First Half Discussion #AchilleSong

Greetings, Singers of The Song of Achilles!    by Madeline Miller. Got your lyre ready?

In my usual rambling style, I will offer questions, quotes I liked and interesting things of note that will encourage us to share what we are enjoying so for in the story and what we are not. I read the first half rather quickly – to Chapter 17: When Achilles and Patroclus arrive at the beach to meet Agamemnon, before they all set off for Troy. I was waiting to post this before I finish but am hoping it will be this afternoon!

I have read the P.S. included in my copy: the Meet the Author, Insights and Interviews, etc. Hope you have that, I hope to chat about that here, too.

FIRST. I must share that I barely know the Greek mythology. This may be obvious when I say that I do not know who Mary Renault is. The cover of my edition shows a quote by Emma Donoghue, “Mary Renault lives again!” and I have no clue who or what this Mary person is. In order to check my guess, I seek goodreads and find that Ms. Renault wrote historical fiction of ancient Greece. I actually might have heard of The King Must Die, not that I would have guessed it was about Theseus*. Has anyone read it? Want to? I think I might! so more books go onto the tbr… Ah, I see my imaginary (and very influential on my reading choices) friend Ruthiella has read this. Cool.

Second question, would you put The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller in the HISTORICAL FICTION category? Do we care? Must we genre-fy everything. (Perhaps that question is an aside best tackled another time.)

I have had the opportunity to listen to Madeline Miller speak at the 2012 Boston Book Festival and really enjoyed the talk and how she presented herself, how truly excited she is about this project of hers. Having taken 10 years to write and maybe I assume the getting it published time was added to that, the reception to this award-winning book must be a thrill and a half. I blame Softdrink’s review for first bringing this book to my attention and I know I must blame Miller herself for ensuring I WOULD read this. So thank you all again for joining me here.

Style. The prose has been said to by lyrical (appropriate, no?) and beautiful. At first encountering it, I was struck by how short and simple the sentence structure seems but the sentence and paragraph construction feels highly artistic and powerful. I marvel.

…, I would mumble from my bed, “Is she well?”

And he would answer. “Yes, she is well.” And he might add:  ”The fish are thick today” or “The bay is warm as a bath.” And then we would sleep again.
~ p.52

Spoilers. If you know your Greek gods, you know how this story will progress. Actually, the story itself more than hints that Achilles will die. Do you think the author has balanced this well for those of us who may be murky on Achilles, the Trojan War and who is who? (I guess, I framed that question to say I would agree.)  She drops in the prophecy, “Hector’s death will be first.” in the conversation between Thetis and Patroclus so we know we can expect death.

Also, in the Q&A between Miller and Gregory Maguire, he asks a question about authorial decision. A long question about combining present and past tense and techniques that as a layperson like me would likely never notice consciously (which again would speak to the author’s skill) and then Miller complements him on ‘framing the question without spoilers’! I got excited all over again to keep reading but instead starting poking around at movies about Troy,

and picked up on spoilers I kind of wish I hadn’t read/seen. Oh well. Discuss – CAN this book be spoiled?

Do you like Patroclus? Do you think he is ‘surprising’? Do you think he was ‘surprising’ because he was one boy who didn’t fawn all over Achilles AND that he had a reputation? It reminds me how we never want what is easy. We are always wanting the thing that is a little harder to get.

I love Achilles. Can’t help it. I love kids like him who are confident and don’t even know it. That are easy and smart and make eye contact. I love his father  – and boy-howdy, I did not like Patroclus’ father. I can’t help think of how much we shape our children with our expectations. Oh how subtle and obvious we are with our words and actions. “Why do you always screw up!”, “The teachers don’t get it that you have a learning disability and shouldn’t be expected to read this”, “You’ll make your best friends in college” etc…

Or has Achilles (ARISTOS ACHAION!!) already changed into something more egotistical with his choosing glory over a long life? DID he choose? or is he just embracing his destiny?

