November/December Bee Season Myla Goldberg Discussion recapped by Melissa M

Attendees: Claire, Anne-Marie, Laura, Melissa K, Ann, and myself
In keeping with the holiday theme, we had Hanukkuh decorations in the dining room and Christmas in the living room.

Ann gave us some background on Jewish mysticism, particularly the tradition that studying mysticism is fraught with danger. She cited an example of four rabbis who studied the Kabbala: one died, one when mad, one lost his faith, and one became at peace in mind and body. There was mixed reaction to Eliza's final transcendental experience: some felt that it was believable, given the stress of her mother's hospitalization, expectations of her performance of the upcoming spelling bee, and her prior training in mystic meditation; others felt that it was "over the top." Anne-Marie felt it was believable, given her experience with a patient who had an hysterical epileptic episode, with completely normal EEG.

We had a lot of discussion about Eliza's motivation for purposely getting dinged out of the final spelling bee. We concluded that her initial motivation was magical thinking, that if she gave up the one thing she was good at she could help her mother or family be whole again. Her mystical experience gave her the insight and strength to live on her own terms, even if it meant disappointing her father or giving up the illusion she could help her mother get better or her family stay together.

The question, "Where will the characters be a year from the end of the book?" prompted lots of speculation about Miriam's diagnosis and prognosis. Because she had no sense that what she had done was wrong, she is not typically obsessive-compulsive, so would probably not be amenable to medication for that disorder. Her lifelong lack of social relations and emotional reaction are not promising for a speedy recovery. [Though I'm sure she'll make some lovely projects in occupational therapy :-) ]

Some of us had a hard time buying that a character as intelligent and hyperactive as Miriam could have spent 40 hours a week for 10 years cruising stores in a kleptomaniac trance. [comment from Fran: as opposed to what? being a lawyer?] But overall, we felt that what started out as yet-another-dysfunctional-family book turned into a rich kaleidescope of character, language, and beliefs. Maybe not Perfectimundo, but well beyond the Racecars' league.
 

October (met in November) A Home At The End of the World Michael Cunningham Discussion recapped by Fran

Last night's meeting at Susan K's was an SRO crowd, with two guests from the college attending at the invitation of Melissa K (Laura, Class of '00, who works in the annual giving office, and her friend Katherine, who is in law school here) as well as a record turnout from the club consisting of Susan K., me, Anne-Marie, Susan T, Britt, Helen, Ann, Melissa K, Clare, and Heather. (apologies if I missed anyone!)

Our discussion was lively if not sharply focused (Melissa M, we'll blame you because you went to Hawaii instead of sticking around to facilitate). General consensus was that this book was inferior to The Hours, particularly in terms of structure. Many felt the ending was forced (though no one seemed to agree with my firmly-held opinion that it was totally unbelievable; Clare would NOT have taken Rebecca away from her de facto father based solely on the fear that Rebecca might someday have to watch him die. Someone else suggested Clare was simply worried about Rebecca catching AIDS, but even assuming she was that ignorant, why then did she urge Jonathan to invite Erich to stay with them?). Most felt that this was a combination of a both selfless and selfish desire to spare Clare pain; I just don't buy it! I recently went through a bad scare where my husband's doctors believed (wrongly, thank heavens) that his cancer had recurred (he was all set to be hospitalized for a stem cell transplant - a horrific procedure where high-dose chemo is employed to destroy your entire immune system after which it is (hopefully) restored after a month of being on IV antibiotics etc. etc.) I did think about how it would be for Henry to see his father very, very sick for a long time -- and lot of other wild and desperate things I'll spare you -- but even at 3 a.m. never thought that if Tom died (which was a very real possibility for about ten days of hell) that taking Henry away from his dad would be somehow better or less traumatic for him or would spare him the experience of loss. I can certainly agree with the concept that a mother will do almost anything to spare her child pain, but taking the child away from someone he or she loves—as Rebecca loved Jonathan, which Cunningham took pains to describe, and Clare must have known—just doesn't qualify, no matter what the circumstances. I do realize I'm not Clare, and Tom isn't Jonathan and Henry's not Rebecca, but STILL.

