sametimenextmonth: February Book Club

Sunday, February 15, 2009

February Book Club

We just finished our February Book Club and discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird. Uh-oh...I better go back and correct myself. Ever since we read the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society we've taken to referring to ourselves as a "Society". So, our "Society" met at Laura's. She made a wonderful gumbo and an even better bread pudding. That is saying a lot coming from me because I love me a good gumbo but am not so keen on bread pudding. They are different every where you try them and some I've tried have just been awful. Actually, that shouldn't be that surprising since they are technically made from stale bread. There is a nack to whipping up one that is the right consistency of "jiggly". Kudo's to the meal, which was rounded out nicely by Terry's salad, some french bread and a simple appetizer of Pecorino Trufalleto cheese and crackers brought by your's truly. Carla G. made a lovely Wine-arita and there was coffee to finish off the dessert.

The discussion of the book was lively and informative as always. Nine of the full "Society" were present and each and every one of us gave the book a 5 (out 5) rating (one might've abstained). I tried to give it a ten but apparently, we are rigid about the rating rules, ha-ha. (I've also tried to give a book a negative number but that didn't go over either, ha-ha). For me, I think Mockingbird is as close to perfect writing as you are ever going to come. Her prose is simple and concise. The story is tight, amounting to just a couple of hundred pages as it spans about 4 years. The story is told by Scout as an adult as she reminisces about a pivotal event in her life one summer. The story is graceful in its telling of the people and the history of a small town in Alabama in the 1930's just prior to WWII. It is a coming of age story of a brother and sister as they learn about life in all its humor and horror. It is the loss of childhood innocence as the kids become aware of very adult themes that include an inadequate education system, racism, prejudice, domestic violence, and isolation. The main theme of the book for me is the reverence that we should feel toward all human life.

The story is poignant and somewhat nostalgic. I realized while I was trying to describe my feelings about the book that it leaves me with the same feeling I get when I watch Charlie Brown's Christmas story. I think that is because both of these works touch the child within me. Lis also wrote a very timely short essay. Lis is from Germany and, though she's lived here for many years, has an outsiders view of the race issue. Lis was reading the book at the time of the election and made some very astute observations and comparisons of that time to this. It was agreed that, yes, we have come a long way but there is more work to be done. I will post a link to Lis' article (with her permission) as soon as I get a chance. (NOTE: someone just pointed out to me that February was also Black History Month.)

Then we also got into a bit of discussion about March's book. The long awaited (for me, anyway) novel by Wally Lamb, "The Hour I First Believed". I will start by saying that his novel, "I Know This Much is True" is one of my top 5 favorite books. I have read it twice and plan to read it again. However, that said, I was a bit disappointed to find that he had used the Columbine High School shootings as the jumping off point for this book. Not that it isn't a relevant issue but I feared the violence of that moment would be too much for me, particularly at this time of year. But we agreed to read it and I rushed out and picked up the CD's at the library. My first instinct was right. I finished it but really wish I hadn't started.

I couldn't help compare the writing of Mockingbird to "Believed". What Harper Lee did in 200 pages it took Lamb 900 (or 20 cd's). His "True" book was just as long but this new effort just didn't have the same impact. In the first book the use of the transcribed journal to tell the story of his grandfather's life was one of my favorite parts. But in this one, the letters he uses to give family history just droned on and on. Carla G. liked the letters, so obviously it's a matter of opinion but it was one of those stories where absolutely nothing good ever happens for the characters and the ending was not a hopeful one. So far, I think 3 of us have finished, about 3 have attempted it and the rest have thrown in the towel. We decided to read a slimmer volume of short stories to round out March.

As always it was a fabulous time that always leaves me wanting more!

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2015 Hosts and Books

Jan 9 - Pam Boeck - All the Light We Cannot See
Feb 6 - Lou Christian - Alif the Unseen
March 6 - Terry Cummings - Kind of Kin
April 3 - Janie Tisdale - The Girl on the Train
May 1 - Arnora Parish - The Stolen Child
Jun 5 - Barb Barrow - The Elephant Whisperer
July 10 - Diana Beal - Lone Wolf
Aug 7 - Denise McGough - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
Sept 11 - Sherrie Phillips - H is for Hawk
Oct 2 - Arnora Parish - The Boy Who Drew Monsters
Nov 6 - Sherrie Phillips
Dec - Laura Madden - A Child's Christmas in Wales & Christmas Day in the Morning

The Honey Tree - Mary Oliver

And so at last I climbed

the honey tree, ate

chunks of pure light, ate

the bodies of bees that could not

get out of my way, ate

the dark hair of the leaves,

the rippling bark,

the heartwood. Such

frenzy! But joy does that,

I'm told, in the beginning.