“Achilles nodded and bent over the lyre. I did not have time to wonder about his intervention. His fingers touched the strings, and all my thoughts were displaced. The sound was pure and sweet as water, bright as lemons. It was like no music I had ever heard before. It had warmth as a fire does, a texture and weight like polished ivory. It buoyed and soothed at once. A few hairs slipped forward to hang over his eyes as he played. They were fine as lyre strings themselves, and shone.” ~p.34

I’m seriously thinking I might want to read The Iliad.  I love books that only add more suggestions to my tbr.

SO FAR: My notes, trying to keep track…
Ch 1 – Son of kings, simple mother, smiling bride.
Ch 2 – Attempt to be suitor to King Tyndareus’ dot. Blood oath not to fight. (Proud of myself for thinking this important!)
Ch 3 – Killing the boy and banished. p.22 – meaning of Patroclus (“honor of the father” – ha! what was I just saying about expectations?)
Ch 4 – Meeting Achilles
Ch 5 – Therapon = companion. Confidence of a prince, “He is surprising.”
Ch 6 – Friendship (age 12) “Gods and mortals never mixed happily in our stories.” ~p.51
Ch 7 – The kiss
Ch 8 – The Centaur Chiron
Ch 9 – Learning from Chiron
Ch 10 – “She cannot see us here.” – whoa:  instant recognition of the weight of that statement!, pink quartz cave
Ch 11 – Called back to Phthia,“They never let you be famous and happy.” ~p.105
Ch 12 – Helen captured by Troy; Sycros/Lycomedes/Deidemeia & Achilles/Pyrrha (fire hair), Achilles swears to son. ~p.137 (LOTS happen in this chapter!)
Ch 13 – Deidemeia and Patroclus
Ch 14 -
Ch 15 -
Ch 16 -
Ch 17 -

WORDS
p.22  jape – to say something mockingly
p.127 moue – grimace or pout
p.144 craven – lacking the least bit of courage, contemptibly fainthearted, “as craven as you are ugly”
p.145 goad – something that pains as if by pricking

**

* I’m at risk of being deathly boring, I couldn’t tell you who Theseus is…

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Announcing Song of Achilles Readalong #AchilleSong

Up for a flexible informal readalong, Anyone?

One of the tweeples I follow has expressed interest in reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. So I thought I would open it up to anyone else who might be interested in this (from what I hear) beautifully written interpretation of one of the stories in The Illiad.

We’ll be tweeting with hashtag #AchilleSong.

We don’t yet have a start date nor time frame – we are being FLEXIBLE. Flexibility is in order because Sharlene is in line to get the book from the library and we don’t really have any way to expect WHEN it will be available.

So, if you want to read this book and don’t mind the vague details of a readalong plan and could possibly start at a moment’s notice, then JOIN US!  We’re hoping sometime in February but it might be later.

Last October, I attended a Boston Book Fest 2012 session featuring the author and a Harvard professor chatting about this book and I am really excited to see what is about. Maybe then I will have the courage to attempt The Illiad itself.

Leave a comment here or tweet at me @BkClubCare if you are interested and I’ll start a list.  Or watch the hashtag in Twitterville. If you don’t tweet and even if you don’t have a blog, you can always join the discussion here at Care’s Online Book Club. All are welcome.

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Copyright © 2007-2013. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Jamaica Inn

Thoughts  Jamaica Inn by Daphne DuMaurier, Avon Books Imprint of HarperCollins 1999 (orig 1326), 302 pages

For RIP IV.

A young woman named Mary must go to her Aunt’s in Cornwall per her mother’s dying wish. She finds an unsavory inn/tavern with despicable clientele in a  desolate location. The locals fear the place, her Auntie has gone loony and her new Uncle is a brute. Mary suspects foul play; actually she is warned of it and to keep her nose out of it.

Will she survive the unholy shenanigans?! Will she find love on the lonesome wild moors?

Well, yes. She does. That’s not really a spoiler, is it? Mary is a tough cookie despite, alas, her being only a girl.

It was a bit tedious the first 200 pages but it picks up and flies when the danger and treachery and suspense of how it all will turn out finally comes to a head.

RATING:  Three slices of pie. Not my favorite DDuM but I count her as a favorite author still.

