The Reading Group Reads...
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
There was some confusion in the Crier regarding the date of June's meeting
of the Reading Group, but most of the "regulars" stuck by the
first-Wednesday-in-month rule and turned up at Kent House on the 1st of June.
Alexander McCall Smith was born in Zimbabwe, and is now a professor of Medical Law in Edinburgh, and visits friends in Botswana often. He has written many books, including books on law as well as fiction. "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency", is the first in a series of six books (so far) about Precious Ramotswe, the owner of the first detective agency to be opened in Botswana. There was an almost unprecedented lack of controversy in our discussion of this book, as everyone seemed to have enjoyed reading it. The main discussion revolved around why we liked it (or them) so much, which is quite difficult to describe.
In fact, is easier to say what these books are not, than to pin down their
appeal directly. They are not classic detective fiction Ðthough there are
puzzles and cases to be solved, but what the "Ladies" do with the
information they obtain is almost never what the reader expects. They are not
"great literature"; there are no long-winded descriptive passages
full of purple prose, but McCall SmithÕs deceptively simple choice of words is
wonderfully evocative. Clear pictures of the country and the people are
presented and are a definite part of the charm of these books. The heroine, Mma
Ramotswe is no Miss Marple. Agatha Christie's lady detective is deeply
cynical about human nature and trusts no one. The "traditionally
built" Mma Ramotswe sees the good in (almost) everyone, and tries to look
at the positive aspect of every situation. On the other hand, she is definitely
not Pollyanna. Mma Ramotswe recognises the realities of life in Africa:
corruption, crime, deep poverty, and AIDS ("the sickness"), and does
what she can to deal with these issues on a practical basis. Many of the
stories are told with humour, often involving the small human frailties of the
characters in the books, such as Mma Makutsi, the secretary who achieved 97 per
cent in her exam at the Botswana Secretarial College, and will never get over
it.
As usual, the evening's talk started with the topic of the "book of the month" but ranged far and wide: this time from Africa and snakes, to bonfires and speeding tickets. Next month's book is "The Sea, The Sea, by Iris Murdoch" and the group will meet on 6th July at Mary Hart's, 15 Mill Hill, and the one after that "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell.