Wednesday, May 10, 2006

book club

We had our monthly book club meeting tonight. We took turns discussing the books that we had chosen for the past month. It was so fulfilling just hanging out in someone's living room, connecting with these women through our love of books. Some books that were discussed:
Hannah's Suitcase by Karen Lavine (a holocaust story)
Survivors: True Stories of children in the holocaust by Allan Zullo and Mara Bovsun
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory
Every Good Thing (compilation of 1997 LDS Womens Conference Talks...one especially good one by James M. Harper, I think his name was...)
The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander Smith (This one sounded the most intriguing, set in Africa. It is book 5 in a series. The first in the series is called The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency )
and then I talked about The Joy Luck Club. After I read it, I watched the movie (by the same name) and all the dialogue and narration in the movie was identical to the book, which is rare. It is a story of 4 women living in China who move to America and each have a daughter. It is told, in turn, from the perspective of these 8 women. The movie leaves out a lot of good stuff so I wouldn't recommend it. The stories of the mothers when they were growing up in China are pretty remarkable. I feel like they are true stories.
So, it turns out that I will be scratching another book off my have-always-wanted-to-read list because the club has chosen classics for the next month so I am going to finally finish Pride and Prejudice. Ah yes, it is all falling into place...

7 comments:

Dagga said...

Sounds like fun, all very interesting books and very diverse. Hannah´s suitcase has been translated into Icelandic but was published as a childrens book is that correct? Philippa Gregory is getting to big in the historical genre. I think you would like the no.1 ladies´ detective agency if only because it takes place in Botswana in a reality that is so far from ours.

elisabeth said...

i like realities far from mine. don't get me wrong, i love my own life too, but i am always interested in other cultures and civilizations.

elisabeth said...

would you like to be a contributer on this blog and just do poetry posts?

elisabeth said...

quality and depth? really?
yippee!
get halli to give me your e-mail address if you want to post poems that you like.
i'm not too into poems on my own but if someone were to show me some i would like to read and comment.

Anonymous said...

yeah sean said we have depth! For sure i will discuss Cohen with you, let me read them first. I also really like Pete Seegar. we might be comming down on the 26th. Elisabeth i am like you. i love exploring the world through books. TV can kiss my ass.

Dagga said...

I think I have a cohen poetry book I should dig it up and see if I understand them. I like poetry but I am not an avid reader. It would be interesting have some poetry posts.

Anonymous said...

sean i have to be vulgar every once in a while or people might think i'm smart. Rus i agree, sometimes the best poetry is a song and the the music just makes it more poignant. Here's one of my favorites:
Oh Earth
lie heavily upon our eyes
sealed in her sweet arms weary of watching
earth
lie close around her and leave no room for mirth with its harsh laughter
now for sound of sighs
she hath no questions
she hath no replies
hushed in and curtained with a blessed dirth of all that hurt her
from her hour of birth
with stillness that is almost paradise
darkness more clear than noonday holdeth her
silence more musical than any song
even her very heart hath ceased to stir
until the morning of eternity
her rest shall not begin
nor end
but be
and when she wakes
she will not think it long.

of course this reminds me of my daughter.