Metropolitan’s Comments (group member since Aug 25, 2014)

Metropolitan’s comments from the Metro Library ReadUp group.

I'm so glad you all chose this book--I'm really savoring it. Just finished The Sleeper and the Spindle and really loved the whole concept of blending the 2 fairy tales, and making the heroines more assertive, just really great to read!

Hi All!

Here are the choices for May. Check them out, and vote in the poll.

The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined) by Chuck Klosterman: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Switched On: A Memoir of Brain Change and Emotional Awakening: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

The Poisoner: The Life and Crimes of Victorian England's Most Notorious Doctor by Stephen Bates: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I just read that one, and I immediately thought of uninventing the fossil fuel/combustion engine system, since it's damaged the earth so much. I'm sure there's something better that hasn't been invented...

Click-Clack the Rattlebag is a good one! Eeek!

These stories are getting better and better as I go through the book! Just finished "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains" and it was so good! I like how he slowly revealed the true nature of the relationship between the two men, and why the little man was so interested in finding Callum. The voice of the spirit or whatever it is that inhabits the cave gave me goosebumps! The folkloric elements of this story are right up my alley--I love that kind of thing.

Then I went back and read the introduction and he describes the setting as similar to the Isle of Skye, which I'd heard of, but couldn't exactly visualize. I highly recommend doing a google image search for the Isle of Skye--it is gorgeous!

I also like how the stories are arranged so far--I think that's pretty important in short stories. Following up "The Truth is a Cave" with the kind of amusing/dark "My Last Landlady" and then the downright funny "Adventure Story" made for a nice transition, I thought. "Adventure Story" embodies one of the things I don't always like about short stories. They can tend to hint at things rather than fully expressing them. "Adventure Story" could be fleshed out into one of those 3 inch thick science fiction epics, I bet.

I just reread the first story, Lunar Labyrinth because as I said before, I tried reading this book in bed right before going to sleep, and it didn't make much sense to my sleepy brain. Reading the little explanatory paragraph in the intro gave a little insight, at least about the guide/dog/man. But I think mostly this story was an exercise in atmospheric and moody writing--I liked it though. I think when things aren't entirely clear it makes for interesting and thought provoking reading. And the last sentence! "I ran like a lamb to his laughter." My mind automatically changed that to slaughter! Creepy stuff.

I really liked Down to a Sunless Sea. It's so vivid, I can totally picture a dismal horrible wet Victorian London night with this weird mumbling woman scaring people!

I think just judging from the jacket photo that Mr. Gaimain probably comes across as a little professorial and eccentric, but not off putting or creepy.

I didn't want to read those intros before reading the stories--I wanted to go in without any preexisting ideas. I think I will go back and read the intros after each story. It will probably help me clarify my thoughts about them. Last night as I finished The Thing About Cassandra I said out loud, "Man he sure does write some weird stuff!" I read his American Gods and really liked it.

Fredonna wrote: "From the discussion questions:
"3. Also in the introduction, Gaiman refers to short stories as 'small adventures' he can take as a writer. Are short stories also small adventures for readers? What ..."

Fredonna wrote: "From the discussion questions:
"2. He writes, 'We are all wearing masks. That is what makes us interesting. These are stories about those masks, and the people underneath them.' Does this idea illu..."

I read "The Thing About Cassandra" last night right before falling to sleep--and I think that whole story is about masks--what's behind the mask? Is anything real? Are we wearing masks or are we the masks?

I really enjoy short stories--they're like little morsels, and are a very refreshing change of pace if you read mostly longer books as I do.

Hey, better late than never! This was a good book, and this is why I leave the discussions open once the group has moved on.

Here are some discussion questions:
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/rev...

Discuss it here!

Well, I'm glad we had such a good conversation about this book! Thanks for participating everyone, and I really appreciate you all sharing your thoughts.

Hello! Here are your choices for April! Look them over, then please vote in the poll, which I will set up momentarily.

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

It really is fascinating how differently people can interpret things.

I feel like I just got immersed in Cheryl's perspective by about midway through the book and was no longer thinking she was doing so much dumb stuff. And I really admired her for doing the big hike all by herself. I don't think I'd have it in me to do such a thing, especially when you encounter strangers and have no idea what they are like--like those gross guys who broke her water filter and were being generally menacing. The triumphant part at the end where she was just sitting at the ice cream place thinking about all that she had experienced was just great, I thought. And I was glad that she wrote a little about what happened over the next several years. Would I want to hang out with her? Maybe not, but I will say that this was most definitely an engaging read!

Just finished it--and I agree with you, Fredonna--I liked her a lot better than I did at the beginning. I wasn't as off put by the sex and drugs stuff as Bobbie, but I was glad she calmed down with all that by the end. And of course I was crying at the end, yeesh.

Oh man, more crying--when she talked about being so grief stricken that she swallowed some of her mom's bones, wow.

I was really hoping that she'd stay with that cute dude she slept with in Ashland, because he sounded extremely appealing.

I don't know how writers of memoirs can be so revealing of themselves--putting your deepest feelings about things that have actually happened in your life into a book for the general public to read? Oh my, I would never ever in a million years do such a thing.

I haven't seen the movie, but I'm sure the book is better, as always.

I think it was probably how quickly she left them--they didn't know how to react. Though I am puzzled by the stepfather's sudden disappearance from Cheryl and her sibling's lives. It seems terrible to abandon them, but maybe the grief was too much for him.

Those are really good observations, thanks for sharing! I didn't know what to think of that part beyond just the weirdly visceral emotional impact and jolt of unexpected feeling that the episode with the fox brought up.

From the discussion questions:

"Why might Cheryl have identified the fox she sees on the trail as her mother?"

I just read that part , p 143-144, and it was very moving and weird. What do you think of this?

One of the discussion questions asks the following:

Through the book she talks about the blisters, the dehydration, the exhaustion, and the hunger. How—and why—did this physical suffering help her cope with her emotional pain?

I think it just helps her get out of her head to focus on the physical reality that's happening to her on a moment to moment basis. I experience the same thing (not nearly as cathartic or drama-filled) in my yoga practice. It's intense exercise that requires you to focus all your energy on what the body is doing, to the point of shutting out all your day to day concerns or worries--there is no room for any other nagging little thoughts if you want to do it successfully. I think this is the exact thing Cheryl goes through on the trail.

That's not to say that this strategy is just avoiding the problems though, it's building the strength and resilience to handle them better later on. I'm not done with the book yet, but I really hope that this is what Cheryl ends up getting out of the whole experience.