The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency discussion

[Caryl]

Happy April! Here is our discussion thread for The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (http://www.storknotes.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=61793).

We've decided to post just one discussion thread for this month's group read. You can share your thoughts about the book at any time during your reading. It would be helpful if you could post in the subject line the chapter you are on in the book. That way, we can open this thread during our reading without being surprised by any spoilers.

Here are some questions to spark discussion, but feel free to ignore them and just post your thoughts on the book! :)

~ What were your first impressions of this book?
~ How is it different from other books in the mystery genre?
~ What do you think of the characters? Do you relate to any of them?
~ Are you enjoying the style in which it is written?
~ How was this book similar to or different from what you expected?
~ Has this book taught you anything new, or made you think about something you’d never thought about before? Explain.
~ Would you recommend this book to others? To a particular person?

Looking forward to our chat about this book! :)

[HunnyBunny]

How cool! I didn't even know this, and i bought the book yesterday! Really looking forward to reading it, i hear it's great.

[Caryl]

Laura, what a great coincidence! I'm looking forward to hearing what you think. :)

Caryl

[Caryl]

I am enjoying our group read so far! I find the characters really interesting and I like how it began with the life of Mma Ramotswe's father and her childhood. I really like her! She's intelligent and very brave. Now, after reading the chapter "Boy," I feel like I was plunked down into the middle of a mystery, and I'm crossing my fingers that Mma Ramotswe will be entering this picture soon.

[Marmalade]

I started last night and couldn't put it down. So I didn't get much sleep.

At first I thought it was going to be a mystery like Patterson writes. And I usually HATE mysteries but I told myself I'd try the group read this month. When I started reading it, I thought This persons first language cannot be English. And so I read the back to see where the author was from and what the book was about. Second chapter had me hooked. It was interesting how other cultures view life. I really liked how the narrator changed from person to person. So the reader could understand the thoughts of the characters. I also enjoyed the twists of the cases. Although I did guess on two of the cases. I think the foreshadowing on one part should have been left out (Don't want to ruin the book for anyone who hasn't finished it).

[Jer]

I'm 4th on the hold list for this book at the library. Fingers crossed I'll get it before April is over! :)

[eviesmom]

I read it last night. It was an easy read and I finished about 200 pages in just under 3 hours.

I really liked the character of Precious Ramotswe. She was smart, intuitive and not afraid to get involved. I also liked that she was built like the quintessential African woman and was happy about it. Not only that but men found her attractive because she was fat and sassy.

I do have a couple of complaints though. I sometimes felt that there was more to a situation than the author let us in on. The writing was so sparse in places that I didn't feel like there was enough information given for me to come to the same conclusions as the characters. Also the author gives some tantalizing hints about Mma Malatsi's possible involvement in her husband's death and then never follows through with that story line.

I kind of felt that we were left hanging on the whole witch doctor situation as well. Wouldn't he have been angry to find the little boy missing? The boy can identify him as well, doesn't that worry him a bit. Mma Ramotswe also knows where he lives and could lead police to him. I also want to know about her neighbor Dr. Gulubane. I got the hint that he was more than he seemed. Who was watching her during the power outage? The book seemed to end rather abruptly for my taste.

All in all it was interesting and entertaining and I would like to read the other books in the series to get my questions answered.

I especially liked this piece from the father's story about why he never traveled away from his country "I told him that if a man is born in a dry place, then although he may dream of rain, he does mot want too much and that he will not mind the sun that beats down. So I never with him to Zululand and I never saw the sea, ever. But that has not made me unhappy, not once"

[Caryl]

I just finished this weekend! I enjoyed this book a lot.

Kelly, I'm glad you joined us for this group read even though you don't like typical mysteries. I liked that this "mystery" was more the story of Precious and her work, as well as the story of a country.

Toni, I had some of the same questions you did. I am trying to decide if the author left these questions open-ended because this was the style in which he wanted to write this mystery, or if some things were put there to urge us to continue the series. I am kind of leaning toward the former; I think one of the themes of the book is that life (and mysteries) are not always neatly organized or explained. You asked, "Who was watching her during the power outage?" I wondered if maybe it was her imagination; this happens the night that she gets the letter from the teacher who's lost his son. She's learning she cannot solve every crime, and there are things she can't fix for people.

I liked the way the book was written, the way it meandered into each story she encountered, alternating with her father's history, her childhood, and her thoughts about her country. I loved the character of Precious, and I want to get to know her better now by reading some more books in the series. Toni, I loved your description of her!

