Heidi's comments

Heidi's comments from the The Random Person's Book Club group.

Note: Heidi is no longer a member of this group.

Crystal,

That's interesting that The Book Thief is marketed as an adult book in Australia. A long time ago I read an article about how in the US literature falls to the "level of incomprehensibility," and there it stays. For example, Lord of the Flies and A Separate Peace were originally taught at the college level, but each year it would get taught to younger and younger students, until it hits junior high and the students don't understand it. And there it stays. No wonder so many students can't stand those books--they weren't the original audience. I think I read A Separate Peace in the sixth grade, and I just didn't get what was so great about it.

I think it's odd that if a minor is one of the main characters, it's automatically labeled a children's book or adolescent lit. (I know that's a broad generalization, but it seems to fit.)

Peg and Diane,

My group is reading The Glass Castle this month, and I did wonder how much of it was exaggerated, like the piano scene. I'd be interested to hear her siblings' versions of the story, especially since Jeanette was her dad's favorite. I suspect that the events would be the same but the interpretation and experiences would be very different.

I thought one very telling scene was when they were in Phoenix and their dad set the Christmas tree on fire and ruined all the presents. The author said that each of them had their own way of "retreating" at times like that, of coping with these devastating situations, and each just closed off and retreated from the situation. I suspect they had to do that a lot more than the author indicates.

Like you I got angry at the parents for their selfishness and even sometimes at the kids for not standing up for themselves more. Especially when the dad kept asking "Have I ever let you down?", when the answer is so obviously "Yes, and often."

On the other hand, it's obvious that the family loved each other very much. You can love someone without respecting them, and I suspect that's how the author feels toward her parents. I don't mean to defend or condone the parents' actions, and I agree that they were incredibly irresponsible and negligent, but it was always clear that they loved their children, had a deep emotional attachment to them. Why that didn't translate into what I would consider the natural protective/nurturing instinct I don't know, but it seems that in this family the two were very different.

I also have to say that this book reminded me a lot of some of the conditions my mother was raised in. Her mother was raised to be proper and ladylike, and she rebelled against that as much as she could. There was a time that my mother lived in a garage with no internal plumbing and their "bathroom" was a bucket. Nothing was ever cleaned--she remembers wiping a spill off of the stove and discovering that the stove was actually green, not greasy brown. They were the poor kids in the neighborhood and the family, and my mom felt that stigma.

Listening to my mother's stories and now reading this book, I wonder how a parent could allow her children to live that way. Poverty is no excuse--Jeanette's neighbors were just as poor but had some self-respect. Come to think of it, though, her parents had a great deal of pride but in different things. She doesn't say that they were part of the Beatnik movement, but a lot of their reactions to things seem to fit that category--rebel against the conformity of society and live by your own rules. They had options--they could have sold the land in Texas, bought a comfortable house, invested the rest of the money, and lived off the interest. They could have sold the diamond ring and bought food and coal. But where's the adventure in that? It would literally be selling out to live a life of conformity and mediocrity. Again I don't condone their actions, especially since they had children to feed and take care of, but I do have some appreciation for their perspective.

I don't think this is a book that is supposed to have an easy answer, a clear judgment of good or bad, right or wrong. She isn't trying to make a point or say "look how hard my life was." Stories like these are complicated, which is why they make for great book group discussions.

Sorry for going on so long--this is obviously a very thought-provoking book.

I've always had a hard time with Tolstoy and Dostoevsky--the books are long and the stories are complicated and I always lose track of the family trees and other connections. My friend from Russia has the same complaint, which makes me feel a little better.

But we both really liked A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov. It's short and interesting and in some ways feels like it could have been written today.

I ended up liking Crime and Punishment when I read it in high school, so I think I might need to give it another try.

I really liked Life of Pi and discussed it with several groups. It has the kind of ending that leads to good discussion, and I found that the opinions fell pretty much along the lines of those who believe in God and who don't. Faith--separate from religion--is a running theme in the book, and even though the question at the end isn't religious, there's definitely a connection. So as long as no one in your group is particularly touchy on that subject, you should have a great meeting.

My group just picked our books for the next year, and I'm most looking forward to The Glass Castle, The Prizewinner of Defiance Ohio, and Everything Bad Is Good for You. In the spring we plan to read The Omnivore's Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle back-to-back, since they deal with similar themes in different ways. The first is more academic, while the second is a memoir of putting the principles into action. I've read the second already, and I really liked it.

What kind of books have you read and liked? What's the demographic of your group (women, men, young, older)?

My group had a few stinkers, but then we made a rule that you have to have read the book before you can recommend it--it's not enough to have read another book by the same author.

I can send you an excel file of all the books we've read and recommended if you want. We're all 30-something women, and we've read a wide variety--fiction, nonfiction, classics, etc.

Leah, I hope you don't make the same mistake in your writing of thinking that more is always better. I'm definitely a Harry Potter fan, but I'm disappointed by how flabby the books keep getting. The first one was incredible--tight and carefully crafted. But each book is increasingly longer, with too much filler. I guess they figure the books will sell even if they aren't edited very well, so why bother? She's not the only author who does this, so maybe it's just a side-effect of huge success.

Like I said, I'm still a fan, and I plan to buy the book early and see the movies, but I just wish the whole series was as well done as the first book.