Between the Covers: Stories from My Bookcase

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Evening Class by Maeve Binchy

When I started reading Evening Class, I felt like I knew some of these characters. I felt like I knew Aidan Dunne from before. Was he always married to Nell? After a quick Google search, I now realize that Aidan Dunne had been one of the patients at the Heart clinic in Binchy’s Heart and Soul.

It was interesting to see how an evening class brought people together and changed their lives for the better. They were an odd bunch really, they probably wouldn’t have signed up for the class had they known they’d be such a hodge-podge of personalities and backgrounds. But it all turned out for the best.

Of all the characters, Connie had the most intriguing story, at least for me. What was it really that caused her to have problems in bed with her husband? She had hopes for a perfect marriage, but right at the honeymoon it was so apparent that it was not going to be so. In the end I also waited for her to have a happy ending. I guess there is some vindication with how her husband and his mistress ended up, but there are loose ends for Madam Constanza. Did she hook up with her old boyfriend again?

What appealed to me in this story is how each one of them found a passion in learning Italian, and then how everyone made the trip to Italy happen. As it seemed, not everyone was sure they could make the trip when they first signed up for the class. Only Laddy was sure he wanted to visit Italy. But in the end, everyone made it. They signify to me something that I need in my life. I am still at a loss as to what gives me much passion. Yes I am passionate about my blogs but I can hardly turn it to make enough money to quit my day job and pursue other passions. For a time I was also passionate about baking. But I haven’t touched my tools in 2 years.

Signing up for a class may just be the spark I need to prod me on. That’s on my 101 in 1001 list.

What about you? Apart from required classes when you were in school, did you take any special class as an adult? Something you were really interested in? How did it go?

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