The Sun Also Rises

Our meeting at Sandy's was cozy, as we enjoyed wine, appetizers and treats beside her tall and refreshingly simply adorned Doug Fir Christmas Tree. It was a sweet respite from the busyness of our lives and as always satisfying to share good food, beverages and conversation with fellow readers and friends.

The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway was not well received by most of us, for the repetitiveness of the plot and the insensitivity of the characters.   Set in Paris, and then Spain, the story follows the everyday life of a group of American and English expats living in Paris shortly after WWI.  They eat, drink and travel together to fish and go to the bullfights.  Their callousness is typified by this description given to the narrator Jake -
"You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil.  Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed with sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see?  You hang around cafes. " 

Several mentioned that the most enjoyable and interesting part of the book was the description of the travel to Spain from Paris. One could easily imagine being on the crowded bus that took them through the many twists and climbs in the Basque country.
" Now as we went higher there was a wind blowing the grain. The road was white and dusty, and the dust rose under the wheels and hung in the air behind us.  The road climbed up into the hills and left the rich grain-fields below. Now there were only patches of grain on the bare hillsides and on each side of the water courses" . Hemingway's description of the terrain and the people they encountered carried the reader along for journey vicariously. 

I  often found myself imagining scenes beyond what was written, which  apparently was the intent of Hemingway's spare style of writing.   "The Iceberg Theory is a style of writing coined by American writer Ernest Hemingway. When he became a writer of short stories, he retained this minimalistic style , focusing on surface elements without explicitly discussing underlying themes." - google search    

Our next book is The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu , by Joshua Hammer.  We will meet at Claudia's home on Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 5:30 PM.

Great Things

Thanks to Judy who hosted this month's meeting.  We enjoyed a delicious pot-luck and friendship.  Judy noted that our discussion of the book "Small Great Things", a story revolving around the death of a newborn boy, was coinciding with the Day of the Innocents, when people of Latin heritage honor children or infants who have died.  So appropriate! 

Such an interesting book which dealt with morals, ethics and racism.  The characters were well developed and some were quite gritty - not at all your best friends.  White supremacy versus Hippocratic oath.  "There's a hierarchy to hate, and it's different for everyone."  Eye opening.  We all have a degree of racist thinking, not matter how hard we try to not be racist.  "Is it better not knowing the ugly truth, and pretending it doesn't exist?  Or is it better to confront it, even though that knowledge may be a weight you carry around forever?"  All this interspersed with beautiful prose. 

As a society, how will we ever move beyond our current mindset?  Barbara suggested that we always ask a question about how the other person feels; that's how you learn.  Otherwise you won't know how this person feels.  Jodi Picoult's books always have a surprise twist at the end.  My reaction as I neared the end of this book was "Bravo Jodi!  I didn't see this coming!"  Any book that makes you reflect on yourself and shows you something that can be improved upon is worth it's weight in gold.

At the Water's Edge (Lake Entiat) with Esther

Thank you Esther for a lovely gathering of friends complete with Scottish-inspired selections.  Book- themed soup, potatoes, malt Scotch, garden goodies.  Thank goodness no haggis!  Combined with contributions such as Judy's Walker's shortbread, we certainly shared a feast!  It is always nice to gather together with friends for sharing our comments as well as our lives.

Our book was "At the Water's Edge" by Sara Gruen.  This was a light read which was appreciated as we've had some challenging books this year.  The story focused on three upper-class Americans (husband, wife and best friend) who travel to Scotland during WWII to search for the Lock Ness monster.  Although a fiction story, much background research was done to get the details correct.  The food rationing, necessity of carrying a gas mask with you at all times, the air raids.  Without focusing on the ravages of war, you certainly learned about daily life during the war.  You also learned about attitudes, based on social class and on culture.  Two characters were so very shallow and rude, expecting the world to serve them.  A social class which was quite reminiscent of "The Great Gatsby".  Yet one character changed and grew into a respectable person, while the two friends managed to get worse.  Chris P. had an epiphany about this story: she sees it as the melding of two classic fairy tales - Cinderella (the fair maiden with the cruel step-mother) and Beauty and the Beast (the cold, large male who's heart is awakened by the beautiful maiden).  Chris said the story was somewhat formula but in a new setting.  The writing was good and at times was a "calm and elegant whirlwind".   Was Nessie ever found?  Sara Gruen leaves you to decide.  "But what I had learned over the past year was that monsters abound, usually in plain sight."

Our next meeting will be Wednesday November 1st, 5:30 pm, at Judy's home.  We will be discussing "Small Great Things" by Jodi Picoult.  See you then!

