The consensus from the book club on Come, Thou Tortoise was that it didn’t live up to the hype on the book jacket. The novel got a solid Okay from the rest of the book club. Some enjoyed all the wordplay. Some, like myself, found it a little too much. But we all said it wasn’t as funny as advertised.

Come, Thou Tortoise

The overall story was well received, even if its telling didn’t impress as much. We all seemed to think that the pay off for the book didn’t come until very late in the story’s telling and that, ultimately, the conclusion was underwhelming. As I said during the meeting, you may enjoy it but if you have a better book as an option you may want to give Come, Thou Tortoise a pass.

My favourite comment from another member posited that all the animals in the book had a human equivalent, not just the bond between Winnifred and Oddly – for example, Uncle Thoby is Wedge the hamster. I had noticed the frequent animal interaction, but didn’t directly overlay them with a person. Thoughts like this are the reason I wanted to join a book club, to get another perspective that I may have overlooked, and I really enjoyed my first real book club experience.

Next month is another Canadian novel: The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner.