What is going on in this book!?!

Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner.

I finished this….finally. Did I enjoy it? Can’t say that I did. I usually think of story lines being linear or ‘horizontal’. If this story can be visualised I’d say there are several vertical tangents in it. Standing side by side. But they didn’t seem to connect.

This is the story defined by Wikipedia:

Plot and Setting

“The story is narrated in the first person by Sadie Smith, a 34-year-old American undercover operative who now works freelance for shadowy clients. She’s sent to southwestern France to infiltrate a radical, self-sufficient commune called Le Moulin—a group of activists resisting corporate land grabs and industrial agriculture. Sadie’s mission is to provoke and destabilize the group, gathering intelligence and pushing them toward actions that her handlers can exploit.

However, as she becomes more enmeshed in the commune’s life and relationships, the line between her assignment and her own sense of self begins to blur.”

Did I want to finish it? No. But it is for book club so I persevered. I didn’t like Sadie. She was all over the place. She really played people and I just didn’t see the point. The other characters seemed sketchy. Did not connect with any of them. I would love to talk to someone who loved this book so they can tell me why. The book group discussion should be fun.

Photography

I had two days out with two separate clubs this week. Last Sunday one group went to a spot along the Derwent River called Cornelian Bay. There are several varieties of birds along the banks. I enjoy seeing the black swans. There are colourful boat houses too. I’ve not edited all the photos yet but will share two.

Then on Wednesday another club group went to Mt Field national park. There are a couple of beautiful waterfalls there. Those pics are still in camera as I haven’t had time to download them yet. Hope to share soon.

Life in general

Our big old Grizzy cat who has recently been diagnosed with diabetes is settling into his routine. He sleeps separately from others at night as we test his urine each morning. Then at 4:30 pm he gets his medication. i chose 4:30 as we’re generally home at that time. Too late for lunches or other appointments, too early for night out. The new medication (to Australia) is working so no needles.

I got to training at the gym a couple of times this week. I had to see my gp to adjust my blood pressure meds time as I was getting very light headed doing the squats, etc. I’m already the oldest person in my classes and the last thing I want to do is fall on my face wearing my Target leggings and faded, old t shirt in front of the young people in their specky Lululemon gym gear.

So far, so good.

Looking forward to

The Fullers book shop events are starting up now and I’m booked into a couple of them with Mr P and a couple of friends. I’ll share those later.

Another three friends and I are doing something really silly soon for an afternoon tea event at one’s home. You are probably familiar with the Cozy Colouring books that are everywhere in stores like Kmart and Big W and all over social media. They are little square books with simplistic pictures of cozy scenes. Bears, cats, etc. People colour them in very creative ways. No more worrying about staying in the lines. It now goes deeper than that. Four of us, me in my 70s, two friends in their 80s and one 92 yr old, are going to sit at a table with our cozy colouring books and many pens, acrylic markers, etc and see what we can share. Looking at spots, stripes, shading, snow flurries or sun beams all while enjoying a glass of sparkling or coffee and cake or all three. We are looking to do things together that make us crack up laughing. This should do it. I’ll have to share the results. (Maybe).

Here are a couple of examples of finished pages from looking on google.

My coming week TO DO list

*** To pick a couple of new books to begin

To pick up a couple of Cozy colour books at Big W. It is near the dog beach so will take dogs out first. Don’t worry, dogs won’t be left in hot car. They have an underground cool car park and this errand won’t take more than 10 min.

The dogs love the dog beach.