It’s time for #6degrees. Start at the same place as other wonderful readers, add six books, and see where you end up!
This month we begin with The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles. I haven’t read this book but I remember my mum reading it (in the seventies) and being engrossed.
I also remember her being engrossed in Sophie’s Choice by William Styron.
Sophie’s Choice is set post-WWII but much of the story is about what happened during the war. Similar is Kate Atkinson’s A God in Ruins.
There’s a reference in A God in Ruins to how history might have been different if Hitler had died at birth – “I think if only I could go back in time and shoot Hitler, or, better still, kill him at birth.” (p.278).
I was reading Less by Andrew Sean Greer at the same time as God in Ruins and oddly, there’s a similar reference to Hitler in that book – ‘Arthur says, “We can never kill Hitler.”‘ (p.248).
Less is the story of an author on a pilgrimage, as is John Irving’s Avenue of Mysteries.
There’s a great scene in Avenue of Mysteries with an elephant and a circus tent – so Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is the obvious link.
The main character in Water for Elephants is adrift, and finds refuge in the circus, as did Lorena Hickok, whose story is told by Amy Bloom in White Houses.
Where will other chains go? Link up below or post your link in the comments section.
Next month (February 2, 2019), we’ll begin with Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk.
