Een Schitterend Gebrek

The original Dutch title of our February book is: Een Schitterend Gebrek.
It means: A Magnificent Handicap. Now my question is: Why is the book titled this way?

Time to party!

There's a meme going around that asks, If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?

Nah, that's too tame. We Book Buddies will "bring to life" all the characters of all the books we have read so far:

Feb 2008 ~ In Lucia's Eyes (ILE) ~ by Arthur Japin
Jan 2008 ~ Pictures of Hollis Woods (PHW) ~ by Patricia Reilly Giff
Dec 2007 ~ Cold Comfort Farm (CCF) ~ by Stella Gibbons
Nov 2007 ~ The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (BSP) ~ by John Boyne
Oct 2007 ~ The Other Side of the Bridge (OSB) ~ by Mary Lawson

Oops! Lucia will have to wait for the next party. She's February, and we don't really know her yet.

So invitations have gone out to Hollis and Josie and Beatrice ... and the mustard lady, too ... to Steven and the Old Man and Izzy and the baby Christina.

And I've invited Flora and Charles ... Aunt Ada Doom and the Starkadder boys ... let's see, Seth and Meriam and Mrs. Beetle ... Rennett and Mr. Mybug and Amos and Judith and Urk and, oh, you know, all of THEM ... and I wouldn't be surprised if Adam doesn't bring Graceless, Aimless, Feckless and Pointless (the farm cows), but surely he wouldn't bring Big Business (the bull), would he?

Bruno and Shmuel will be there, too, along with Gretel and the Commandant and Bruno's mother and grandmother (did they have names?) ... and there may be several nameless people wearing striped pajamas, though they remained nameless in the book. Do you think the Lieutenant and any other soldiers would be interested?

Jake and Arthur Dunn are coming, as are Laura and Ian and Dr. Christopherson (Ian's father, that is) ... Ian's mother may be hanging around the edges of the party, if she shows up at all ... Pete will be there, and so will Cathy.

Have I forgotten anybody? Oh, yes, everyBUDDY is expected to show up with a marvelous party dish (or two) to share. Since all our food and drinks will be virtual, no calories are involved and we don't need designated drivers.

DATE: the rest of January.
TIME: around the clock, allowing for everybuddy's time zones
WHERE: Essencia Island ... you can start putting out chairs and tables and dreaming up excellent little areas to chat with the characters ... and each other.
WHAT: our first party ever, since moving the whole kit and caboodle "over here" to this blog after Oprah dumped us.

No RSVP needed, but please bring photos ... if you know how to post them. So that nobuddy gets lost in the "comments" sections, I omitted those. Go thou and POST your conversations, buddies! It's PARTY time! Don't forget to bring food. Now go! Click on Essencia Island and just go on over to the island.
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Oops! I forgot one tiny little matter ... the "official" invitations. Expect your invitation (to be a contributor to the Essencia Island blog) to arrive in your email box in the next few minutes. If you accidentally throw yours away, just let me know and I will send it out again. These pesky electronic blogs are funny that way, wanting to know you have "permission" to attend the party. Oh, well, here goes!

Rolling right along

This time I think I'll try something different ... here are a few books recently mentioned by blogger friends that sound interesting. If you have heard of a good book, maybe even here at Book Buddies, tell us the title ... and I'll add it to this list. All of you buddies who have trouble getting some of the American books, it's time for you to speak up ... NOW. Let's collect titles (and comments about books) for a week and, on January 31, I'll put the voting thingy in the sidebar again so we can choose our book for March ... and maybe April, if we have two with strong votes. Here's a list, linked to information about each book:

The Bastard of Istanbul ~ by Elif Shafak

On Agate Hill ~ by Lee Smith

People of the Book ~ by Geraldine Brooks

The Reluctant Fundamentalist ~ by Mohsin Hamid

In Lucia's Eyes ~ for Feburary discussion

Lucia works as a servant girl in Italy and is engaged to be married. But after the pox disfigures her face, she flees in shame without telling her lover. Years later, as a reknowned Amsterdam courtesan who never goes out without her veil, Lucia is at the theater when she recognizes her long-lost fiancé, Giacomo Casanova; and she cannot resist the opportunity to encounter him again. Based on a woman who appeared briefly in Casanova’s legendary diaries, Lucia emerges as a brilliant woman who becomes every bit his match. In Lucia’s Eyes by Arthur Japin is an elegant and moving story of love denied and transformed.

According to brief references in his autobiography, the adult Casanova happens upon his lost adolescent love, Lucia, in an Amsterdam brothel where he is shocked to find that she has become, in his own words, "repulsive" (see the author’s postscript on page 233). Japin imagines this chance meeting of the former sweethearts through the eyes of the young woman herself, constructing Lucia’s own autobiography almost as a counterpart to Casanova’s celebrated memoirs. In Japin’s hands, the story of Lucia’s tragic life becomes a complex exploration of the meaning of love and human nature, as well as an unflinchingly honest portrait of Dutch prostitution in the eighteenth century.

