discussing Flashlight by Susan Choi.
• 45:42
  Subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're listening on so
• 45:45
  you don't miss the next. Episode Share this episode with
• 45:48
  a book lover you'd think would like this book and rate the
• 45:52
  podcast 5 stars and let's end on a final quote.
• 45:59
  All around them, meaningless and lovely.
• 46:01
  The endless dark flowing of the snow.
• 46:05
  There you have it.