Anyway, I'll try to refrain from having the entire recap reflect my personal views, but I also thought (in response to a question I think Britt asked at the meeting) Cunningham seemed to know very little about babies. Either from a practical standpoint (you don't take a highchair on trips for a two and a half year old! most aren't even using them at that point except maybe in a restaurant where you need to restrain them) or developmental (11 month old children don't speak in full sentences!) Several others commented that they found the equanimity with which Jonathan and Bobby greeted her defection to be unbelievable, too. Many found the character of Bobby particularly problematic—opaque, inconsistent, contradictory (how could a person be so perceptive yet so inarticulate?—pot! some answered), unrealistically passive (asexual himself, yet such a major sexual force for both Jonathan and Clare). We also commented on the curious portrayal of Jonathan's father—his character, and his relationship with Jonathan being treated so sparsely at the beginning of the novel, yet by the end, acquiring so much significance. Many echoed the sentiment that the book would raise our hopes or expectations for itself, and then let us down when it failed to fulfill its promise by lapsing into cliche or clunkiness.

Did anyone besides me go home and re-read The Hours? Britt raised the possibility that she had been unduly impressed by The Hours because she read it while still under the spell of Mrs. Dalloway. Not having read Mrs. Dalloway (yet), I'm untainted. Reading it again after reading A Home At The End Of the World, I'm struck even more how much stronger Hours seems. It's like a string quartet versus a xylophone, and seems like an amazing example of how a writer can grow. (Cunningham even understands toddlers much better in Hours - the three-year old Richie is pitch-perfect in my opinion.)

Several people found World depressing (I think Melissa K has acquired a deep-seated aversion to Cleveland that may require therapy to overcome...). I found it painful but not depressing. I would say Hours is far more depressing—what it says about life, and art, and love—that everything is failure and the miracle of life is that we don't really realize this all the time—unless of course we're geniuses like Richard or Virginia Woolf and then we kill ourselves... yet it is a far better book.

Despite the serious shortcomings we found in this month's selection, most of us seemed to have enjoyed reading the book—commenting that it was well-written, and highly readable. And the fact that our discussion was so lively, without being really contentious, speaks well for it too.
 

September (met in October) The Professor and the Madman Simon Winchester Discussion recapped by Fran

Last night the group met at Anne-Marie's to discuss Professor and the Madman, chosen by Ann Bornstein. Attending were Anne-Marie, Fran, Susan Turner, Susan K, Clare, Melissa M, Laura, Heather, and Helen.

Our discussion first focused on the process of compiling a dictionary, the motivations for doing so, and the revolutionary methods employed by the makers of the OED (both in terms of relying on a volunteer workforce & what that said about Victorian society, as well as the concept of illustrating the definitions of words using sentences from published works, and what THAT said about Victorian society). We branched off into a discussion of language in general: English, teaching English, teaching foreign languages.

The discussion became more heated when we turned to the merits of the book itself. Several of us felt the material would have been treated more appropriately as an article; to get a book out of it, the author had shamelessly padded it with speculation and weighed it down with repetitions. Some felt, however, that speculation added to its interest and made it more readable. Another criticized the degree to which men figured in the work; others felt this was simply a reflection of the sexism of that day. The group was divided over whether the wealth of information about Minor's life, including intimate details about the manifestations of his mental illness, added interest or value to the work, and, if it did, whether the writer handled it appropriately or in a way that was overly salacious.
 

August A Voyager Out: The Life of Mary Kingsley Katherine Frank Sorry, no recap

 

July Confederates in the Attic Tony Horwitz Discussion recapped by Fran

Last night's meeting at Ann's house was attended by me, Laura, Melissa M, Heather, Helen, Susan T, and Clare. We discussed Laura's selection, "Confederates In the Attic" by Tony Horwitz (spouse of author of one of our early selections, Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks).

There were many positive comments about "Confederates," interspersed with lots of discussion about our various experiences with the South and Southerners (fueled by Melissa M's amazing array of Southern snacks, from ham biscuits to pecan rolls of which I ate about 1,000). Melissa did warn us against interpreting a book about Civil War enthusiasts as a commentary about Southern society in general, and reminded us that Horwitz was looking at a very special subset of the population here. Overall all, we felt Horwitz treated his subjects with respect—even when he disagreed with their views, he didn't denigrate them. One member commented that nearly everyone he wrote about could probably read the book and not be upset by it. Some commented on the "filter" through which Horwitz viewed his experiences (not unlike the "filter" many found objectionable in his wife's book), but generally, we accepted it as a necessary element to this kind of work and did not find it is as problematic as in "Nine Days"—Horwitz appeared, at least, to be less judgmental.
 

June Macho Camoacho's Beat Luis Rafael Sanchez Discussion recapped by Christina

What do Sonny and Cher and Macho Camacho have in common? That the Beat goes on!

