November/December Resurrection Leo Tolstoy Discussion recapped by Fran

As usual, when I fail to issue the recap promptly after the meeting, there is a serious deterioration in the quantity and quality of the info communicated. Sorry! I do remember that we met at Susan T’s home December 2 (our "holiday" meeting that serves for both November and December) and that Susan already had Christmas tree lights up outside and was wearing a holiday turtleneck. And that she served a delicious port and Melissa M brought other really good snacks including russian rye bread and cheese and some excellent cookies. Now, let's see if I can remember what we TALKED about... I think those present (besides me, and Susan of course) were Christina, Laura, Melissa M, Melissa K, Louise, Susan K, Anne-Marie, and Helen. The book under discussion was Leo Tolstoy's Resurrection, chosen by me. The general reaction was that it was a rather dated, heavy-handed treatment of the subject matter (a wealthy nobleman's spiritual awakening), too repetitious, too wordy, not much growth or dimension to the characters, and not particularly meaningful or insightful to a 20th century (almost 21st century) audience. Some expressed appreciation for aspects of humor and/or irony, and some found merit in the descriptiveness (although overall the detail of description was viewed as a negative: again, too much, too repetitious). Everyone expressed disappointment with the ending: that it was contrived, weak, fell flat.
 
 

October The Bone People Keri Hulme Discussion recapped by Melissa M

October 28 meeting at Anne-Marie’s home. Attendees: Melissa M, Melissa K, Susan T, Louise, Laura, Helen, Anne-Marie.

We had a spirited discussion about Keri Hulme's The Bone People. Helen upped the Snack Theme ante by providing skeleton candy snacks that were both thematically and seasonally appropriate.

We agreed with Susan T's hypothesis that endings that are so "inorganic"  (the miraculous recovery and reunion of Kerewin, Simon, and Joe) are usually an indication that the author is determined to make a philosophical or political point that is more important than the character and narrative development. Unfortunately, we could never decide exactly what that point was. Perhaps that the future of New Zealand depends on the interdependence of the Maori and Europeans, but that it would take a miracle (or the impairment of the European analytical world view) for that to happen? Perhaps the author was simply inexperienced and more skilled at character development than narrative structure?

For some, the writing was too "precious" and the plot turns too unbelievable. For others, the appeal of the book lay in Kerewin's eccentric free spirit (buy those lottery tickets, folks), better understanding how one might possibly come to forgive a child abuser, and the hope that three very flawed people can find connection and meaning by taking the risk of getting involved with each other.  Most agreed that we were more willing to suspend disbelief in magic in everyday life in Mama Day and Human Croquet than in Bone People.
 
 

September Human Croquet Kate Atkinson Discussion recapped by Fran

The September meeting was held at my house, with Anne-Marie facilitating a lively discussion of Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson.  Christina provided snacks although she couldn't attend, and Susan K showed up with supplemental snacks as well, so the discussion was well-fueled. Also attending: both Melissas, the other Susan, Laura (who told us about her new house that has a shower bigger than the entire bathroom in her former home!), Helen, and Louise.

Many of us felt that "Croquet" was needlessly confusing and its plot too disjointed.  Those of us who had read Atkinson's first novel, Behind The Scenes At The Museum, found Croquet to be much more coherent than Museum, but others made the valid point that this wasn't a particularly persuasive endorsement of Croquet.  Because of the plot's numerous "altered realities", much of our discussion attempted to straighten out what really happened to whom, how and when.  Although there were some arguments, I think we did reach consensus on a number of points, proving that Atkinson was more coherent than she seemed on first reading (several of us said we wanted to read the book again).  Nearly everyone missed something or got something wrong (I was completely bewildered by the identity of Eliza's mysterious lover/murderer, for example).  The possible exception: I'm not sure everyone was convinced Mr. Baxter was poisoned by mushrooms and then shot by Mrs. Baxter (although we were unanimous that this was a fitting end for him).

In discussing all of the various twists, turns, leaps backwards and forwards in time, the dominant themes of the novel seemed to be: Nature - its power/force/destructiveness, in particular evidenced by the hallucinogenic powers of plants; a Midsummer Night's Dream (more of same); doppelgangers/"things are not what they seem"; memory -- the human need to possess a past and the trauma of loss; and how all of the foregoing connect and interweave with each other.  The book's title is referred to throughout the novel but only explained at the end, being a party game for adults ("which provides little exercise but much laughter") in which players attempt to aim a blindfolded human "ball" through human "wickets."  The title seemed fitting, as the novel mixed randomness and mistake with destiny and structure (rules), resulting in at least some humor.
 