The beautiful and innocent Lucia falls in love with the dashing young Casanova, whom she meets at her childhood home in rural northern Italy. When Casanova leaves for Venice to pursue his diplomatic career, promising to return in the spring to marry Lucia, tragedy strikes: Lucia becomes ill with smallpox. She survives the ordeal but her face is permanently scarred and ugly. Knowing that Casanova cannot pursue his career in Venice with an unsightly wife, she chooses to give him up — instructing her mother to tell him that in his absence she ran off with a courier. The rejected Casanova departs, and Lucia, in desperation, flees her home forever to make her way alone.

In Bologna, Lucia develops her new identity, Galathée de Pompignac, and becomes a secretary to Zélide, a French female archaeologist. As they travel together through Italy and France, Lucia’s education is furthered by the ideas of the Europe’s nascent Age of Enlightenment. However, after Zélide’s untimely death, Lucia moves on to Amsterdam where it is not long before her destitution drives her to the sordid life of a prostitute. Years later, after Lucia’s position has finally improved and she has become a highly-desired courtesan, Lucia’s emotional foundation is shaken to its core by a chance encounter with the love of her youth: Casanova. The reunion of the former lovers reveals the true meaning of love and survival for Lucia and, ultimately, brings her a chance for a new life.

If you want to know the WHOLE story, you could also read Giacomo Casanova's History of My Life. Known as a womanizer, Casanova retired at 60 to write about his life. Because every previous edition of Casonova's Memoirs had been abridged to suppress the author's political and religious views and tame his vivid, often racy, style, the literary world considered it a major event when Willard R. Trask's translation of the complete original text was published in six double volumes between 1966 and 1971. Trask's award-winning translation now appears in paperback for the first time (at 1512 pages long).
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To read all posts related to our discussion of ILE, click here.
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Why is the book titled this way?
Part 1
When did she know?
Why the name change?
Part 2
A Great Imperfection
Part 3

Responses to Questions 13-19

13. Family ~ Describe the Regan family. Why is Hollis so confused about Steven’s relationship with his Dad? Why does she feel that the accident was her fault, and that she has "messed up the whole family" (p. 136)? At what point does Hollis realize that Steven wants to be her brother? Discuss why Hollis calls Steven’s father the "Old Man." How has Hollis’s "W" picture changed by the end of the novel? How does the structure of the novel, especially the numerical sequence of pictures, reveal Hollis’s desire to be a part of the Regan family?
The Regan family seemed very much together. They sounded like they not only loved one another, but had fun together. Although Steven and his dad had various disputes, the love that each person had for the other shone through. Hollis was confused that two people she loved seemed to have so many disagreements. She felt that the accident was her fault because Steven had come to get her when it became dark and if she wouldn't have gone to the mountaintop the accident wouldn't have happened. I can't remember when Hollis realized that Steven wanted to be her brother, but he did accept her from the beginning. I can't remember why Hollis began calling his dad the "Old Man". Hollis's W picture changed by the end of the book in that she was the girl in the picture and another sister had been added as well. I have returned the book to the library and can't remember the structure of it.

14. Friendship ~ Why it is so difficult for Hollis to make friends? How is Steven Hollis’s first real friend? What do Josie and Beatrice teach Hollis about friendship? Hollis becomes extremely loyal to Josie. She is even willing to go to school so she can stay with Josie. How is loyalty an important element of friendship? How does Hollis remain a friend to Josie after she joins the Regan family?
Hollis moves around so much and feels so different from her peers that it is difficult for her to make friends. Steven accepted Hollis as she was from the time he met her and was so caught up with himself and yet so open to her that their friendship quickly blossomed. The long term relationship of Josie and Beatrice taught Hollis the joy of friendship as well as the need of accepting people as they are. Loyalty is important in friendship as knowing that someone is there for you is part of what friendship is. Hollis keeps in touch with Josie even after she joins the Regan family.

15. Abandonment ~ Hollis has lived in many different foster homes since she was abandoned at birth. The woman in the stucco house calls her "a mountain of trouble," and Hollis refers to herself as "tough." What is the difference between trouble and tough? How has Hollis’s abandonment and search for love made her tough? How did Hollis abandon herself when she left the Regan home? Why is Hollis so determined not to abandon Josie?
Being "trouble" is when a person causes others to have grief because of the troublesome person's actions. Being tough is when one either develops a shell that does not allow others to get close and/or no longer caring about others. Hollis had troubles and tried to be tough, but she wasn't. She cared and wanted a family and was willing to be a friend. When Hollis left the Regans, she tried to be tough and no longer caring, but she wasn't able to do so. Josie accepted Hollis for who she was and welcomed her into her life. Hollis soon cared very much about Josie and did not want her to get caught in the system as she had been.