I found this this interview with the author (http://www.readersread.com/features/alexandersmith.htm) and I'm going to read it now. Oh, and I wanted to share this favorite quote (Dr. Maketsi is talking to Precious):

"But these are big issues," he said jovially. "Talking about pumpkins doesn't make them grow." His mother-in-law said this frequently, and although he disagreed with almost everything she said, he found himself echoing her words only too often.

I thought that was pretty funny. :)

[k-mom]

Toni,

I feel the same way! You plucked questions that I had right out of my brain. Especially about the neighbor!

~ What were your first impressions of this book? My first impressions of this book were I loved the language and the descriptions of the land and people. They truly love life and their country w/all their imperfections.

~ How is it different from other books in the mystery genre? The writing was so much more poetic in this book than other mysteries that I have read. I am not a big fan of mystery books, yet I enjoyed this one.

~ What do you think of the characters? Do you relate to any of them? I absolutely love Precious Ramotswe. She is strong, intelligent, independent, respected, and loved. She doesn't let conventional views get in her way of becoming a Detective, yet she respects the traditions and customs of her land (besides witchcraft).

~ Are you enjoying the style in which it is written? I enjoyed the style very much, I could picture the landscapes and the people described.

~ How was this book similar to or different from what you expected?I didn't start this book w/high expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was such a wonderful book.

~ Would you recommend this book to others? To a particular person?I woulf recommend this book to others, particularly women as I think that they would identify w/this book more than a man would.

[Marmalade]

I thought that he left the open mysteries because that is how life is. There are somethings that are never solved. I'll probably read the rest of the series since I really did enjoy this. I liked the incomplete ending. It shows a difference in American writing and another culture. The typical ending would have had a heap of praise given to our hero. Given a medal and what not. But, our hero in this book steps back, out of the picture. I'd like to know Why the heck did the witch doctor abduct the boy. Just for a slave or "other" purposes. Is the father going to exact revenge on the witch doctor?

I thought it was funny when the mechanic was going to Stand up to her. He had his speech laid out in his mind. Heheh. Shows that a man will never win in a match of wits with a woman.

[SusanH]

I just read the novel this weekend and I also thoroughly enjoyed it! I'm not usually a fan of mysteries, but this one definitely worked for me. I liked that it had lots of small mysteries instead of one big one. I also liked that most of her "mysteries" were easily solved by just wandering around watching people, lol.

I liked the tale of the 16 year old Indian girl and her boyfriend Jack. I had some of the same questions as the rest of you and I'm also curious if the sequels follow up on some of them. He may have been laying the groundwork for future novels. Mma Ramotswe was a wonderful character and I was very pleased when she agreed to marry the mechanic. I did find her first marriage to be out of character, but as she herself said, 20 year olds are often blind and headstrong. Still, it's hard to believe that the woman we spend most of the book with would have married a man who treated her so appallingly even before the wedding.

[HunnyBunny]

I loved this book. I'm a big mystery fan, but it felt more like "literature" to me than mystery. I've read a bunch of books about Africa lately (check out "Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa" by Keith Richburg for a fascinating, though somewhat depressing, look at some of the troubles in Somalia, Rwanda, etc. in the past decade) so this book added to the overall picture I'm developing of Africa. I found it interesting that it was written by a man ...

[Jer]

I got it! Just in time for the end of April, but I got it! :D

I started reading it yesterday. I've just started the chapter "Boy," and it's really getting good. So far, I like Precious quite a lot... but I'm not sure I understand the "Miss Marple of Botswana" reference?

[djk42]

Bumping because I just read it and someone else is working on it too.. I will post tomorrow hopefully. :)

[djk42]

~ How is it different from other books in the mystery genre?
---This book is very lighthearted. Though it talks about some very serious topics, it does not have the feel of the dark and stormy night in a haunted castle that so many mysteries strive for.

~ What do you think of the characters? Do you relate to any of them?
--I like Precious. I think that the reason she let her husband treat her so poorly was that he told her this is what marriage is like. Since she had never seen a traditional marriage, her aunt was a little 'different' and mother deceased, she believed him. I think that is why she planned to never remarry. While she knew the murder of her son was not normal, up until that point she believed him and thought another man would be much the same. It took years of observing others to discover that he was not normal and marriage is not supposed to be like that.

~ Are you enjoying the style in which it is written?
--Yes, I really like the flow.

~ Would you recommend this book to others? To a particular person?
--Yes, to just about anyone. :)

I agree that we never know the whole story in life, and I think that this book feels more like that than like the author left something out. Too often I think the author forgot part of their plot of a major ending was left on the editting floor, but in this case it just fits well.