18. Why did Jim feel such a strong sense of rivalry toward Penn? What about their pasts and their families' pasts gave them a special bond?
19. Jim has moments of selfishness. How does he begin to take responsibility for his actions as he grows older?
20. **SPOILER** (Don't read this question if you haven't read Book V ~ Quiet Days.) "Penn had polio. The sheriff ... nailed up quarantine notices" (p. 172). Having polio felt like a death penalty to people in the 1930s and 1940s, and I remember not being allowed to swim in a public pool for several summers of my childhood. Polio ruined lives ... and sometimes took lives. If you don't have any stories about polio, see what you can find out about President Franklin D. Roosevelt's polio. News photographers were careful to take pictures when FDR was sitting or already propped up at a microphone.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
JTB-DQ ~ Book IV ~ Cold Nights
15. How do Jim's uncles each play the role of father-figure? Do they make up for his father's absence? Should Jim's mother have remarried when she had the chance in order to give Jim a "real" father?
16. Jim's mother turned down the marriage proposal because she believed she had already met and married her one eternal love. Do you believe, as she does, in the idea of eternal love?
17. In the section on "Christmas Eve" Jim's uncles take him outside to see something special, the change that came to their town that night. "When he looked up at the stars, they did not seem as bright" (p. 149). Have you ever noticed how lights of a city "hide" the stars?
16. Jim's mother turned down the marriage proposal because she believed she had already met and married her one eternal love. Do you believe, as she does, in the idea of eternal love?
17. In the section on "Christmas Eve" Jim's uncles take him outside to see something special, the change that came to their town that night. "When he looked up at the stars, they did not seem as bright" (p. 149). Have you ever noticed how lights of a city "hide" the stars?
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao
Plot introductionThe novel chronicles not just the "brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao," an overweight Dominican boy growing up in New Jersey and obsessed with science fiction, fantasy and women, but also the curse of the "fukú" that has plagued Oscar's family for generations and the Caribbean since colonization and slavery. The middle sections of the novel center on the lives of Oscar's mother Beli and his grandfather Abelard under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Rife with footnotes, science fiction and fantasy references, and street Spanglish, the novel is also a meditation on story-telling, Dominican diaspora and identity, masculinity, and the contours of authoritarian power.
Critical reception
The book won the National Book Critics Circle Award as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2008. Time magazine's Lev Grossman named it #1 of the Top 10 Fiction Books of 2007, praising it as "a massive, heaving, sparking tragicomedy".
Nominees for August's Book
The Eyre Affair by Jaspar Fforde
I really love Fforde's books. They are easy reading and literary. We read this book over at RGG recently and I loved seeing others in the book club fall in love/like with a book and author I enjoy so much.
Great Britain circa 1985: time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. Baconians are trying to convince the world that Francis Bacon really wrote Shakespeare, there are riots between the Surrealists and Impressionists, and thousands of men are named John Milton, an homage to the real Milton and a very confusing situation for the police. Amidst all this, Acheron Hades, Third Most Wanted Man In the World, steals the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and kills a minor character, who then disappears from every volume of the novel ever printed! But that's just a prelude.
These next two books are on my TBR list. Both are hardcovers though.
The Film Club by David Gilmour
At the start of this brilliantly unconventional family memoir, David Gilmour is an unemployed movie critic trying to convince his 15-year-old son Jesse to do his homework. When he realizes Jesse is beginning to view learning as a loathsome chore, he offers his son an unconventional deal: Jesse could drop out of school, not work, not pay rent — but he must watch three movies a week of his father's choosing.
Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver.
Great Britain circa 1985: time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. Baconians are trying to convince the world that Francis Bacon really wrote Shakespeare, there are riots between the Surrealists and Impressionists, and thousands of men are named John Milton, an homage to the real Milton and a very confusing situation for the police. Amidst all this, Acheron Hades, Third Most Wanted Man In the World, steals the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and kills a minor character, who then disappears from every volume of the novel ever printed! But that's just a prelude.
Hades' real target is the beloved Jane Eyre, and it's not long before he plucks her from the pages of Bronte's novel. Enter Thursday Next. She's the Special Operative's renowned literary detective, and she drives a Porsche. With the help of her uncle Mycroft's Prose Portal, Thursday enters the novel to rescue Jane Eyre from this heinous act of literary homicide. It's tricky business, all these interlopers running about Thornfield, and deceptions run rampant as their paths cross with Jane, Rochester, and Miss Fairfax. Can Thursday save Jane Eyre and Bronte's masterpiece? And what of the Crimean War? Will it ever end? And what about those annoying black holes that pop up now and again, sucking things into time-space voids.
Suspenseful and outlandish, absorbing and fun, The Eyre Affair is a caper unlike any other and an introduction to the imagination of a most distinctive writer and his singular fictional universe.These next two books are on my TBR list. Both are hardcovers though.