16. Truth ~ What does Beatrice mean when she tells Hollis, "You have to keep looking to find the truth" (p. 45)? How do Beatrice and Josie prepare Hollis for her moment of truth? What was the truth that Hollis discovered at the end of the novel?
The truth is not as obvious as it should be. By accepting Hollis, Beatrice and Josie helped Hollis realize that she is a loveable person and that the Regans truly wanted her to be part of their family.

17. Hope ~ There are times when Hollis’s life seems hopeless. How is hope revealed through her art? Beatrice says, "You’re going to be something, you and that language you speak on paper" (p. 46). How do these words offer Hollis hope? How does Hollis’s last run give her the life that she has always hoped for?
Hollis respects Beatrice as a person and as an artist. Her wisdom and appreciation of Hollis' talent gives Hollis hope that she can be somebody. Hollis' last run takes her back to the Regans.

18. Here's a question especially for those outside the United States, though people in the U.S. are certainly welcome to speak up and tell us your thoughts. This novel is about foster care in the United States; what can you tell us about foster care in your country? Why was it started? How do families qualify to become foster homes? How many children in your community are served through foster care? How does the agency receive funding?
I'll pass on this question since I live in the United States.

19. What sort of pictures do you think Hollis might draw as a wordless picture book for Christina, her new little sister? Would Hollis likely call the book "My Family" or "Our Family"?
Hollis might draw pictures of the family for Christina. She would probably call the book "Our Family".

QUESTIONS 7-12

The others have already said what I would say, except 10. I have made decisions based on what someone has said to me or what others have said to others. Since this book involves art, there are many instances. 1 being the simple act of sketching or drawing in public. It can be really intimidating & if someone wants to see what you are sketching, it can be downright scary. When I first started to sketch in public, I would cover the page if someone was looking my way. After all, I was still a beginner, & super critical of my sketches. I've come to learn that most, if not all artists feel that way. Now, I don't care who looks at my sketches, well, for the most part. Someone had said, "just tell people that you are practicing", if they saw something that wasn't perfect. Another said to say out loud, "I am an ARTIST". "Tell people that you are an artist." I can only say that to myself, not out loud. I'm working on that as well as others in my art group. All it takes is a word(s) said & then you have a light bulb moment & your life alters, just as Hollis listened to words said by Steven & others in her mind. Then, when she saw her artwork that she drew, she saw what she had actually seen at that moment. When you sketched something, & look at it years later , you usually can remember everything that you thought, saw, felt at the time. Memories in pictures. (Sorry to write a book. Can you tell that I just love this book!)

PHW ~ discussion questions 13-19

We discussed the theme of Belonging already, so let's discuss a few more themes: Family, Friendship, Abandonment, Truth, and Hope.

13. Family ~ Describe the Regan family. Why is Hollis so confused about Steven’s relationship with his Dad? Why does she feel that the accident was her fault, and that she has "messed up the whole family" (p. 136)? At what point does Hollis realize that Steven wants to be her brother? Discuss why Hollis calls Steven’s father the "Old Man." How has Hollis’s "W" picture changed by the end of the novel? How does the structure of the novel, especially the numerical sequence of pictures, reveal Hollis’s desire to be a part of the Regan family?

14. Friendship ~ Why it is so difficult for Hollis to make friends? How is Steven Hollis’s first real friend? What do Josie and Beatrice teach Hollis about friendship? Hollis becomes extremely loyal to Josie. She is even willing to go to school so she can stay with Josie. How is loyalty an important element of friendship? How does Hollis remain a friend to Josie after she joins the Regan family?

15. Abandonment ~ Hollis has lived in many different foster homes since she was abandoned at birth. The woman in the stucco house calls her "a mountain of trouble," and Hollis refers to herself as "tough." What is the difference between trouble and tough? How has Hollis’s abandonment and search for love made her tough? How did Hollis abandon herself when she left the Regan home? Why is Hollis so determined not to abandon Josie?

16. Truth ~ What does Beatrice mean when she tells Hollis, "You have to keep looking to find the truth" (p. 45)? How do Beatrice and Josie prepare Hollis for her moment of truth? What was the truth that Hollis discovered at the end of the novel?

17. Hope ~ There are times when Hollis’s life seems hopeless. How is hope revealed through her art? Beatrice says, "You’re going to be something, you and that language you speak on paper" (p. 46). How do these words offer Hollis hope? How does Hollis’s last run give her the life that she has always hoped for?

18. Here's a question especially for those outside the United States, though people in the U.S. are certainly welcome to speak up and tell us your thoughts. This novel is about foster care in the United States; what can you tell us about foster care in your country? Why was it started? How do families qualify to become foster homes? How many children in your community are served through foster care? How does the agency receive funding?

19. What sort of pictures do you think Hollis might draw as a wordless picture book for Christina, her new little sister? Would Hollis likely call the book "My Family" or "Our Family"?