And no matter how bad the movie might be, I really want to see it! Have you?

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Copyright © 2007-2012. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

11/22/63

Thoughts  11/22/63 by Stephen King, Scribner 2011, 849 pages Hardcover.

You may already know this book is about time travel. You may already know that it centers on the idea of preventing the assassination of John F. Kennedy. You may have perceptions of Stephen King as being a horror writer and this means you either love him or dismiss him.

Well.

I am very impressed with Stephen King. I’ve only read three of his books:  Carrie (read it twice, actually), Lisey’s Story and his nonfiction book about writing, On Writing. I enjoyed them all. I think he is a helluva writer but I wouldn’t at all call him a favorite. I don’t like horror. BUT, his On Writing sold me and convinced me that perhaps he is actually a pretty good writer. Why I ever found out that he wrote On Writing and why I would be interested is curious. I think I read a back-of-the-book blurb he wrote about some book I did love (that was nothing like something I would expect him to read) and that’s how/why I gave him consideration. I now no longer dismiss him as ‘popular’ like I might with frantically produced paperback crap where the author’s name is in larger print than the title of the book. (I hate that.) I try not to be a snob but when that is the ONLY stuff some people read, I do judge. Shame on me, I suppose but READ SOMETHING ELSE, too!!  I know none of you are like that…

Where was I?

Horror-genre?  Nope. In fact, apparently there are references to past King characters that went write over my head and I never noticed so don’t let the King stereotype of his early works prevent you from reading this.

Dancing is life.

I loved this book about Jake Epping and how he travels back to 1958 to complete an assignment his friend Al didn’t live long enough to attempt. I loved his being a High School English teacher and taking on substitute teaching assignments while ‘laying low’. I loved how he fell in love! I loved the harmonies of time-lines and how obdurate that darn past proved to be.

I didn’t go into this with any expectations other than I am always intrigued with time travel stories.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I couldn’t put this book down during the last half; stealing every second I could, bargaining with myself to find time and avoiding chores to get this darn book read.

Five slices of pie.

“Nice as pie,” I said, giving it the Texas twist: pah.”

If I wanted to think critically, I might be persuaded to agree that a few little things were either expected or typical or not fleshed out  in some way but nope. I enjoyed it too much!

So, if you want a different perspective AND to balance out this review with the last one I posted, I present Ti of Book Chatter’s not-quite-enthusiastic review of 11/22/63. Or is to be contrarian? Actually, Ti and I agree on books about half the time. I cannot use her thoughts on a book to predict whether or not I will like something but she always writes thoughtful reviews. We did agree on Model Home, Goon Squad and Owen Meany - that’s somethin’. 

I liked Rhapsody-Jill’s review, too. She praised it.

BOOKS I WILL READ BECAUSE of 11/22/63:  Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, The Reluctant Wife, Time and Again by Jack Finney, The Lincoln Hunters – about time travel. Book I’ve already read that was mentioned which resulted in a SQUEEEE:  The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks.

 

For more King reviews, stop by here:  

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Before Ever After

Thoughts   Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto, Crown Publisher New York 2011, an eBook so… not sure how many pages – goodreads says 260 which means I had the font a bit bigger because mine shows 312.

Book Club “The Bookies” Choice for December 29 Meeting

FIRST SENTENCE:  ”Jasmine. It was not Max Gallus’s top choice for his last thought, but it would have to do.”

 

WHAT’s it ABOUT:  In this chicklit romance story about immortality but NOT vampires, Shelley is our hapless-but-adorable heroine who runs away from her life to take an offbeat tour of Europe, ultimately falling in love with Max, the tour guide. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they figure it out easy-peasy.

WHAT’s GOOD:  The travel pieces from the non-typical spots of Europe entwined with story bits of ancestors who lived through little-known historical events were entertaining, descriptive and informative.   Seeing how well this book is being received, I bet Sotto has a promising career ahead.  I hope her writing gets tighter and less embellished.  Pacing was good; I can say that.  The book does a lot of back and forth between NOW and THEN and it works well.

And since I have an interest in mosaics, I was pleased to see this mentioned in the story.