 

August The Ends of the Earth Robert D. Kaplan Discussion recapped by Fran

Our August meeting was held at Christina’s house. Melissa K outdid herself with an assortment of snack foods representative of the various countries portrayed in Robert Kaplan's "The Ends Of The Earth", including wine from Africa. Also present: me, Susan T, Susan K, Louise, Anne-Marie, and Helen.

Christina facilitated the discussion, which began with some laughter over the book jacket's representation that Kaplan's book avoided generalizations. Everyone agreed that, although the book had many strengths, avoidance of generalizations was not among them. Those of us who had read Kaplan's "Balkan Ghosts" (not me) felt that BG was a stronger work in that regard. But, as this work covered a vast expanse of territory, we were by and large willing to forgive that particular sin.

Overall, we felt the book was both tremendously enlightening and deeply disturbing. Only Melissa expressed a strong desire to visit the countries Kaplan discussed to see them for herself; for the rest of us, horror and pity were too overwhelming. Much of our discussion centered around the unanswerable question: "Is he right?" Will Kaplan's horrific view of the future of our planet -- wholly depleted of resources, poisoned and overpopulated beyond repair -- actually come to pass? Part of the answer to this question obviously depends on the truth and accuracy of his present vision. Questions were raised as to whether he sees the "whole" picture, and if not, how and by what is his vision colored. The other part depends on how these problems -- which we are only beginning to realize, let alone address -- might be solved in ways that are presently unknown. The bleakness of Kaplan's outlook is at least partially relieved by some small hints that the disastrous consequences of humanity's reckless conduct may be curable.

After the meeting, I ran into a friend and former colleague who left the practice of law to get his Ph.D. in Eastern European Studies (at least that's what I think it's called). He's now learning his seventh language -- Hungarian. He had not read any of Kaplan's work but had heard of "Balkan Ghosts," and told me that it does not enjoy a good reputation in the academic community, because its thesis of ancient ethnic conflicts inevitably resulting in violence is not accepted; the view is that the different ethnic groups coexisted peacefully for hundreds of years until they were manipulated into conflict by Western interests. I wondered if part of the disdain for Kaplan's work is motivated by jealousy of his commercial success, and my friend readily admitted that could be true. Part of me, however, hopes the academics are right and Kaplan is completely wrong about everything he says! Unfortunately, I suspect that this is not the case...
 
 

July The Inferno Dante Sorry, lots of messages prior to discussion, but no recap

 

June Stones from the River Ursula Hegi Discussion recapped by Fran

Our June meeting at Helen’s house was attended by Susan K, Louise, Laura, Melissa, Anne-Marie, Melissa K, Leigh (great to see you again Leigh!), Susan T, Fran (me) and Helen.

Helen led the discussion of Stones From The River, by Ursula Hegi, by asking us about our personal experiences being an "outsider" -- similar in kind, if not degree, to Trudi's. It seemed that many of us had experienced this feeling. Helen raised the possibility that it may actually be easier to be an "outsider" when your difference is a physical one.

The drawbacks or shortcomings of "Stones" were few, we agreed, but some felt the character of Leo was weak - he was kind, but otherwise too faintly drawn; his personality seemed to fade into the background of the story. Two of us noted a change in style or voice of Trudi part of the way through the book, which, if deliberate, seemed inexplicable.

No clear answers were given concerning the meaning of the title, but we noted several different ways in which stones appeared throughout the book: as foundations, as secrets, and as stories themselves.

There was a wealth of suggestions for future readings. It seemed to me that August and Sept. should be "firm" choices, and I left October and Nov./Dec. as "tentative" so that we don't feel too locked in. Although as you can see I am pushing hard for my choice for Nov./Dec.!!

Because it will be too hard to pick another book for July, Christina and I suggest that we push ahead with Dante and discuss as much as we have managed to collectively read. Susan K, since the meeting is at her house, will be required to read all of it and give a short precis on the imagery as well as compare and contrast different translation styles, preferably in Italian "terza rima". :)
 
 

May Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden Discussion recapped by Christina

Wellesley Trivia: Rose Kennedy was all set to head for Wellesley College in the fall, when Cardinal O'Connor of Boston let her father, Honey Fitz, know that his daughter should be going to a proper Catholic college. Ever eager to accommodate politically, Fitz withdrew Rose from Wellesley and did as the Cardinal bid. -- Information courtesy of Susan K and a recent PBS broadcast.

Our club was mentioned in the Alumnae Club notes of Spring '98 edition of the Wellesley magazine.