Later, maybe,

I'll come here only

sometimes and with a

middling hunger. But now

I climb like a snake

I clamber like a bear to

the nuzzling place, to the light

salvaged by the thighs

of bees and racked up

in the body of the tree.

Oh, anyone can see

how I love myself at last!

how I love the world! climbing

by day or night

in the wind, in the leaves, kneeling

at the secret rip, the cords

of my body stretching

and singing in the

heaven of appetite.

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Lis and Diana's Review of Isaac's Storm

Lis said: This book centers around the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas, in 1901 and is blamed for the death of over 4500 people. Although the story wasn't a page-turner for most, it was full of interesting historical and scientific data while building up to describing accounts of the devastation and aftermath that the storm created. In my opinion, it is debatable whether the book should be considered a true fiction or a non-fiction. Hand in hand with the storm description, the book tells about the creation of the National Weather Service and the struggle that the organization went through to earn the people's trust. When looking back over the disaster, the author identifies areas of misuse and false pride - in the bureaucratic sector as well as the people's personal lives - that, if it had been overcome, might have averted some of the lost lives. Building up to the storm, the author touches on many historical facts surrounding the era, such as the state of Arkansas passing legislation a few decades earlier to legalize the proper pronunciation of its name to be "Arkansaw." Into this background, the author creates the characters that he was able to find in his research that made up the early Weather Service and some of the residence of Galveston, their spouses and children, making us shiver with dread over successful and unsuccessful rescue efforts. After bringing to life the unimaginable aftermath, with whole neighborhoods destroyed and bodies at every step, the book concludes with Galveston's recovery and a large chapter of Acknowledgements for the extensive support and research that the author relied on. I for one enjoyed the book immensely and, after the first third, found it difficult to put down till the end. Elisabeth Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine. I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

Diana said: The old saying, "hind sight is 20/20" comes to mind while reading the hurricane account of Galveston, Texas in 1901. Author Eric Larson's story reminded me of his first book we read, Devil in the White City, as he combined historical facts and real people while piecing together a plausible tale of personalities and lives. I have huge respect for writing historical fiction, as the writer not only has to devise an interesting story but also works as an investigator and researcher in the process. The first third of the story was slow and at times I found myself skimming the pages waiting for action. I think this may have been purposeful by Larson. As a reader I was going about my daily business and uninvolved like the townspeople of Galveston noting the changing winds and heading off to work. I took occasional notice of Isaac's trip to the American west by stage and his appearance as a "dandy", the use of telegraph as the primary form of communication from on location to another and it was surprising to find out the American and Cuban weather men held so little regard for each other. Americans found the Cuban forecasters primitive, romantic and unreliable. But once the hurricane was upon Galveston, I was spellbound for the remainder of the book. With the exception of once when I had to put the story down due to the brutal descriptions of decaying bodies which I found overwhelming. For me the story telling mimicked the event itself. Galveston and the rest of the U.S. were going along with business as usual, and then wham! A hurricane the magnitude no one expected or had experienced before bursts forth with action and drama and left no one untouched including me.

Lis' review of A Thousand Splendid Suns

The story playing in Afghanistan made it another compelling read and a walk through a different culture, very foreign to most of us. I had the fortune to have also read the book The Kite Runner by the same author and found that the two stories make great companion books, almost a must-read duo. Our month's selection takes us into the Arabic culture through the life of two women, one of them a servant girl's bastard child - and yes, I used the old fashioned term for illegitimate child on purpose to stay with the tone of the novel. The other woman is depicted as a well-educated, emancipated young woman from a progressive, westernized family. Through the turmoils surrounding Afghanistan's recent 30-year history, their lives intertwine with the same abusive husband and their attempt to deal with the changes brought on by the Russian occupation, the takeover of the Mujahedin and, eventually, the Taliban. The companion book, The Kite Runner, deals with the same political and social upheavals in Afghanistan but is told through the life of a man and his very devoted male servant. A Thousand Splendid Suns evoked a lot of emotion for most of us, feeling comfortable as well educated American women that have rights and can expect a certain social standing that greatly exceeds the animal-like treatment of our female Afghan counterparts under Taliban rule. Needless to say, we had a lively discussion about Afghanistan's troubles, the interactions of both women's parents' influences, their different upbringing, and how it made them relate to each other. We found similarities to the book Shanturam in this author's use of the cinema, especially Bollywood movies. One thing we did not discuss though that I found enticing, was the advantages of being able to skip hair and make-up treatments through the use of a Burka! Blue was, after all, the favored color of my youth, although I always preferred much darker shades. What do you think, ladies, Burkas in our future?

sametimenextmonth

Sunday, February 15, 2009

February Book Club

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