sametimenextmonth: March 2020 Book Club

Sunday, March 8, 2020

March 2020 Book Club - The Dutch House

Blog #151 and Book #214

March book club brings the first quarter of 2020 to a close. We celebrate St. Patrick's Day this month. And, on a sad note, we send our love and prayers to Darby and Nate this month. Darby's adorable, feisty and accomplished Grandmother, Maree, passed away last week. She was quite something and several of us were fortunate enough to meet her a few years ago. She was 98 and had lived a remarkable life. I hope you all had a chance to read her online obituary that she wrote for herself.

Thanks to Terry for hosting. Her home gets prettier every time I visit. Laura, Robbie and Jordan made us comforting and delicious Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Terry made Tomato Bisque Soup. The main course was complimented by Carla G's olives and pickles, including her homemade ones. Janie brought the Cauliflower salad, Robbie also made chicken salad dip. There was a veggie tray with dip, Arnora brought mixed nuts and our floral bouquet. Assorted wines and tea rounded out the meal with Lis' Cream Puffs and Panetone bread.

Carl G reminded us that she says every time, "This is the best meal I have had all month!" I think we
all agree!

We missed Pam, Barb, Gwynne, Denise, Leslie and, as always, Darby and Lou.

Our book this month was Ann Patchett's, "The Dutch House." The story is told through the eyes of Danny who is a young boy as he begins his reminiscence of his childhood in the home referred to as the "Dutch House."At the end of WWII, Danny's father manages to build quite a fortune and buys the house, in a suburb of Philadelphia as a surprise for his wife and daughter. The house has been built by a Dutch family and Cyril Conroy buys it "lock, stock and barrel" as the saying goes. All the furnishings, decorative objects and paintings of the former family are never changed or updated over the years and never seem to deteriorate. The home only gets more lovely as time goes by, at least in Danny's perception.

The house sets off a negative reaction in Elna Conroy who feels it is her life's purpose to serve the poor. She hates the house and eventually abandons it and her family for India. There she hopes to work with Mother Theresa but ends up on the wrong side of the Continent. This action paves the way for Cyril to remarry the wicked stepmother Andrea. It also sets up Maeve, Danny's older sister, as a pseudo-mother by default. So, in essence, the story is dealing with three very different "mother" figures. All of these women shape Danny's life and he struggles to reconcile two mother figures who abandon him. Not only does his mother leave without explanation but, when his father dies unexpectedly, Andrea kicks him out. Maeve who has already left home takes him in and sees to it that the education trust that has been left to them provides him an excellent education.

The book was well liked by most. I have now read three of Ann Patchett''s novels. I really liked State of Wonder but wasn't impressed with Commonwealth. However, this would be my favorite so far. For me, the writing drew me into the story. I felt emotionally connected to the characters and I resonated with the dilemma of a child trying to reckon with adults whose actions you cannot begin to understand.

When we are born, we do not get to pick our parents. There is no job interview, resume or, references. We don't get to choose someone we think is "suited" for the job. We are all, at the end of the day, flying by the seat of our pants in the department of parenting and doing the best we can. Many of us had challenging childhoods. I believe it is part of our life's path to find a way to heal whatever trauma or disappointments we experience because that is what gives us our strength, courage, compassion, etc. Yes, it builds our character. We aren't meant to stay stuck in it. And, I think that, in the end Danny and Maeve did just that.

When I looked at the women in this story from a distance - it was obvious Elna loved her children but couldn't stay. She needed to mother the world. And, whether that was a higher calling or a need for penance of some kind isn't fully clear. Andrea, was the mother figure who stayed but, she didn't mother Danny and kicked him out at the first opportunity. Andrea wanted the house above all - the opposite of Elna who hated it. Maeve was the kind and motherly figure in Danny's life.

In the end, the story comes full circle. Elna reappears, Andrea passes away. The house falls into the hands of Danny's daughter, May, who it turns out looks like the portrait of Maeve. We didn't really talk about the portrait but it serves as the cover of the book. As I write this it occurs to me that the portrait of Maeve is the only "new" object that is added to the house. Maeve has an obsession with the house and spends a fair amount of time sitting out in front of it. And, in the end, Maeve's portrait is returned to it's rightful place. Full Circle.

The book rated a 4.2.

Next month we meet at Pam's and our book is "Save the Plums for Me."

No comments:

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.

To Leave a Comment

At the end of each post you will see an option to "comment" click on that link. You'll be asked to identify yourself with either a Google email address & password or a couple of other options. If you don't have a Google account you can set one up with your current email and it only takes a minute to set up user name and password. Once you have that you can leave your comment you might be prompted to retype the security code. Your comment will automatically be posted. Process is the same if you use one of the identification options.

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, March 8, 2020

March 2020 Book Club - The Dutch House

No comments:

Welcome

Internet Resources