John Crow's Devil by Marlon James | The South London Book Club

John Crow's Devil by Marlon James | The South London Book Club

Join us at the Roundhouse, Clapham Junction, for John Crow's Devil - newbies very welcome!

By The South London Book Club

Date and time

Location

The Roundhouse

2 North Side Wandsworth Common London SW18 2SS United Kingdom

About this event

  • Event lasts 2 hours

Hello!

After Sarah Viren's To Name the Bigger Lie recieved mixed reviews at June's South London Book Club, in August we will be going for John Crow's Devil by Marlon James.

This meeting will take place at the usual time and place of 7pm on the evening of Tuesday, August 5th at the Roundhouse, Wandsworth.

Of the book, New York Times writes:The tiny Jamaican backwater of Gibbeah is locked in a mythic battle for its soul. But although the combatants are (predictably enough) Good and Evil, it’s often hard to tell them apart. For years, the village’s spiritual needs have been tended by a conventional brand of Christianity imposed by the local plantation owner, to whom most of the parishioners owe their livelihood. Intended more to keep them in line than to bring them closer to God, this form of worship has as its temporal representative Hector Bligh, “a sinner playing a saint’s game,” a man so consumed by alcohol that his flock dismisses him as “the Rum Preacher.”Yet Marlon James’s powerful first novel is more than a theological contest pitting a ferocious god against a passive one. Both the Rum Preacher and the Apostle turn out to be driven not by faith but by guilt, in both cases guilt driven by sexual transgressions. Battling their personal sins sends them in opposite directions, only to come full circle into a clash that will be Gibbeah’s own version of Armageddon.

We will likely be a group of 6. If you are new to the Group, just come along and don't be apprehensive. We were all first timers once. You don't need to bring the book but make sure you have read it and bring your opinions!

If you are attending for the first time, we will likely all be in far corner of the pub. Imagine that you are standing in front of the long bit of the bar, go left, up the steps and we will try to be sitting in the top left-land corner of the pub.If you cannot make it, please adjust your RSVP, it helps us to organise seating.

We will have a piece of A4 on our table displaying John Crow's Devil.Do bring an idea of what book we put in the schedule next.

Here's to a great time discussing John Crow's Devil, 7pm at The Roundhouse.

Best wishes,

Emily

Organized by

Hi everyone,

We are a relaxed, friendly and not too serious book club based in Clapham and we meet on the first Tuesday of every month at The Roundhouse pub.

We also run Online every third Tuesday of the month with a different book.

Our events at The Roundhouse are run by Emily. David and Rob do the online session.

We plan events two months out: if you cannot make the next event look through the list of forthcoming meetings to see if a subsequent date is more convenient.

In addition we regularly attend The Roundhouse pub quiz as a team and have enjoyed days out including the British Library, the Reading Room of the British Museum and the Dickens Museum. If there is something bookish in London that you have always wanted to visit, we might be the Group for you!

Note that the number of registered attendees for an event isn't a great guide to the number that will join us. Many regulars get the book, read it, then sign up to come along in the days before our meeting. We are typically six or seven on the night for the in-person events at The Roundhouse.

Please bring an idea for next month's book (which you haven't already read!), and we'd love to see you there.

Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about how it works.

South London Book Club

Free
Aug 5 · 7:00 PM GMT+1