(from mosaicartnow.blogspot.com)

WHAT’s NOT so good:  OOoo boy. I didn’t fall into this like I hoped. I wanted to, but truthfully found it difficult to root for our poor Shelley and sympathize with her apprehensions about love. I never did get much sense of Max. Or his chickens. HOWEVER, if you want a light and sappy tale of resisting love and then saying ‘what the heck – go for it’, you might enjoy the humor and the silliness and get your heartstrings tugged despite the over-abundance of amber-colored eyes. And chickens.

FINAL THOUGHTS:  Overall, I enjoyed it but at times I had to squash my picky inner booksnob critic.  The author has charmed me –  she likely has a fun sense of humor.  Three slices of pie: QUICHE, of course!

“Yes. The good news is that we woke up,” Max said. “Today is a new day, and I, for one, have decided to live it. I strongly urge you to do the same.”

other REVIEWS:  S.Krishna, Amused, Fyrefly, and the entire list of results of Fyrefly’s Book Blog Search

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Copyright © 2007-2011. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

The Paris Wife

Sad Thoughts  The Paris Wife by Paula McClain, Ballantine Books 2011, eKindle on my iPad.

.

I can tell that my mother still has amazing powers of influence in my life. Most especially when it comes to books. If she tells me she didn’t care for something, I can bet that I bring a bias to it not easily overcome.

My mom did not like The Paris Wife. I can’t actually remember what exactly she found displeasing or unsuitable, but I do remember she was not fond.

and so, I didn’t either.

Honestly, I was bored.

I did like the protagonist’s name ‘Hadley’.

☺

Why it was her nickname? or why she went by Hadley and not her given name Elizabeth, I don’t recall.

I liked her spunk. Sometimes. By which I mean that sometimes she exhibited some spunk. I didn’t like that she felt lost and overwhelmingly lonesome when Ernie left on his first 3 week assignment. Come on, Hadley!  Find something to do!  (or go get drunk or … pregnant – THAT will fix things. I didn’t get to this point in the book — I am only assuming that might have happened.)

I was amazed that she was willing to hike through the Alps!  I was unimpressed that she chose to wear silly shoes to do so and then felt the need to tell me about it. Be practical, woman!

I don’t know much about Ernie other than to assume I shouldn’t like him. I did google some photos of young Ernie to see what he looked like and I will admit the man was ruggedly handsome. I wasn’t impressed with his moodiness.

I wasn’t impressed with Hadley.

I felt like I was reading a celebrity ‘tell all’ about the poor first wife of some great (?) – famous – person.  But I could never summon enough interest to care; except for wondering about other little things mentioned like the neighborhoods in Chicago/St. Louis and that guy who wrote Winesburg Ohio. His wife was named Tennessee? cool. I know absolutely nothing about Ezra Pound – what a name! Sounds like one from a different time. And Gertrude. I am intrigued by Gertrude Stein.

But this book felt like it was going to ramble on into the Poor-Me stories of the girl who had to clean up with the womenfolk after the big dinner and having to miss the fun of watching the football game on TV. Poor Hadley, missing the big conversations about culture and art and literature.  Hadley had to sit and have tea with Alice instead.

I was spectacularly aware of how each chapter ended with a doomsdayish ominous teaser about the pain ahead.

“Are you happy?” he said softly.
“You know I am.  Do you need to ask?”
“I like asking,” he said. “I like to hear it, even knowing what I’m going to hear.”
“Maybe especially, then,” I said. “Are you happy?”
“Do you need to ask?”
We laughed lightly at one another.

I was annoyed by this book. I made it about 1/4 of the way through.

 Two slices of pie. Avocado Meringue Pie.

For insightful, enlightening and much more credible professional reviews, may I point you to Fyrefly’s book blog search?  or click here – an impressive review at A Work in Progress.

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Copyright © 2007-2011. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

The Killer Angels

Thoughts    The Killer Angels  by Michael Shaara, Ballantine 1975/orig 1974, 355 pages.  Winner of The Pulitzer Prize.