Smoke and Dust

Many thanks to Chris Peek for hosting our September meeting. It is always a treat to view the beautiful Columbia from Chris's windows, though this time the view was hazier than usual. We are all wishing for clearer skies, as the smoke obscures all views, and is causing many to feel confined, and uncomfortable. The choice of The Worst Hard Time, by Timothy Egan could be considered either really good or bad timing. Good, as during these smoky days we can get a very small sense of the oppressiveness of the dust bowl days, or bad as in reading about the misery of that time just makes a hard time harder!

Exerpting from Claudia's review, The Worst Hard Time is   “A classic disaster tale” (New York Times) of greed, hardship and unbelievable perseverance.  The tragedy of the loss of the greatest natural grassland on earth could be blamed on many sources - " government for promoting the land ... banks with easy loans so one will buy everything, bank accounts not backed and deposits uninsured, railroad men with promotional pamphlets full of misinformation. The run up and frenzy of wheat boom, debt loads and technologic revolution " and human nature to consume and claim dominance over nature without considering the long term consequences.  The farmers and ranchers described in the book were not knowingly creating havoc with the land, but they were ill-advised and ill-equipped to create a sustainable life on the plains. The combination of mismatched farming practices and drought over many years, made the consequential dust bowl and deep poverty compounded by the great depression an epic human caused calamity.  The Worst Hard Times , was both appreciated for helping us gain an insight to that era , and critiqued for it's grim and longwinded style.

We discussed our next  book choices and as of this date the following suggestions have been made and will be submitted to Anne for approval. She will let us know if they are available and when we can expect them.. I am asking for 15 copies, of each book including one in LT if available.

• The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck - - Sandy
• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway - Debbie G
• The Virginian: Horseman of the Plains by Owen Wister - Chris M
• Bad Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer - Claudia
• You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me - a Memoir by Sherman Alexie - Judy
• Still Life, by Louise Penny – Esther
• The Heirs: A Novel, by Susan Rieger – Chris Peek
• Grandma Gatewood's Walk, by Ben Montgomery - Debbie D. 

The next meeting will be at Esther's home on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 5:30 PM. We will be discussing "At the Water's Edge" by Sara Gruen.

Reading List

Just a quick reminder: it's almost time submit a new reading list, so start thinking about your next book selection!

August Gathering

With many schedules disrupted for the summer, we decided to hold our August meeting at the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center's Arnie Arenson Picnic Shelter.  A bit smoky with the Canadian fires, but a pleasant gathering with our substantial appetizers and desserts.

The Cellist of Sarajevo is based on a real event - a horrific bombing - in which the author has intertwined the stories of three fictional character's lives during this siege of their hometown.  The cellist decides to play Albinoni's Adagio once a day for each of the 22 victims of a bread-line bombing.  This piece of music, which had been recreated after the original was lost in a different war, gave the cellist hope that Sarajevo could be rebuilt into something new and worthwhile just as this score had been.   The three other characters struggle with how this war has changed their lives and what they now accept each day.  They remember how life/the world used to be and wonder if mankind is still capable of humanity.  Paraphrasing other reviews of this book: The author took an imaginative leap to create an intense story of the endurance of the human spirit and the subtle ways individuals reclaim their humanity.  It speaks powerfully to the dignity and generosity of the human spirit under extraordinary duress.  Kris B. commented that "there was enough description to understand the hardship and human life lost but at the same time it didn't feel overly graphic."

Our September meeting will be held at Chris Peek's home on Wednesday, September 6th at 5:30.  Hope to see you there!

A Poetic Evening

Lovely gathering at Debbie G's on a beautiful summers eve.  Good to see Debbie D, back from her long vacation in the motor home.  Fun to reconnect with everyone!

Our book was an anthology of poems by Robert Frost.  Although poetry may not be everyone's favorite genre to read, we all found favorite poems in this anthology.  It is hard to find fault with Robert Frost's poetry and the commentary by Louis Untermeyer was insightful.  Robert was able to take a simple, ordinary subject and create a poem which is deep with meaning.  How could this be any less than a 6.0?!  Although nobody rated the poetry less, there were some small points taken off due to the presentation of the material.  The book itself, some felt, should have been nicer - more of a classic keep-sake, beautifully bound.  Our discussion was filled with memories which the poems brought up as well as discussion of other favorite poets.  As stated by Louis Untermeyer, "It is not so much the power of the thought as the expressiveness that affects the reader.  The spell of the lyrics is in their suggestion, in their half-revealed, half-concealed essence.  What counts here is not so much the meaning as the shades of meaning."

