Away from Her

Hmmm. Almost a year since I last posted. Kind of pathetic. I am going to try to be more consistent. Our discussion of Away From Here produced some strong emotional responses. Some group members were completely put off by the twist of the story. Interestingly, a group member pointed out that Sandra Day O'Conner went through very similar circumstances when her husband was institutionalized. Our discussion centered not just around the story and characters, but also issues such as being the caregiver for someone you love who no longer "knows" you, loss of independence and the expression of love. Some members recognized Grant's manipulation of Aubry back into Fiona's life as an act of love. Others could not forgive him for past acts of adultery and didn't feel that this redeemed him in any way. When it came to the movie, we were all pretty positive about Julie Christy's portrayal of Fiona. As a drawback, the way that the movie intersperses Grant's visit to Marian with flashbacks to Grant and Fiona's story was hard to make sense of until the end of the movie. Perhaps this was expecting too much of movie viewers. It's hard to say what the director felt was gained by the sequence. Just my own opinion, whether in a book or movie, the technique of starting the exposition at the point of climax, then returning to build the story is pretty trite. If the work doesn't stand on it's own (this story did), then don't try putting lipstick on a pig to keep the reader or viewer engaged. So in all, not a happy a story, but certainly touching and thought provoking.

My Antonia and Everything is Illuminated

We had a great meeting last night starting with a light supper of chicken salad, croissants, eclairs and cream puffs, and France wasn't even a scheduled stop on our world tour. We began the discussion with Willa Cather's My Antonia. Members were generally appreciative of Cather's descriptions of place and with Antonia as a character. We talked a little about the immigrant experience in general and the courage it took to leave everything familiar for a land unseen and the language barrier. Next, we sort of discussed Everything is Illuminated, but most people either hadn't read the book, were totally confused if they had or felt negative toward it. I heard privately from others in the group who had a positive response to the book. The movie seemed better accepted but there wasn't really time to discuss some of the richer underlying issues. It's always a delicate balance between respecting individual opinions of the most outspoken members of the group while not allowing those opinions to speak for the group. Something for all of us as members to be aware of.

Catching Up

It's been quite several months since I blogged our discussion, so let me catch up. Our book for August, If You Lived Here I'd Know Your Name did not spark a very lively discussion. Nothing wrong with the book per se...just not a lot to discuss. September's book, Stones for Ibarra was interesting in that we had a guest whose family history mirrored the events in the book. She came with family photographs and gave us a lot of atmosphere that enriched the book.

A Puzzled Stop in Umbria

Last night we met to discuss My House in Umbria by William Trevor. Root beer floats hit the spot for refreshments. As a general rule, people seemed to like the movie better the book. Our discussion centered around the character of Emily Delahunty. It's not immediately obvious in the book that Emily is an unreliable narrator. Many members expressed confusion about the action taking place, her remembered vignettes, and the stories she spun. In the movie, the misting effect and specific music (pointed our by our new music teacher member) signaled a switch from real time. We agreed that her active inner life was a coping mechanism. Along with the alcohol, she could dull the pain remaining from her past. She played the role of victim throughout the book, an abandoned baby, an abused child, used by men, victim of the blast. Lots of folks thought the movie ended better than the book, with more hope. Whether she would be a better guardian for Aimee in the long run drew some debate. Probably not one of the favorite selections of the year, but many still appreciated the fact that it was a sympathetic story about a female written by a male.

A Journey to "The Other Side of the Sky" in Afganistan

Farah Ahmedi's memoir of her Afghan childhood and subsequent immigration and assimilation to life in the United States provided the basis for a pretty deep discussion of the state of the world we live in. Over some scrumptious cherry cheesecake, we talked of the horrific aspects of Farah's land mine accident and the level of medical care available. We discussed Farah's observation as she flew into Afghanistan after her stay in Germany. She wondered why Germany was so modern and had built so many things when her own country had failed to prosper. We speculated that political unrest, tribal level ethnic associations and perhaps climate has limited modernization in Afghanistan as well as much of Africa. We talked about life as a woman in a socially repressive society where opportunities for education and basic rights are denied or dependant on a male relative. We noted Farah's spunk and resourcefulness. One member pointed out that her mother probably wouldn't have survived without her. We also addressed her expectation of help--that someone should help her. We contrasted this to "Western" thinking that hardship is overcome by the individual. Farah's situation was grim, and she was 14 or 15, a young girl not the woman or head of household she had to become. One member compared the breakdown of services that heralded the Taliban with the precarious state of normalcy here. She mentioned the oil crisis of the 70s and how closed gas stations or long lines at the pump brought the worst behavior out in some people. We discussed what would happen if "the grid went down" and people were stranded and food supplies became scarce. In this way, we are all venerable in the same way whether in a highly developed country or one with little infrastructure. One member mentioned that assimilation depended not just whether you were a foreigner but if you were from a rural or urban setting. Things like understanding a subway schedule, hailing a taxi, going through a revolving door are intimidating to someone from a village regardless of the country they're in. We were touched by Farah's religious experience, something universal regardless of sect. Farah has her own website if you would like to keep up to date on how she's doing. http://www.farahsworld.com/