And beat, throb, pulsate, thrum, stretch, swing and hummmm is what this remarkable book, Mario Camacho's Beat" by Luis Rafel Sanchez does from the very first page: "Sweaty too, too, you'll see her waiting sweaty, sweaty, and plopped onto a sweaty ploppy sofa, a sweaty ploppy sofa that changes into a bed that changes into a sofa, an elegant member of a transvestite domestic cast that can do everything."

Most of us admired and tapped along with the techniques—for a few chapters. Most also agreed that they tired of the continual beat—Beat is a rough translation of guaracha, a song written by a "character" whose power is mighty, but "presence" is nil—and the long sentences that often meant more than one read because of the beat, the punctuation, the adjectival constructions and the various levels of allusions (or obscure references, take your pick) coming up below for disgustion.

The word play is witty, often sexually extended (see second paragraph above), and clearly dipped deep into orthodox Catholicism (Saint Philogonious, Saint Ausentius, Saint Spiridan ...)*, realms of literature from various cultures (a sonneteer in telluric alexandrines) and the confusing switchbacks of pop culture ("the calendar that Monroe posed for when she wasn't Monroe"). Some of us enjoyed this cerebral, intellectual engagement and challenge (much in contrast to the text otherwise rooted deliberately deep in fecundity throughout the book (although the novel itself springs from Sanchez very fertile imagination!!, you see, there's no escaping the beat, the grasping tendrils of creative life ...); others did not care for the continual allusions, accurately naming them for the contrivance and pretension they were... at times. The problem with such layered work is that once you pick up on a few layers, you wonder how many others you are missing. This certainly can diminish enjoyment in the reading, because it can make you feel under- or uneducated, not with it or just plan bored!!!

* Note to those present: Remember I pointed out the word theresan at the end of the book and wondered if this was one of his combo words, rooted in mythology, for example Theseus? Thumbing through the book, I discovered that Benny, the bomb-throwing, masturbating, cursing Ferrari obsessed-son attended the Theresan Mothers' kindergarten ...)

And with this intro of Benny, excretions (another type of beat—off-color pun intended) also were spewed and dripped all over the place. To name but a few here—vomit, semen, tears, sweat—in a spare, dry WASP style that in no way conveys the sense of slime, spit and mucus dripping from most pages. Oh Puerto Rico—another of those dirty, hot, tropical climates where growth of all foliage, sexual appetites, traffic jams, pollution, a volcanic wealth and spreading steaming magma of poverty and debt creeps and crawls throughout life, unrelenting, unescapable, much like Mario Camacho's beat.

The one character who clutched at her pristine skirts desperately as she was forced to walk through the national muck in which she lived was Ciela (sky/heaven), aka Mami, Benny's mother, the aristocrat of genteel birth who looked toward Switzerland and her girlhood schooling there as the epitome of purity. She represented an internalized racism in her longing for an imagined Western European heritage and mundanity unsullied by rampant enthusiasm for sin and sex.

The other characters, The Old Man/Papi/Ciele's husband, his Mistress, her friend, and the Mistress' baby, who represents a Puerto Rico bastardized and eventually destroyed by Western (read us U.S. western) culture) are all symbolic.

The recap stops here, rather abruptly. Reluctantly I hurtle back into a world (whose beat is set to zeros and ones) of petulant, dictatorial pcs, beeping faxes, ever-ringing phones and flashing email signals.

But I leave with one question. We discussed Beat, but never analyzed the rest of the title, Macho Camacho. Melissa K, translation here. Is Camacho significant juxtaposed with Macho?
 

May The Map of Love Ahdaf Soueif Discussion recapped by Fran

The May meeting was held at Christina's home - - attending were.... Melissa K, Susan T, Susan K, Heather, Fran, Christina, Helen and Laura. Reactions to "The Map of Love" by Ahdouf Soueif (I'm spelling from memory here so cut me slack, please) were mixed, although not as harshly divided as has been the case before (no strong factions a la Watership Down). Even those who liked the book (me, for example) thought it had a certain overwrought romance novel aspect that was distasteful (too much emphasis on "her violet eyes" and his passionate etc.), the plot depended too heavily on coincidence, and character development was sacrificed in favor of the author's desire to get her message across (which some felt was tantamount to propaganda). Everyone did appear to find at least some merit in the book however.
 