Beautiful Evening at Barbara's

We all were treated to a lovely garden party along the river at Barb's.  Glad the weather cooperated.  A bit humid, but no rain.  That came the following day!  Everyone enjoyed the wonderful variety of appetizers and salads along with beverages.  We welcomed new member Kimberly Flowers.  It was so relaxing to sit out under the canopy and listen to the river rush by.  Always a treat!

"Breaking Blue" was one of Timothy Egan's earlier works.  Although interesting to learn about life in the post-depression era, the book was a bit tedious to read.  You kept waiting for it to spring into action, but it kept slowly developing.  This story would have made a good novella.  It was somewhat surprising and disconcerting to learn about the way the police used to function: bribes, cover-ups, murder - despicable!  The ray at the end of the book was that the Connif children finally had closure and their father's name was added to the fallen officers memorial.  Chris M was not able to attend, but did point out that "I saw passages in this book that were areas he (Timothy Egan) took on in depth in his later works 'The Worst Hard Times' (dust bowl) and 'The Big Burn' (guys serving as wildland firefighters for work)."  The dedication and determination of one man to uncover the truth was amazing.  "Every crisis ends in resolution, good or bad.  Those who learn from it move on to something higher."

Our next meeting will be held at Debbie G's.  It will be on Wednesday, July 12th due to the July 4th holiday.  Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Sharing at the Waterfront

Great teamwork at Judy's lakeside home, by neighbors Judy and Chris P serving up great panini(s) for our Book Club gathering; extra bonus celebrating Debbie G's birthday with cake and cheesecake.

Thanks to Claudia for a concise summary shared, although she couldn't be here to attend discussion of "Our Souls at Night": This is a deceivingly simple story, simply written. No flowery descriptions of everything. Simple dialogue, a conversation, easy language, no quotes.
In fact, CP pointed out there weren't even explanation points, the conversation was so matter of fact. Most rated the book a four and wished for a different ending., although glad for the time this couple had the companionable, loving relationship. We all have a notion about how marriage should be, but it is different for each. Esther reported to Barbara that a movie is coming out, starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, if you can imagine!

Next meeting

The next meeting will be hosted at Barb's, in hopes of good outdoor weather, Wednesday June 7 (Sandy, Debbie and Chris out of town?). That puts Debbie G for July, but possibly rather than July 5, the following Wed July 12. May 3 notes coming up!

A "Wild" night in Wenatchee

I was lucky may times over on Thursday April 13th.  Ron came with me to the Columbia River Reads evening with Cheryl Stayed at the PAC!  We got the last available parking space in the PAC lot!  I found a penny!  And best: as we made our way to the overflow section - as I was not able to get auditorium tickets - NCRL staff member Kim N spotted me and gifted us with two auditorium tickets of seats in the second row center, right in front of the podium!!!  Wow, it was great!

Cheryl was warm and friendly and very at ease during her off-the-cuff discussion.  She said she decided to do the PCT hike because she remembered her mother saying "I've never been in the driver's seat of my life" and she wanted to fulfill every ambition she had to honor her mother.  She was close to quitting the first week, swinging between "I can't bear it" and "I have to bear it".  She did not want to give up on herself.  She came to realize that the huge heavy pack was a symbol of the burden of life without her mother.  She learned self reliance, self endurance and self acceptance.  She chose not to wreck her own life; rather to trust in herself that she could go on and be okay.  She said none of the bad stuff in her past is gone.  "I just learned to carry it better,  I learned acceptance; how to carry on even when I thought I couldn't."

She left us with this insight: "Don't expect it (things/life) to always be good.  When things are bad, push through it.  Expect discomfort; it will only last a while.  Every life is an evolving journey and that journey is never ending."

May meeting

Debbie G was scheduled to be our hostess for May, but her schedule is so busy she asked Judy to switch months with her.  So, we will all enjoy gathering at Judy's home on Wednesday May 3rd!

Hawaiian Holiday

Thank you Debbie D. for hostessing our April book club meeting in a festive Hawaiian theme.  Luau anybody?  Our book was set in Hawaii, so Debbie provided a delicious Hawaiian Chicken and Rice entree and everyone brought other tropical dishes to share.  It was a lovely evening despite the rain.

"The Three-Year Swim Club" proved to be a subject none of us knew about.  The time-frame of the story was 1930's & 1940's and focused on the children of Maui sugar plantation workers and their teacher who, although he did not swim, taught them how to swim using the irrigation ditches on the plantation as they had no pool facilities.  The coach, Soichi  Sakamoto, was a very progressive thinker and did technical analysis of each student's body type, realizing that this greatly affected their individual swimming techniques.  "Every body needed its own particular stroke, a signature movement."  The goal was the the 1936 Olympics, but these games were cancelled due to WWII, as were the 1940 Olympics.  Several of the swimmers stuck with the coach and their training and went on to win many national and international swim competitions, as well as future Olympics.