Sojourn in China with Snowflower and the Secret Fan

I'm a little pokey posting to the blog this month--must be the gorgeous spring weather. Our discussion of Snowflower and Secret Fan was really fun with some great cheesecake made by Cindy's husband Blake. In general, the group found this an easy read for content, but many commented on the small text size the publisher chose. Many felt that they learned something about Chinese culture from the reading. Numerous questions were raised about the issue of foot binding--how it started, why it was prized, and how it impacted the mother/daughter relationship. During my visit to China several years ago, we ran into an elderly woman who was raised in a remote providence who had bound feet. Although it was officially outlawed around the turn of the last century the practice continued in some of the outlying areas. She had to be supported on both sides by her daughters to walk through the formal gardens where we saw her. Our guide on the trip told us the practice had originated through the ballet when men became fascinated by the shape of the woman's foot in toe shoes. I've never researched to ascertain that this is correct--but whatever the reason, you have to wonder about how beauty is signified in various cultures. We tried, but couldn't come up with a direct equivalent in our own culture that compared to voluntary (or maybe parental enforced) mutilation. We talked about the laotong relationship and marveled how a friendship you made as a young child could be sustained through adulthood. We shared ideas about the closed world of women, how they were geographically limited to within a few miles of their birthplace, and how this may have contributed to remaining in the same limited circle for social interaction. The topic of patriarchy came up, and the imbalance of overt power in the marriage relationship. We also noted the women had covert power with jurisdiction over the female realm as long as they were able to produce sons. We touched (no pun intended) on the "bed business" and the erotic interlude between Lily and Snowflower when they traced characters on each other's bare skin. Some members wondered if this would be a more natural affection between the women since the marriage relationship could be devoid of tenderness. But we also noted that there was a range of response, for instance Auntie and Uncle who openly enjoyed their private time. Some members had a problem with the novel at the point that Snowflower's illness was revealed. We wondered what kept her from simply sharing this fact with her sworn friend. One member felt Lily was justified in encouraging Snowflower to comply with tradition, to tell her to keep trying to have boy babies to raise her status, to be faithful in serving her mother-in-law. Another wondered why Snowflower, who seemed very much in charge and sure of herself, who was Lily's teacher at the outset of the relationship would surrender her power to her so completely after marriage. In a large context, we decided we often take offense with others not knowing the complete reasons behind their actions. Hear an interview with the author at exclusive audio interview to gain some insight into the author's experience.

Touring South America with The Motorcycle Diaries

Over some yummy brown sugar coffee cake and lemonade we took an interesting ride through the life and times of Che Guevara. Members seemed to fall into two camps on the book, 1)boring 2) poetic travelogue. However, everyone seemed to enjoy the movie (at least those who could keep up with the subtitles). We spent quite a lot of time analyzing Che and his transformation from idealistic young medical student to hardened revolutionary. One member noted that those whose standards of caring are high tend to become radicalized as they grow older. In the same vein, we discussed Ernesto's blunt honesty, and how few people really care to hear the truth, or are capable of delivering it. We were like fussy mothers about the idea of his setting out on a journey that deteriorated into such deprived physical comforts with a chronic medical condition. Perhaps as Ernesto told the young leper, the medical field interested him because of his condition and possibly having to fight off death with every attack gave him the fearlessness that was later displayed in the revolution. Some members noted that you were born with gene for wanderlust and adventure and are perfectly satisfied staying in one place otherwise. We admired the cineomotograpy in the film with its luscious glimpse of South American landscapes. Since it's difficult to ignore politics and social conscience when examining Che's life, we talked about how his encounters with the poor and deprived changed him. We thought the movie was effective in portraying this through the still photographs of people's faces. We discussed how communism as a pure concept includes qualities any religion finds desirable--everyone taken care of, all equal--but how, in practice, that really doesn't happen. A comment from Alberto when interviewed for the film was that Che would be disappointed to see the lack of progress in Cuba. We liked the way the pair charmed themselves into free meals and places to stay and were impressed with the quality of Ernesto's journal entries and his writing style. We recognized the quality of the music from the movie and how this appears to be a universal thread between various people and countries. Although this may have not been a book that most members would have selected on their own for something to read, as a springboard to conversation it provided some interesting comments and insights. Try this link http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/guevara01.html to see Time magazine's take on Che whom they have included in their 100 most important people of the century. Interestingly, he's not in the "Leaders and Revolutionaries" category, but in the "Heroes and Icons"

Bush on Abraham*...Do you think he'd like to join our book group?

During a C-Span interview President Bush recommended Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths by Bruce Feiler. Prompted by a question about what books he had been reading, he responded, "Well, I just finished a book called Abraham by a guy named Feiler. And it's a really interesting book that studies the prophet Abraham from the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim perspective. And the lesson is, is that if you--you can look at Abraham as a unifying factor. In other words, all three of our--all three of those religions started from the same source, which means it's possible to reconcile differences. And I was impressed by his writing. I really enjoyed the amount of study he did on the subject. And I appreciated his lessons that sometimes as each religion appropriated Abraham to suit their own needs, but, ultimately, we could view Abraham as a way to find a common God." *Abraham was our book club selection June 2006.