EXCERPT:

 ”This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you’ll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we’re here for something new.  I don’t . . .  this hasn’t happened much in the history of the world. We’re an army going out to set other men free.”    (Chamberlain, p.30)

WHAT’s it ABOUT:  In the author’s own words, in the preface To The Reader:

This is the story of the Battle of Gettysburg, told from the viewpoints of Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet and some of the other men who fought there.

So, it’s a fictionalized account of the imfamous Civil War battle, told from both sides of the line.  I certainly am no expert on battles of the Civil War and have only a passing knowledge of the main players.  But I love history.  I have actually visited Gettysburg and only wish I had read this book before seeing that ground.

“Give them fifty years, and all that equality rot is gone. Here (the South) they have the same love of the land and of tradition, of the right form and the right breeding, in their horses, their women. Of course, slavery is embarrassing, but that, of course, will go.  But the point is they do it all exactly as we do in Europe. And the North does not. THAT’s what the war is really about.” (Fremantle, British ‘tourist’, p. 165)

This is another book that had me wiki-ing all the characters – I had to find out if they lived or died!   And I screwed it up – I *thought* I had searched for Col Chamberlain, the rhetoric professor from Maine, and saw that he died on the first day. All due to the ominous tone in this description at the very beginning:

“His younger brother Thomas becomes his aide.  Thomas too has yearned to be a soldier.  The wishes of both men are to be granted on the dark rear slope of a small rocky hill called Little Round Top.”

I immediately had to go to my iPad open google to find out WHAT HAPPENED?!  - mind you, this was page xix – and somehow?? not sure what I did, but I must have googled John Reynolds name by mistake.  Anyhoo…

Later, I was discussing this book – I am about half way through reading it at this point – with a coworker of my husband’s who was helping us move the boat to its winter storage location, when I told him, “I think I am in love with Chamberlain and I could just cry! I can’t believe he didn’t make it!” when Jerry says, “What? No, he lives. He survives.”

So I was all confused and had to google all these old dead (now) guys again.

“Once Chamrberlain had a speech memorized from Shakespeare and gave it proudly, the old man listening but not looking, and Chamberlain remembered it still:  ”What a piece of work is man . . . in action how like an angel!” And the old man, grinning, had scratched his head and then said stiffly, “Well, boy, if he’s an angel, he’s sure a murderin’ angel.” And Chamberlain had gone on to school to make an oration on the subject: Man, the Killer Angel.” (p.119)

LOVED that the book had maps even though they were a bit small to read.

A big THANK YOU SHOUT OUT to Jason for helping me with army organization.

Sure, I would have enjoyed a bit more perspective from and respect for a woman’s point of view but I can leave that for another book.

RATING:  Who am I to argue with the Pulitzer Committee AND General Schwartzkopf, who said, “The best and most realistic historical novel about war I have ever read.”   FIVE SLICES of PIE. Cherry.  Any guesses as to why cherry?  ;)

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People of the Book

Thoughts   People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, Penguin Books 2008, 372 pages

MOTIVATION:  I loved her novel Year of Wonders and heard good things about this one.  I don’t have notes on how I came to this copy; I had added it to my goodreads to-be-read in Dec 2009.

FIRST SENTENCE:  ”I might as well say, right from the jump: it wasn’t my usual kind of job.”

WHAT’s it ABOUT:  Brooks took a known ancient book, the Sarajevo Haggadah, a few known facts, and her fantastic imagination to weave together a fictional but possible historical account of the people who all played a part in the life of the book. Farflung places, religion, feminist rants, class issues, war, love, sex, hate, powerful people and slaves all are explored and tossed in for flavor and a thrill of a ride.

To READ more about the ‘real’ illustrated manuscript, here’s the WIKI link…

This was about a Jewish book that is odd for its age because it has beautiful paintings of a style not usually in this kind of book. It survives centuries and situations when many other books were found and burned.  The readers are introduced to many characters as Brooks creates a series of stories to explain how it may have come to be, how it traveled, and how it became a unifying symbol for Sarajevo.

