Help -- Anybody know what's on the porch?

I can't figure out something that is described in KO Dahl's novel "The Last Fix." The question is about the "Palace."

When  goes to Frølich goes to Gunnarstranda's country cabin for barbecue,Gunnarstranda is sitting on the porch rolling cigarettes. To his right is something with a cap and arms, but it's never explained what it is.

This is in the chapter called "Palace" which is what Gunnarstranda calls the cabin.

Thanks for any help.

Scandinavian Writers: KO Dahl's "The Last Fix" - 10/7/2010 @ Drew's

Our next selection in the topic of "Scandinavian Authors" is KO Dahl's "The Last Fix." Dahl is one of Norway's better known crime novelists. It's been a long time since we had a whodunit.

Linda will be able to enjoy it on her Kindle; since I'd already bought the book before I got mine, I'm going to read the hardback. Happily, my Kindle 3 #-G  arrived the evening we discussed "The Hunger" at my house.

In the future, we may all have digital books, but I bet it will be decades until all the books we like are available that way. Since I bought my Kindle, I've looked for a lot of books in Kindle format, and have had very little success. Even "Gone With the Wind" isn't available. It's posted on Amazon's website, but has a "pricing information unavailbale" so I couldn't buy it. Happily, a lot of technical software books are available, so I'll load up as my budget permits!

August's meeting is 9-Sep-2010 at Louis's House

All except Drew. Maybe he'll be at the next meeting!

We'll be discussing the current "Scandinavian Writers" selection "Hunger" by Knut Hamsun.

I saw "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" but it's so long for a book club selection, so I'll be passing out something a bit shorter, but interesting.

Did I mention I just bought a Kindle? Now 1/3 of us have this marvelous piece of technology, with 3-g cellular networking no less!

July's Meeting - Thursday the 22nd 2010

Several members are going to be taking some vacation, or out of town for other reasons in June and July. Our meeting will be Thursday July 22, 2010.



We are all reading "Clock Without Hands" by Carson McCullers. I finished it a couple of weeks ago, and am now reading "The Optimist's Daughter" by Eudora Welty. Fun fact: the email client "Eudora" was written by a programmer who liked Ms. Welty's writing and her name, so he named it after her. I don't know if she got any royalties. The poet / ex-professor Stella Nesanovich (www.Nesanovich.com) met her and has an autographed first edition of "The Optimist's Daughter."



We hope everyone is enjoying this hot weather. Our topic is now "Scandinavian Authors."
Louis Hemmi - www.Hemmi.us www.SacredCodes.com

New Technology - KNO may be a Kindle,Sony eBook Reader, Nook slayer

A company called KNO has debuted a device that has two 14" touch screens and is in color. I don't know too much about it yet, but think it's got great potential if it is affordable and if the company can make a decent profit on it.


Click here for the link to KNO.com

I'd sure love to see this. Huffington has this new to share about it:

Link to Huffington Post's article

May 2010 Meeting

We discussed A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. This farcical work wasn't as well thought of by the book club members as I had hoped. Three members disliked it so much that they couldn't suffer to read the whole book. I think you have to be in the mood for a book like this. I caught myself on many occasions laughing out loud; this behavior is so unlike me.

The story is set in New Orleans, where I spent Easter of 2010. Here's a photo of Louis the webmaster at the Café du Monde.


Buddy, Barbara, and Sam hosted the meeting with terrific Mexican food, consisting of fajitas of both beef and chicken, fresh fluffy tortillas, chile con queso, pico de gallo, rice, beans and a plenitude of wine. We ate and discussed the book, then went outside to see Barbara's new addition to her house.

Jessica then directed our attention skyward, as the exact moment that the space shuttle would be over Houston was at hand. We saw it!!

All in all, it was a lovely evening, and I look forward to next month when the meeting will be at Linda's.
Cheers!
Louis

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

I finished the book club selection (my selection) of A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. I am forbidden to discuss my views, according to our bylaws, so as not to prejudice our meeting's discussion.

I just finished Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith last Saturday. It started out intense,and grew more so in the next 400+ pages. This novel is set in Stalinist Russia, 1953. Communism gives killers an easy time of it, as there is always someone to blame their crimes on.

This is a powerful story, well told. I liked it so much that I've now ordered Tom Rob Smith's second book 'a Secred Speech." His characters invite either your sympathy or contempt, without being too stereotypical.

This one rates five jalapeños!