April White Teeth Zadie Smith Discussion recapped by Melissa M

In attendance were: Susan T. , Anne-Marie, Helen, Melissa M., me and Anne (at whose house we held the meeting). People enjoyed reading White Teeth for certain elements -- especially the fun/well portrayed dialogue among young people in London in the 1980's/1990's. We all felt it was too much like an octopus, too full of information, as if everything Zadie Smith ever thought of writing about was included in the book. The number of issues dealt with could have been cut down. The book also could have focused on maybe just two families, instead of throwing in the 3rd -- the Chalfens. Also, what the heck was the "affair" with the teacher Poppy about?? This and some other bits of info./short story lines seemed superfluous. Many of us agreed that this book might better be published as a set of short stories, which we think parts of it have been (read back flap -- author's bio -- some of it has been published, I think in something called Granitas, possibly as short stories...)
 

March An Equal Music Vikram Seth Discussion recapped by Fran

Our March meeting was held at Melissa M's home, attended by me, Melissa M, Melissa K, Susan T, Helen, Laura, and Ann to discuss Vikram Seth's "An Equal Music." Generally, our review was positive, although in varying degrees. It seemed that we shared the same opinions about the book's strengths and weaknesses: what was different, and revealing, was the weight each member assigned to the different factors in coming up with her overall opinion. For example, all of us seemed to agree that Seth failed to explain or demonstrate why Julia liked, much less loved, Michael, who seemed to us immature, selfish, self-absorbed, petulant, condescending ("In fact, just like a musician!" exclaimed one), or why Julia would temporarily abandon her beloved husband and child to renew her romantic relationship with Michael. For several of us, however, this didn't mar the enjoyment of the novel at all. One pointed out that, in fact, rarely do we understand the basis of romantic love between two people. We tried to come up with examples of novels that did a better job in this area, and I think for the most part failed. (Anna Karenina? no...) The insight into the artistic life of a gifted musician was probably the novel's greatest strength: whether or not it was entirely accurate (some of us questioned whether the writer, who undoubtedly knows and loves music, can actually himself play at all), we enjoyed it. We discussed the treatment of Julia's deafness, both as a literary device (the foreshadowing seemed a little heavy-handed to some) whether it was portrayed realistically (her supposedly great facility at lipreading, not only in English but in German, was viewed with skepticism by some), and for what it revealed about both characters (for Michael, it certainly highlighted his immaturity, selfishness, and even cruelty). The feature of the book that most puzzled us were the scenes having to do with Michael's membership in a group of early-morning outdoor swimmers: what was that about? It seemed to lead nowhere, and add nothing. An afterthought? The writer's way of inserting some aspect of his own life experience into the novel? Seth seems to be too skilled a writer, and the novel's construction too careful, for those explanations to be correct, but we didn't come up with any better ones. We did, however, have an interesting discussion of how the book could be translated to a TV movie or feature film (which it may well be, complete with a fabulous soundtrack).
 

February The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami Sorry, no recap

 

January Enduring Love Ian McEwan Discussion recapped by Fran

Last night's meeting had a good turnout at Helen's house - me, Susan T, Laura, Louise, Heather, Anne-Marie, Britt, Susan K - and even Helen! (Thanks Helen for hosting partly in absentia)

We discussed Ian McEwan's "Enduring Love," which, per my January 2, 2001 email, was suggested by Susan K. At the meeting, however, Susan disclaimed having done so (perhaps intimidated by Christina's ferocious anti-McEwan email), so we discussed sans facilitator. Plea: in the future, if there's an email issued that says you've suggested a book, and this is false or for some other reason you don't want to facilitate, please let me know so that we can arrange for someone else to take on the role - I do think it helps the meeting.

The discussion flourished nonetheless. Anne-Marie brought her portable DSM-IV, which does not include a reference to de Clerembault's syndrome under that name, but its definition of "erotomania" appeared to fit Perry to a "t." (As other emails this morning note, the syndrome is in fact known by that name.) Susan T gave an admirable precis of Amsterdam for those who had missed out on reading the group's first McEwan novel, which made me realize how truly bizarre (and byzantine) that book was. We discussed the meaning of the title - whether Clarissa and Joe's love really was "enduring" (many felt the ending was a letdown or a copout - it "fizzled") -- is the only love that endures the kind felt by someone who is gravely delusional? We noted the many forms of love depicted in the novel, and how delusions appeared to play a part in all of them, even parent-child love. We also digressed a bit into Virginia Woolf thanks to the McEwan's Clarissa character - someone (Britt? Melissa? Susan K? I think it came from that side of the room anyway) recommended "The Later Years" - a new book about Woolf. Some felt cheated by McEwan's fake (but real looking) appendix of reference works. Others more cynical took that in stride. Melissa K has a friend who knows McEwan from grammar school, and seems to share Christina's view of him... We also noted aspects of "The Pilot's Wife" in the plot - the husband whose death appears to reveal betrayal.