It’s a fascinating ride involving art, religion (oh yea – I mentioned that), interesting careers like LIBRARIANS!  and art historians and even surgeons. The details are rich and lively. We get to know to the main characters and feel what they feel. It has action and intrigue, double-crossings and  even a bit of romance.  All the pieces and parts fall together when I wondered if they would, my questions got answered, I was entertained.

I had expected to really enjoy this and it did not disappoint.  I will most definitely look forward to reading March as well as Brooks’ latest Caleb’s Crossing.

RATING:  Four slices of pie with extra whipped cream. 

Other REVIEWS:  See Fyrefly’s Awesome Book Blogger Search results.

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Copyright © 2007-2011. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Help Me Pitch Titles to My Book Club

********* updated after book club vote to let you all know that we chose EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL BEGAN AFTER!!!    ***********

 

I will be pitching the following titles to my club on Thursday.   Which would YOU vote for?  The blurbs are from goodreads.com and I am including the Kindle pricing because almost all of my friends have that eReader.   Clicking on the book cover will take you to goodreads.

Everything Beautiful Began After    by Simon Van Booy.   A huge favorite of those bloggers who adore Mr. Van Booy.   I have read a short story collection and I must say, his writing IS beautiful.   I purchased a copy at the first day of the Borders-Is-Going-Out-Of-Biz sale.  #sob   Paperback 416 pages, Kindle $9.99

Simon Van Booy brings to the page his unique talent for poetic dialogue and sumptuous imagery in this his remarkable debut novel of love and loss, dependence and independence. Rebecca has come to Athens to paint. Born and raised in the south of France, Rebecca’s mother abandoned her and her sister when they were very young, left to be raised by her loving yet distant grandfather. Young and lost, she seeks solace in the heat of Athens. George has come to Athens to translate language. Dropped off at a New England boarding school when he was a child, he has close to no relationships with anyone, except the study of ancient language and alcohol. Henry has come to Athens to dig. An archaeologist, Henry is on-site at Athens during the day, and roams the Agora on the weekend. Three lost and lonely souls whose worlds become inexorable enmeshed with consequences that ripple far among the ruins of ancient Athens.

∏

Two Rivers    by T. Greenwood.   I know absolutely nothing about this (and will TRY to not even even read the blurb I’m about to cut and paste!)   My friend just loaned this to me and it was included in the Reading Group Choices 2010 edition.     Paperback 367 pages, Kindle $9.60

“Two Rivers is a convergence of tales, a reminder that the past never washes away, and yet, in T. Greenwood’s delicate handling of time gone and time to come, love and forgiveness wait on the other side of what life does to us and what we do to it. This novel is a sensitive and suspenseful portrayal of family and the ties that bind.” –Lee Martin, author of The Bright Forever and River of Heaven

∏

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe     by Charles Yu.    I read a review of this at Ti’s BOOK CHATTER blog and knew that I must read.  I also think the idea of a book club is to read something one might never ever pick up without a nudge.   Hardcover 234 pages, Kindle $11.99

National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Award winner Charles Yu delivers his debut novel, a razor-sharp, ridiculously funny, and utterly touching story of a son searching for his father . . . through quantum space & time. 

∏

and finally, NOT that I have a favorite but this one excites me:   The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb   by Melanie Benjamin.    The subject of this historical fiction novel grew up in the town I now live in.   WICKED COOL!   And the reviews so far are GUSHING-good.   Hardcover 448 pages $15.44, Kindle $12.99

She was only two-foot eight-inches tall, but her legend reaches out to us more than a century later. As a child, Mercy Lavinia “Vinnie” Bump was encouraged to live a life hidden away from the public. Instead, she reached out to the immortal impresario P. T. Barnum, married the tiny superstar General Tom Thumb in the wedding of the century, and transformed into the world’s most unexpected celebrity.

A barnstorming novel of the Gilded Age, and of a woman’s public triumphs and personal tragedies, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb is the irresistible epic of a heroine who conquered the country with a heart as big as her dreams—and whose story will surely win over yours.

OK!  Time to vote!   I will be sending my club the link to this so they can vote as well.   I have the power to dictate WHICH book to read but not yet sure which one I would pick.   Thank you. And have a nice day.

