BTSATM: Week 4, Chapters 11 - 13 and the Novel as a Whole

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Please use this thread to disucss the entirety of Behind the Scenes at the Museum.  Please note, this is a SPOILER FRIENDLY thread.

[Peppermill]

I keep wanting to make a comment on BTSATM and then realizing my copy is not within easy access to check details on chapter et al.  So let me simply comment here that I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.  That occurred in 1953 within days of turning ten, an age to be transfixed by the fairy-tale like world of royalty.  I remember well visiting the neighbors to see the event on their tiny black and white screen and attempting (unsuccessfully) to see the replay at the local movie theatre.  (How different from the world-wide coverage in 1981 in color of the marriage of Charles and Diana, versus the ViewMaster pictures I so much enjoyed of the coronation.)  It was fun to read here of ordinary British families celebrating the day.

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Have you seen the movie adaptation of 84 Charing Cross Road?  I was reminded of that scene a little with the family all gathered to watch the coronation on TV with friends (and then Anthony Hopkins comes in with a plate of sandwiches).

[Peppermill]

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Melissa_W wrote:

Have you seen the movie adaptation of 84 Charing Cross Road?  I was reminded of that scene a little with the family all gathered to watch the coronation on TV with friends (and then Anthony Hopkins comes in with a plate of sandwiches).

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No, I haven't.  Sounds right on, too.

[Melissa_W Moderator]

You should try and borrow a copy!   It has really great performances by Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins (who never act in a scene together) as well as a small role taken by Judi Dench as Hopkins' wife.

It's a great movie for book-lovers!  A teensy bit sad at the end but I think it's very faithful to the real story.

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Peppermill wrote:

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Melissa_W wrote:

Have you seen the movie adaptation of 84 Charing Cross Road?  I was reminded of that scene a little with the family all gathered to watch the coronation on TV with friends (and then Anthony Hopkins comes in with a plate of sandwiches).

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No, I haven't.  Sounds right on, too.

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[Fozzie]

Any idea what the title means?

[Fozzie]

Early on, I mentioned that the reliability of the narrator might be an issue.  When I read that Ruby had blocked out all memories of her twin, that was a not-so-subtle reminder of the issue.  The whole book has to be taken with a grain of salt.

[Melissa_W Moderator]

I haven't found anything really definitive.  This page at Books at Transworld does have a quote from Atkinson about the title origins but it's a bit vague.

Personally, I think it's meant to mean all the "stuff" we bury about our family histories, etc.  We "curate" what the world see about us.  The novel is about all the family history Ruby pulls from the basement storage.

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Fozzie wrote:

Any idea what the title means?

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[Peppermill]

Thanks, Melissa!

The Guardian -- here is more, I just edited this to include this link.  Again, I found it from the site below.

This is from Kate Atkinson's web site:

"It doesn't really matter in which genre Atkinson chooses to write. Her subject is always the irrecoverable loss of love and how best to continue living once you have glumly recognised that That was what the world was like, things improved but they didn't get better. Her gift is presenting this unnerving and subversive philosophy as a dazzling form of entertainment."

Sunday Times

Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum  by Emma Parker

Here is a book about the book.  (Learned of it from Atkinson's web site.)

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Melissa_W wrote:

I haven't found anything really definitive.  This page at Books at Transworld does have a quote from Atkinson about the title origins but it's a bit vague.

Personally, I think it's meant to mean all the "stuff" we bury about our family histories, etc.  We "curate" what the world see about us.  The novel is about all the family history Ruby pulls from the basement storage.

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Fozzie wrote:

Any idea what the title means?

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[Peppermill]

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

• Guide from ReadingGroupGuides.com
• Guide from Barnes & Noble
• Guide from Transworld Publishers
• Article from the Guardian Book Club

Some guides from the website of the author, with some repetition of what was provided earlier.

[Peppermill]

Some of you may have noticed the references to Lady Bird books in this novel (or am I getting mixed up with The Fountain Overflows  for the Classics board -- two sprawling families plus The Magician's Assistant in one month have done me in ?) -- anyway, here is the link where Dulcinea talks about these books in Suzy's thread on "Books You've Read and Never Forgotten" in the Community Room.

[Peppermill]

This is from Cyborg Queen in the same thread mentioned above.

Cinderella - LadyBird Books version.  Published in 1964 and from England. It was 16p. :-)  This was probably one of the earliest book that I owned. I don't know the circumstances of acquiring it because I grew up in NJ.    I remember staring at the illustrations a lot and dreaming that one day Mom and I won't be poor. As well as having a fairy tale/ Cinderella style wedding. In fact, that's what is going to happen. So it was kind of ironic to open the book once again and having the memories flood back to me.

The Old Woman and her Pig - LadyBird books version. 

(I still have the two books above)

[Fozzie]

These two quotes from The Guardian article seem contradictory:

Looking at Behind the Scenes now, I can see that York, not Ruby, is the all-pervading main character of this book. The novel is a hymn to my relationship with the city, constructed out of history, memory and nostalgia.

And, of course, it's not about York, or things or museums; like Tristram Shandy, like all literature, it's about the journey of the self towards the light.

Great food for thought anyway!

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Thank you Pepper!  I somehow missed that book when I was looking for BTSATM editions on the website.

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Peppermill wrote:

Thanks, Melissa!

The Guardian -- here is more, I just edited this to include this link.  Again, I found it from the site below.

This is from Kate Atkinson's web site:

"It doesn't really matter in which genre Atkinson chooses to write. Her subject is always the irrecoverable loss of love and how best to continue living once you have glumly recognised that That was what the world was like, things improved but they didn't get better. Her gift is presenting this unnerving and subversive philosophy as a dazzling form of entertainment."

Sunday Times

Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum  by Emma Parker

Here is a book about the book.  (Learned of it from Atkinson's web site.)

---

Melissa_W wrote:

I haven't found anything really definitive.  This page at Books at Transworld does have a quote from Atkinson about the title origins but it's a bit vague.

Personally, I think it's meant to mean all the "stuff" we bury about our family histories, etc.  We "curate" what the world see about us.  The novel is about all the family history Ruby pulls from the basement storage.

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Fozzie wrote:

Any idea what the title means?

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[Peppermill]

Melissa -- I don't think this includes the book itself, at least if I read the comments about it correctly (on another site).

Happy Thanksgiving!  Pepper

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Melissa_W wrote:

Thank you Pepper!  I somehow missed that book when I was looking for BTSATM editions on the website.

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Peppermill wrote (excerpt):

Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum  by Emma Parker

Here is a book about the book.  (Learned of it from Atkinson's web site.)

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