Four Ayesayers; Two Naysayers

Our May selection, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, was a hit with four of us; the other two were not happy with this work. Attending our May meeting were Helen, Susan K, Anne-Marie, Laura, Fran, Susan T and Christina. Also attending the meeting at Christina's home was Helen of Cambridge, a Wellesley alum who was here visiting friends and former Wellesley classmates Susan K and Anne-Marie.

We decided that what was presented as historical fact was probably accurate, and as such, fascinating in terms of what we learned about the life of a geisha. Golden claims to be a historian using memoirs as a source and that was problematic for one member, who said historians traditionally don't regard memoirs as a source, other than perhaps, psychologically. Others felt Golden was not successful in presenting a child's view of her world.(I didn't feel this as strongly, until I started to read our next book, Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi. I now agree. Golden didn't even come close!)

The book does do a good job delineating the lack of choices and opportunity in a rigidly class-bound society, especially for women. All the women faced terrible decisions to ensure economic survival, and few of the characters were sympathetic. Were/are geishas prostitutes? We decided that if there is a great deal of ritual and money involved, you're a geisha. If not, you're a prostitute. The characters stopped developing as people because their options were so limited. They continued to do what they'd always done because it worked.

No one liked the ending -- too much Knight in Shining Armor Rescues Poor Maiden and they live happily ever after. The more compelling part of the book was the first half; the second half much less so because much of the conflict, i.e. could she survive as a successful geisha had been resolved.
 
 

April A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Discussion recapped by Fran

Our April meeting was held at Susan T’s home, attended by Susan T, Christina, Melissa K, Laura, Louise and Fran. Laura was facilitator for the discussion of "Diary Of A Midwife: The Life Of Martha Ballard" by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.

We started our discussion with Laura's question as to whether we felt like scholars or voyeurs reading this work, which was based on excerpts from a diary maintained by a woman in Maine during the years 1785-1812. Martha was born in 1735, and was a midwife by profession; besides giving birth to 6, she delivered over 800 babies in her career. The diary, which starts at age 50, records a life of awe-inspiring toil, in a style largely devoid of emotion, but everyone seemed to agree that by the end, we felt as though we knew the diarist, if not as well as we wanted to, enough to feel an emotional connection. The blend of diary and analysis/historical background presented by Ms. Ulrich resulted in a mine of information, which some of us felt was not sufficiently new work to warrant the Pulitzer Prize the book won in 1990. Nonetheless, our discussion of its content and commentary was animated and wide-ranging:

the role of women's activities in the rural 18th century economy, Martha's diary being rare documentary evidence of this;
how the economy functioned in general (debts and barter);
widespread premarital sex (over 1/3 of the babies delivered by Martha were conceived out of wedlock, but on the other hand, couples did not typically live together immediately after marriage, rather, living with their respective families for 1-3 mos. until moving in together to "go to housekeeping") and social attitudes towards premarital sex and illegitimacy (primarily, it seemed, an economic rather than moral problem: mothers were interrogated about the identity of the father while in the throes of childbirth, as a means of getting the information necessary to obtain child support);
imprisonment for debt -- how & why (it happened to Martha's husband);
the marriage relation (wives and husbands as business partners more than soulmates);
medicine (the interplay between doctors and midwives, the efficacy of herbal remedies) and much, much more.

We also discussed the nature of diaries, how this "truest" of documents can be the most misleading and false: (e.g. was Martha mistreated by her children, particularly her seemingly highly neglectful son, or was she an overly demanding mother? And was it impossible for her to find a responsible servant, or was she just an impossible taskmaster?).
 
 

March Saints and Strangers Angela Carter Discussion recapped by Fran

The March meeting was held at Susan K’s home, who was also the facilitator for her book choice, Saints and Strangers, by Angela Carter (a collection of short stories originally published under the title Black Venus).

The turnout for this meeting was relatively small - Susan fears because the book was somewhat difficult. I myself missed this meeting due to illness, and Christina missed it due to a business trip, so it may just have been a confluence of forces unrelated to the book.

Besides Susan, present were Laura, Anne-Marie, Melissa K, a new member Deb James (friend of Melissa's).

Susan reports that the group did a fair imitation of "close reading" of some of the stories. She began by talking about the cinematic style of "The Fall River Axe Murders" (about Lizzie Borden's murder of her father and stepmother) At the very beginning of the story, Carter describes the sun in the sky as we see it often in movies which take place in the desert -- glaring and white. There are many other spots where Carter uses light/dark,
mirrors, photographs -- we feel as though we are looking at the light/dark of a film.

