We find out what Kate’s book club made of Dr Fischer of Geneva, or The Bomb Party, by Graham Greene.
Alfred Jones, a widower who works as a translator for a chocolate company in Switzerland, meets Anna-Luise Fischer in a restaurant. Despite the difference in their ages the two fall deeply in love. They marry and only then does Jones start to learn about Anna’s wealthy father, who uses money and privilege to exert a dark hold over people.
Published in 1980, at the end of Greene’s life, this novella explores ideas of love, morality, good and evil, but did it strike any chords with our book club? Listen in to find out.
We also speak to journalist and occasional guest-on-the-pod Phil Chaffee about his book club who seek out ever-more challenging reads.
Book recommendations
- Compass by Mathias Enard (trans. Charlotte Mandel)
- A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
- Brighton Rock and The Quiet American by Graham Greene,
- Babette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen
- The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
- Lullaby by Leïla Slimani (trans. Sam Taylor)
Notes
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