The Book Group Report - 3

At tonight's meeting of the eclectic book group, we discussed Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin.  I was shocked to learn that I was in good company, in that of the 8 people who were there, 3 had still not read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland even after reading the fictional story behind the fictional story.  I got to feel a little smug that at least I had read Alice's Adventures, even if it was just a month ago!

We were most interested in the history behind the photo of Alice that I blogged about on August 30, and where it was found.  For instance, it seems that if the photo was found among Charles Dodgson's things, or worse yet, in the possession of some other shady man from the era, that maybe the photo could have been intended to be provocative.  However, if it was found among Alice's belongings, it is more likely to have been taken and preserved innocently.  Melanie Benjamin writes that she first saw the photo at an exhibit of Dodgson's photography at a museum, but that still doesn't shed light on where the photo spent the 100 years prior to the exhibition, as photos could have been gathered from many separate collectors.

The consensus on the book was that it was a great story, and it just made us wonder how much could be true.

Our next book is yet to be determined.  Books under consideration are Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.  by Sandra Gulland, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.  My vote would be for Freedom since I have already read the other two, and am going to read Freedom sooner or later, whether the group picks it or not.