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The Birth of Love

Wondrous Words Wednesday!     

Thoughts    The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna, Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Company 2010, 304 pages.

Fiction selection for Citizen Reader’s Book Menage May 23, along with nonfiction The Doctors’ Plague, which I posted on just prior to this.

FIRST SENTENCEs

THE MOON.  ”The year is 1865 and Ignaz Semmelweis is dragged along the corridor though he struggles violently, kicks and shouts.”

THE TOWER.  ”The year is 2153 and Prisoner 730004 is forced into a cell.”

THE EMPRESS.  ”The year is 2009 and Brigid feels the birthing pains deep within her and knows it has begun.”

THE HERMIT.  ”For years he had failed and failed again; he had been disappointed a hundred times and then he had the book in his hand.”

OOoooh  goodness.    Four different story lines from three different time periods weave together a tale of love, pain, guilt, misunderstandings, confusion, regret and finally, wonder.

I read most of the present day birthing scene parts while traveling on Mother’s Day; I really felt the significance. I won’t debate how authentic or realistic, though I have seen some goodreads.com reviews that say it isn’t – - how can anyone really question another’s experience anyway? I thought the writing in the EMPRESS section was vivid and emotional charged.

In fact, I thought the writing was spectacular in many ways in every section. The construction at the end, when each storyline was only a paragraph and we rapidly switched from one to the next, was fabulous and quite effective. The pacing here was intense.

However. I did end up with questions. I was not convinced with the future timeline events and connections. I am eagerly awaiting the discussion scheduled for next week and why I had to write and post this review now versus later. I have been reading other reviews (see a few links at the end of this post) and most have been favorable and pointing out themes and issues that somehow make sense to me now but I missed while reading.    Hand slap to forehead, but that is me.

Perhaps because I had read the nonfiction selection on Semmelweis first, I was very interested in this part particularly.   Also, the HERMIT storyline was wonderful – this was my favorite part which seems to put me in the minority.   Some book blurbs don’t even mention this 4th ‘story ‘ – it was about a guy who had given up living in order to write and finally after many years, he has a book (the Semmelweis storyline!) published and is feted around town.   I was captivated by his discomfort with success when it had been his goal for so long.   I thought Kavenna brilliantly portrayed his stress in conversation and setting.    And yet, I didn’t quite relate to the parts about him being desperate to reconnect with his mother – I felt it was more a flight option/excuse to get out of the parties in his honor than a new realization of his love for mommy.   Yet this was likely the connecting theme to the other stories.

Does this mean that I enjoyed the action and thought processes of the characters more than their motivations?   I somehow glossed over the mother-child love connection theme that threaded through each story.     I really missed it on the future timeline thing and felt clubbed a bit for the obvious links provided and yet then wondered, “Hey, WTH?! “

“She kissed him and held him to her, whispering in his ear, telling him how precious he was and how much she loved him. Though she felt spiky and savage within, she never doubted that she loved her son  Her love was infinite; she sensed that there was a deep infinite core of love, and then a lesser love, her surface emotion, where everything got sullied by quotidian demands, and mingled with guilt.”  p.50

Any bookclubbers looking for a highly discussable book would not do wrong by selecting The Birth of Love.   I am putting Joanna Kavenna on my author-to-watch list.    The more I think about this book, the more I am impressed.

You still have time to read this before next week’s discussions!     Visit CitizenReader.com or come back here, I will link up to each batch of questions/discussions as they unfold.

OTHER REVIEWS:   Savidge Reads, Farmlane Books, Nomadreader, link to Fyrefly’s BookBlog Search Results for this title.

WORDS
p.28 – traduced - speak badly of or tell lies about (someone) so as to damage their reputation.
p.36 – malefactor - a person who commits a crime or some other wrong.
p.49 – augury - a sign of what will happen in the future; an omen.
p.57 – charnel house - associated with death.
p.60 – unguent – “…her hair newly dyed, skin creamed with some expensive unguent, her jewelry sparkling…” - a soft greasy or viscous substance (I thought this word totally disrupted the imagery of the rest of the sentence; perhaps it was supposed to.)

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