Also, Susan said, Carter keeps reminding us that we are only observers by pulling us out of the story. Here are three of the examples she noted (referencing page nos. from her edition of Black Venus):

p. 105 "Write John Vinnicum Morse out of the script."
p. 110. "Not bad for a fish peddler's son, eh?"
p. 111 "On his pinky -- you cannot see it, it lies under the covers – he wears a gold ring..."

Laura provided factual background on the Borden case. Admiration was expressed for Carter's ability to make us feel the heat, smells and texture of summer life, and death, in Fall River...

Several other stories were thought to be "weird," chiefly "The Cabinet of Edgar Allan Poe," and ... A Midsummer Night's Dream. The latter, though, was also admired for some of Carter's clever imaginings of what "Herm" would be like, how the fairies' wings would look after the rain and such. There was discussion, also, of the "English wood," which was not meant to be the northern European wood of Germany. Or was it?

The more we talked about the stories, the more complex they were felt to be -- except for "Kitchen Child," which most of the group appreciated for its sense of humor.
 
 

February Watership Down Richard Adams Discussion recapped by Christina

Lagomorph Lament*

Black licorice sticks. Fresh baby carrots. And a group of people whose seating arrangement unconsciously reflected opinions about the topic at hand.

Those of the Wellesley Book Group who were enthusiastic about "Watership Down" all sat together on the couch. Was this planned? No, but this choice did put Laura, Fran and Melissa K close to the food goodies. The unusual orange and black combo of vegetables and candy was in memory of Rags, Laura's well-loved lagomorph who was also a Wellesley alum. Anne-Marie, Louise and Susan T sat to the side of the Rabbiteers. They were less thrilled with the book, but did not share the "No Way" attitude of Christina and Susan K, outliers sitting across from the couch. Melissa M found herself between the outliers, but should have been sitting between Susan and Christina, to reflect a more luckwarm approach -- either negative or positive.

A lively discussion followed. Dissension can be and was stimulating. Fans of the book felt it worked well as a metaphor for human lives on issues of conformity, coping with social and geographical realignments of hierarchy. Perhaps it was a political allegory for Britain, which in the 1960s was coping with immigration issues, a crumbling economy and social revolution in general.

The outliers were impatient with the novel as a typical male buddy and adventure story that went on way too long.

Both pros and conners had more to say, but this recap is being written by a conner whose feelings are all too evident in the length of time it has taken to get this written.

We talked about the name of the book and the meaning of a "down," which is a treeless hill or pasture. Downs come in singular and plural; the OED has devoted almost two full pages to definitions of down in all its grammatical forms, nuances and subtleties.

Yet another lively exchange ensued when Laura proposed three books for the May reading: "A Midwife's Tale," a biography about physicists at Stanford and a third, whose title eludes me. We had a tie vote, which was settled by a complex methodology: Fran flipped a coin. "A Midwife's Tale" was the winner for our May reading

* Note from Fran, courtesy of Laura: Rabbits are not (as you may have thought) rodents: they are lagomorphs.
 
 

January Mama Day Gloria Naylor Discussion recapped by Fran

Our January meeting was held at Helen's home, with Helen also facilitating our discussion of the January book: Mama Day, written by Gloria Naylor. A new member, Nancy, joined us. Also attending were Laura (the newly married), Susan, Melissa K, Melissa M, Anne-Marie (the newly mended, having broken her arm since our last meeting), and Robin (newly no longer the newest member). Thanks also to Anne-Marie for coming to the rescue with snacks, as Christina was put out of commission by allergies.

The consensus on Mama Day was very positive, although it left us with many questions. We started by discussing the end: what was George supposed to find to save Cocoa? What was "his way"? Why did "his way", that was ostensibly a failure, nonetheless save Cocoa? What exactly was "Mama Day's way", anyway? Was George "supposed to" die? We also discussed the tension between belief and unbelief - what was "magic" and what was "real"; what were Mama Day's powers, exactly? Criticisms: some felt the relationship between Cocoa and George was not very convincing; others felt that there were no strong male characters (Dr. Buzzard? Not really); it was also noted that Abigail's character was not well-developed.

My recollection of our discussion is a little muddied because I subsequently found (and read) two New York Times book reviews of the novel. One review was pretty negative (sample excerpt: "Ophelia is a bigoted, demanding woman, who seems lucky to have found a husband at all, given her large mouth and even larger ego." -- I guess that means, women, that to be "lucky enough" to find husbands you need to be quiet and modest...) The other took the Shakespeare thing quite far - surmising that George and Ophelia are intended to be Romeo and Juliet (why wasn't Ophelia named Juliet then??). In any event I'll bring copies of these to our next meeting if anyone is interested.