It's no problem for me. The similar Fifth Avenue showtimes are 7:00 and 7:20. Either one works for me. I'll take transit from work. ]]>
I just e-mailed you my info. Thanks, Andrea. ]]>
Dean
said "yes" to attending the event: Reader's Choice - Second Chances.
date: December 16, 2009 07:00PM
location: The Orange Room, 620 6th Street, New Westminster, Canada
description: For December, we thought we'd do something a little different/special. Readers can choose and come prepared to discuss any of these four previously-nominated books:
The Flying Troutmans
The Book of Negroes
The White Tiger
A Raven in my Heart
A suggestion was made to hold the meeting at a hipper establishment so we've chosen The Orange Room on 6th Street. Should be fun! Hope to see you all then!
Dean said: I will be there and will also attempt the daring "double book" trick. ]]>
For the month of January, under the theme Break-out Novels, we will now choose one of the following books. ]]>
You did a terrific job, Jason. Thanks for all of your contributions in keeping this group running so smoothly. ]]>
This is a beautiful novel. So simple yet so evocative so full of life even though or perhaps because death is such a central theme. This simplicity arises from a lack of internal dialogue. We are presented with Shingo’s states of mind by his dreams and his emotions. Shingo sees and feels.
Shingo seemed placid in the face of death. The only discomfiture seems to have been the regret which he feels concerning his wife's sister. He wonders if his daughter would have been better looking and his son better behaved if he had married his wife's sister rather than his wife?
Another occasion when he allowed himself to be carreid away by emotion was the moment when he nearly kissed the No mask. The purity which the mask represented overwhelmed him.
Shingo’s composure is disturbed again when he sees his white whiskers on his clothes after using the electric razor. He quickly brushes them away. It seemed to me a moment of panic in the face of a reminder of his age.
Kikuko gave him the razor and seems to be a bridge between the tradional and the modern. It is my understanding that, traditionally, when a Japanese woman marries she leaves her family and becomes a member of her husband’s family. So the care with which she treats Shingo is not surprising. She is treating him as an honoured father. Shingo returns the respect to a beloved daughter. What is surprising is that she showed that she had some control of her life by aborting and returning to her family.
Suichi’s mistress also had a definite agenda. She used Suichi to have a child. Her room-mate tells us that for a war widow there were not many options to have a legitimate family.
If Shingo is tradition, then Suichi is a post war self-centeredness which is mitigated in the end with the return of his wife. Suichi helping his father in the garden was a touching moment. ]]>
Yes, there are definitely some intriguing titles here. Thanks, Megan. ]]>