sametimenextmonth: August 2013

Saturday, August 10, 2013

August 2013 Book Club

August Book Club at Lis' house. This August hasn't been as hot as some but we still opted for lighter fare. Macaroni, cornbread, and Quinoa salads were delicious. Lis made a squash casserole and sausages and stuff bread sandwiches. Carla A brought chocolates, spicy mango pieces and ice cream for dessert. We topped the night off with coffee and Baileys.

We had a few absentees: Carla G, Pam, Barb, Lou, and Denise. Darby and Terry left after dinner. They hadn't finished the book and didn't want the ending spoiled for them. That left, Lis, Diana, Carla A, Arnora, Janie and Laura to discuss The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

Our discussion here will be strictly "a no spoiler alert". The basic premise of the story revolves around a married, retired couple: Harold and Maureen (not Harold and Maude as Carla quipped). Living in the south of England, they have fallen into a deep rut of boredom and barely tolerating each other. They have a son that is estranged from the family and they blame each other. One day a letter shows up for Harold. A former female co-worker from 20 years in the past, Queenie, alerts Harold that she is dying in a hospice. Harold, not knowing really how to respond to this pronouncement Harold set off on a journey to save "Queenie". He believes if he delivers his letter in person he can save Queenie's life. So, Harold sets off on a 600 mile journey in his yachting shoes with nothing but his debit card. The ensuing, unexpected and unlikely pilgrimage has unexpected results.

Laura said that is was difficult to keep in mind that Harold was not the narrator. It felt like a first person story. There were some tears in the room as we discussed Harold's journey, the people he met along the way, the memories that surfaced for him and his transformation. Maureen is at home going through her shock at Harold's decision. At first, she tries to hide the fact that Harold is gone to his friend and neighbor. Maureen begins to recognize her dependence on Harold as she realizes she tries to figure out things like how to pay the bills. This pilgrimage takes Maureen and Harold on parallel journeys of healing and self-discovery.

I had the unusual experience of reading Harold's story as my own sister was taking a pilgrimage on the El Camino de Santiago. I felt I was following a parallel path walking with both my sister and Harold. My sister and her friend took 5 weeks to walk 500 miles from France through Spain. Some of her experiences were similar to Harold's. They met interesting and strange people, they used a lot of tape on their toes and they even met a gentleman named Harold from Germany who was in his 70's. He had blisters on his feet and his shoes were falling apart. She said it was truly a life changing experience.

Both my sister and Harold had the experience of lots of silence on the walk. Like a walking meditation.When the mind is quiet and there is nothing left for it to think about or figure out except putting one foot in front of the other - the most amazing memories and emotions surface. Laura was sad that she felt Harold was so broken at one point. She was trying to figure out why he had to be so emotional broken. Several of us agreed that is where the healing starts. And coming out on the other side of that "dark night of the soul" is really where life begins.

Words that were used to describe this story: beautiful, original, poignant, poetic and moving. The book rated a 4.6 with a "it made my heart full" from Carla A. I think this is a book where words fail to convey the depth of feeling it evoked.

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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

Saturday, August 10, 2013

August 2013 Book Club

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