The Film Club by David Gilmour
Week by week, side by side, father and son watched everything from True Romance to Rosemary's Baby to Showgirls, and films by Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, Brian DePalma, Billy Wilder, among others. The movies got them talking about Jesse's life and his own romantic dramas, with mercurial girlfriends, heart-wrenching breakups, and the kind of obsessive yearning usually seen only in movies.
Through their film club, father and son discussed girls, music, work, drugs, money, love, and friendship — and their own lives changed in surprising ways.
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth SteinThrough Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn't simply about going fast. Using the techniques needed on the race track, one can successfully navigate all of life's ordeals.
On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through: the sacrifices Denny has made to succeed professionally; the unexpected loss of Eve, Denny's wife; the three-year battle over their daughter, Zoe, whose maternal grandparents pulled every string to gain custody. In the end, despite what he sees as his own limitations, Enzo comes through heroically to preserve the Swift family, holding in his heart the dream that Denny will become a racing champion with Zoe at his side. Having learned what it takes to be a compassionate and successful person, the wise canine can barely wait until his next lifetime, when he is sure he will return as a man.
A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog could tell it.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Next Book
I am going to pretend that we are not discussing the end of BB's and put out my suggestion of a book we can vote on for next month Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. Waiting anxiously for all the others so we can vote.
Marylyn
Monday, July 14, 2008
August Book
What's the plan for August? Any input on the minimalist participation in the discussions? Suggestions on how the vigor can be restored?
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Jim the Boy
8. What role does Abraham play? What lessons does he teach Jim, both in the field and in the alley?
At first my mind went totally blank on Abraham, but now I think he was the one that Jim tried to take the nicer hoe away from and his uncles would not allow it.
9. What do we know about Whitey Whiteside, "the unexpected guest" (pp. 96-101)?
Whitey gave Jim the softball. When they were discussing him going to the Big Day opening, I noted the comment, "Hush, you two...the corn has ears." This was a new expression to me, but an interesting way to indicate that one should be careful of what is said in front of children. After my niece's recent death, when my 10-year-old nephew was told about it (they are cousins and this was the second cousin he lost in less than a year) he said that his parents are going to be burned (his expression for cremation)and had my sister promise him that if she was alive when he died that she would make sure that he was not burned and that she would put KU stuff on his grave. I wish my brother (his father) and wife had followed the adage that "the corn has ears" and not discussed their plans for cremation in front of him. He has always been so sensitive and the losses of his cousins and realization of deaths is hard enough on him as is without the added burden of the practice of cremation.
10. Jim woke up on the first day of school thinking, "The morning smelled like school. The previous morning had smelled only like summer, like dew and grass and crops growing in the fields." What does school smell like to you?
The main smell I associated with school was the chalk. When my kids went to school, I was surprised at the strong smell of mass quantities of food being prepared. It is a smell similar to that in other institutions and not a smell I like so I am glad they didn't have school cafeterias in grade school and junior high when I went. I am so old that most kids went home for lunch when I was growing up which was sure a nice break from the school day.
11. When he went to the old school, Jim knew who he could outrun (see p. 76). Things were different at the new school. Do you remember going to a new school? Do you remember who you could outrun?
I lived a dull life and my only changes in schools were transitions from grade school to junior high and then to high school.
I can't remember any feeling of competitiveness about running skill--I wasn't very athletic. The one time I won someone at something (box hockey), the girl I won was so made that she purposely hit my hand holding my hockey stick with hers and broke my middle finger. I remember both the way they brought her to the office where I was waiting for my dad to pick my up to take me to the hospital and she was supposed to apologize (this is why I never used the forced apology method with my kids) for what she did and it was obvious that she said the words, but did not mean them. I also remember that having a cast on my middle finger was quite the talk of the sixth grade class.
12. On the "Big Day" there's a Ferris wheel (yes, it's capitalized) at the open house for the new school. Last month we read about the wheel that Mr. Ferris designed for Chicago, so compare it with the one in the town of Aliceville, North Carolina.
The Aliceville Ferris wheel was much more humble than the Chicago one. Actually, as small as the Aliceville community was I was surprised that they even had a Ferris wheel for the Big Day.
13. Zeno told Jim, "Everybody knows you ain't got much of a town if a railroad track runs though it but the train won't stop" (p. 88). Explain how the train figured in the naming of Aliceville. And maybe tell us about the name of your town. Do trains figure into your town's history?
The engineer's stopping at Aliceville allowed it to continue as well as it did as a town. The town showed its gratitude by naming the town after his daughter.
Topeka was a stop on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad (now merged into the Burlington Northern railroad so is the BNSF)so the railroad helped put or keep Topeka on the map. My husband worked for the other railroad in town (Union Pacific) and my oldest son developed a major passion for trains (especially steam engines) so railroads have played a major role not only in the livelihood of my town, but also in my family.
