different senses of humour

19th October
This evening the autumn group meeting was held for the five WIs in the local area.These are important dates in the WI year when it is a chance to get together and discuss relevant topics. Some groups have fallen by the wayside and others have changed the nature of their meetings into fundraisering events open to all.We are very fortunate to have an active group convener who is prepared to go beyond the usual job description: she organises outings for the local WIs as well, so we get to see each other more frequently and support each other for events.Last summer it was a trip to London and now she is planning a pre-Christmas outing to Birmingham which will combine Christmas market shopping with an art gallery and a guided tour of the new developments in the city.
The speaker entertained the members with monologues written and immortalised by Joyce Grenfell. She is a tutor from our own Denman College and everyone enjoyed her presentation.We had the usual reports on what some of the WIs had been doing over the last year and noted possible speakers for ourselves. One WI included the usual complaint about the rising cost of the subscription, warning of possible loss of members because of fixed incomes. However she rather undermined her argument by reporting that her small WI had entertained a speaker from the Air Ambulance people who had been delighted to sell over £100 worth of goods at the meeting. It's all a question of perceived values, I suppose.
20th October
Local WI Book group this afternoon and I'm pleased to relate that we are a growing band, although any more and I for one will have difficulty in finding comfortable chairs for everyone.We had requested a Hilary Mantel novel following her Booker Prize win last month so the Bucks Library came up with "Beyond Black".Those who had managed to read it in time were praising the writing and the wit but it caused a few doubts because it was such black humour and a weird subject matter.The writer is so observant of our society (and it is our society because the story is centred around the outskirts of the M25), our ways in supermarkets, our behaviour on roads, the modern training jargon for work improvement, the philosophy behind new build projects---it's all there and so funny! But if you cannot stomach the idea of companion spirits like Harry Potter's and those in Northern Lights but seedier by far, don't read it. It is very original and we now want to read some more of Hilary Mantel but in the meantime we are going back to a classic or two.