NAOMI'S LITERATURE GROUP

My literature group is as old as Stroud U3A. When it began I was fresh from teaching A level, and so the group had too academic a flavour, but I soon discovered that the joy of teaching U3A adults included a democratic choice of material, not worrying about how much ground we covered each session, and letting discussion slide into reminiscence and red herrings.

 We have worked our way through literature from Russia, South Africa, USA, Spain and France, and have just inflicted savage criticism on the Penguin translation of Marquez 'Love in the Time of Cholera'. Over the years we have read aloud, with intense pleasure, every word of Austen's major novels. Normally we read aloud the odd paragraph to illustrate a point, but we have read aloud several plays by Shakespeare. Once or twice we've discussed short stories and literary biographies, and we have ranged from the 18th century novel to the latest prize-winners.

Stroud Bookshop and Nonsuch in Nailsworth have been very helpful with allowing us 10% off our paperbacks, which I attempt to distribute a fortnight before we discuss them. Nonsuch does not insist on a minimum of ten books.

 I think the novelist who has most surprised and delighted us is the Australian David Malouf. We are grateful to Barbara Moreton for introducing us to him.

Naomi Hull

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