This non-fiction story was a bit detailed and dry at times, but the over-all story of the coach and the kids was very interesting.  Their focus and dedication changed all their lives.  "The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well."  "Commitment was an exercise of will, and that will was the constant application of one's choice."  "Every moment of your life, come storms, come twists of fate, come waves that threatened to overcome you, if you wanted to become a champion, then every minute of your life you had to be one."

I'll close with one other noted quotation:  "There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting." -Gautama Siddhartha

A Scandinavian Evening

A very big thanks to Nika for being our March hostess.  Who would have thought that we would have to consider snow and icy driveways when we set our meeting date of March 8th!  Once again, a smaller gathering due to winter weather. 

Thank you Nika for the very delicious Swedish meatballs!  Yum yum!  And all the other components of our meal were wonderful; thank you all for yet another memorable time with friends.

We reviewed the popular book "A Man Called Ove", a debut novel by author Fredrik Backman.  It is a story about an old crumudgeon who turns out to be a kind and caring - in his own fashion - man who is so very alone since the passing of his wife.  "And then she left him alone in a world where he no longer understood the language."  She was his connection, the person who understood him and helped him relate to the rest of the world.  His work meaning to his life, but then he was laid off, removing his reason to face each day.  "How can anyone spend their whole life longing for the day when they become superfluous?"  With the help of neighbors, whom he initially finds annoying, he learns how to continue living alone.  This was a simply written, well constructed story which at times was both humorous and thought-provoking.  Some of us really liked the book, while some not as much.  One was not able to finish as she found it so irritating.  My feeling is that your opinion of a story is affected by what is going on in your life; if your daily life is filled with aruguments and opposition, you don't enjoy spending your personal time reading about it also.  This story did start out with all of Ove's negative views of everything.  You had to stick with the story to see how various charachters understood how Ove was feeling and came together to help give him a purpose again.

Our next meeting will be at Debbie D's up-river in Entiat.  It looks like it will be Wednesday, April 5th.  We are keeping to our regular schedule of our meetings being on the first Wednesday of the month, which we had altered this winter due to weather conditions.  Looking forward to seeing you then!

Ordinary Grace

Our February gathering was foiled by the weather - snow and ice prevailed.  Missing seeing everyone and sharing friendship and discussion.  This month we had to make due with email contacts and comments.

Our book was a coming of age story which centered on a thirteen year son of a Methodist minister whose family lived in Minnesota.  The usually joyful summer turns grim when death visits in it's many forms: accident, natural, suicide, murder.  The characters were well developed and believable with their human imperfections, leaving us to wonder how we would describe our own families.  We watched them cope with death and their grief in many ways - withdrawal, denial, understanding, concern - as they learned about truth and the enduring grace of God.  Being set in the early 1960's, some of us could easily identify with the era of the story.  Though the story was a bit dark, the author showed a great gift with words and a positive spirit emerged through the tragedies.  We had many favorite quotes which were noted in our emails, so I will close with only one:
     "The dead are never far from us.  They're in our hearts and on our minds and in the end all that separates us from them is a single breath, on final puff of air."

Our March meeting will be held at Nika's home.  Looks like it will be on Wednesday, March 8th.  Looking forward to seeing everyone then!

A Rosie Day

Thank you Chris Mallon for the wonderful Saturday brunch!  As always, delicious and fun.  We were all very glad that we were making our way to your home during winter daylight hours.  We missed some of our members who were not about to attend due to various health issues and also winter travels.

"The Rosie Project" was another of our debut novels, written by Graeme Simsion.  It was a humorous and enjoyable read which "tackled Asperger's from the viewpoint of a geneticist whose highly scheduled life collides with many social situations" (thank you Judy!).  "Asperger's syndrome is associated with organization, focus, innovative thinking and rational detachment" which many view as faults, but Don, the main character, viewed as attributes.  The author is a bit over the top with repeated illustrations of life from the Asperger person's viewpoint, but this really pointed out how one might think and live if they have Asperger's.  This also made for many hilarious situations which Don found himself in throughout the book.  Along with the fun frolic, philosophical ideas were also presented and examine; Don wonders "Why do we focus on certain things at the expense of others?  We risk our lives to save a person from drowning, yet not make a donation that could save dozens of children from starvation...We are genetically programmed to react to stimuli in our immediate vicinity.  Responding to complex issues that we cannon perceive directly requires the application of reasoning, which is less powerful than instinct".  It was easy to empathize with Don, and at times through the book I wondered if we all have a bit of Asperger's.