14. I can imagine "the red school on top of the hill" (p. 109). What was your school like?
My grade school was a fairly typical neighborhood school built of bricks. My mother often told the story of my older brother's concern about starting school and having trouble opening the "big doors" and I remember that the school did seem a lot larger when I was attending it than when I went back many years later. Although parents attended school programs, the school was not the center of the community like schools were when my mother grew up and taught at the one room rural schools of her day.
Alicevillie's consolidation in the 1930's of the rural schools was interesting in that this happened in the late 1950's in the community where my mother grew up. The one room school that my cousins were attending (their dad, uncle, and my mother had all graduated from 8th grade in the same school) was consolidated and all the rural kids were bussed to the town school. This was especially hard on my cousin who was around 9 at the time. He got literally sick every morning when the bus came. I wonder about the wisdom of the elimination of community schools. Bigger isn't necessarily better.
At first my mind went totally blank on Abraham, but now I think he was the one that Jim tried to take the nicer hoe away from and his uncles would not allow it.
9. What do we know about Whitey Whiteside, "the unexpected guest" (pp. 96-101)?
Whitey gave Jim the softball. When they were discussing him going to the Big Day opening, I noted the comment, "Hush, you two...the corn has ears." This was a new expression to me, but an interesting way to indicate that one should be careful of what is said in front of children. After my niece's recent death, when my 10-year-old nephew was told about it (they are cousins and this was the second cousin he lost in less than a year) he said that his parents are going to be burned (his expression for cremation)and had my sister promise him that if she was alive when he died that she would make sure that he was not burned and that she would put KU stuff on his grave. I wish my brother (his father) and wife had followed the adage that "the corn has ears" and not discussed their plans for cremation in front of him. He has always been so sensitive and the losses of his cousins and realization of deaths is hard enough on him as is without the added burden of the practice of cremation.
10. Jim woke up on the first day of school thinking, "The morning smelled like school. The previous morning had smelled only like summer, like dew and grass and crops growing in the fields." What does school smell like to you?
The main smell I associated with school was the chalk. When my kids went to school, I was surprised at the strong smell of mass quantities of food being prepared. It is a smell similar to that in other institutions and not a smell I like so I am glad they didn't have school cafeterias in grade school and junior high when I went. I am so old that most kids went home for lunch when I was growing up which was sure a nice break from the school day.
11. When he went to the old school, Jim knew who he could outrun (see p. 76). Things were different at the new school. Do you remember going to a new school? Do you remember who you could outrun?
I lived a dull life and my only changes in schools were transitions from grade school to junior high and then to high school.
I can't remember any feeling of competitiveness about running skill--I wasn't very athletic. The one time I won someone at something (box hockey), the girl I won was so made that she purposely hit my hand holding my hockey stick with hers and broke my middle finger. I remember both the way they brought her to the office where I was waiting for my dad to pick my up to take me to the hospital and she was supposed to apologize (this is why I never used the forced apology method with my kids) for what she did and it was obvious that she said the words, but did not mean them. I also remember that having a cast on my middle finger was quite the talk of the sixth grade class.
12. On the "Big Day" there's a Ferris wheel (yes, it's capitalized) at the open house for the new school. Last month we read about the wheel that Mr. Ferris designed for Chicago, so compare it with the one in the town of Aliceville, North Carolina.
The Aliceville Ferris wheel was much more humble than the Chicago one. Actually, as small as the Aliceville community was I was surprised that they even had a Ferris wheel for the Big Day.
13. Zeno told Jim, "Everybody knows you ain't got much of a town if a railroad track runs though it but the train won't stop" (p. 88). Explain how the train figured in the naming of Aliceville. And maybe tell us about the name of your town. Do trains figure into your town's history?
The engineer's stopping at Aliceville allowed it to continue as well as it did as a town. The town showed its gratitude by naming the town after his daughter.
Topeka was a stop on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad (now merged into the Burlington Northern railroad so is the BNSF)so the railroad helped put or keep Topeka on the map. My husband worked for the other railroad in town (Union Pacific) and my oldest son developed a major passion for trains (especially steam engines) so railroads have played a major role not only in the livelihood of my town, but also in my family.
14. I can imagine "the red school on top of the hill" (p. 109). What was your school like?
My grade school was a fairly typical neighborhood school built of bricks. My mother often told the story of my older brother's concern about starting school and having trouble opening the "big doors" and I remember that the school did seem a lot larger when I was attending it than when I went back many years later. Although parents attended school programs, the school was not the center of the community like schools were when my mother grew up and taught at the one room rural schools of her day.
Alicevillie's consolidation in the 1930's of the rural schools was interesting in that this happened in the late 1950's in the community where my mother grew up. The one room school that my cousins were attending (their dad, uncle, and my mother had all graduated from 8th grade in the same school) was consolidated and all the rural kids were bussed to the town school. This was especially hard on my cousin who was around 9 at the time. He got literally sick every morning when the bus came. I wonder about the wisdom of the elimination of community schools. Bigger isn't necessarily better.
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