sametimenextmonth: February 2020

Monday, February 17, 2020

February Book Club - The Starless Sea Part 2

Thanks to all who braved the night and found their way to Etowah Road in Noble, America. The house sits in town but, off the beaten bath.Though it's only six miles from center of Norman, it feels like it's in the boonies.

I was so excited to see that everyone had caught the spirit of the evening by coming in the costume of their favorite character or author. We were having so much fun admiring everyone's creativity and catching up on news that we almost forgot to fill out plates. Thanks also to Carla A for taking the photos documenting our costumes.

We did miss Janie, Leslie, Pam, Terry and Gwynne. Congratulations to Pam! Her daughter, Katie, gave birth to Margaret Joan Moore on the day.

The weather cooperated and it was a nice night for Book Club. Carla A brought a cheesy dip and crackers and Denise brought fruit and cheese. Arnora brought the beautiful centerpiece and mixed nuts. Cheese must have been the theme as I made a cheesy Chicken Alfredo pasta. Carla G brought salad, Lis made her much desired Mayan hot chocolate, Tammy brought bread, Carla A also brought a blueberry cobbler.

Our book this month was The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. We had previously enjoyed her book The Night Circus however, this one garnered more mixed reviews. We did have a good long discussion which is appropriate given the length of the book. This book was different than most we have read because it was actually six books woven into one through common themes and threads. The themes, coupled with metaphors, fantastical reality, the underground world and, periods of time travel, past lives, etc. did make it hard to follow at times. One of the themes that Diana and Laura brought forth was that they felt the book was really a metaphor for what is happening in the environment. That really helped me make more sense of it.

I had read that the author was attempting to write a mythological story for a modern audience. Perhaps this new age mythology is meant to remind us that things are always changing, and like the butterfly effect, each change impacts the next and so on. Denise and Carla G wanted to know the meaning of the symbolism of the bee's. It seems the author is sharing her concerns for this "keystone" insect and the catastrophic impact to our world if we do not fight for the survival of the species. Also, the rising Starless Sea could be our own oceans rising due to climate change.

Denise brought up the question, "Is it a problem that the book may have failed to connect with the likely intended audience? Or, is it satisfying that some books, when published, were initially not well received but had book champions that saved them from obscurity and opened them up to a wider audience at a later date." It does appear that some books are just ahead of their time and it takes the audience time to catch up to the message.

The book rated a 4.12 for those who finished and wanted to rate it. Carla A liked it. Carla G, Sherrie and Denise found it hard to follow - I wanted to reserve my rating as I might revisit the book after the discussion.

Our next book is Ann Padgett's, The Dutch House.

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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

Monday, February 17, 2020

February Book Club - The Starless Sea Part 2

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