Arapahoe Library District discussion
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The Dovekeepers
The Dovekeepers Reading Group
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Thanks for coordinating--putting the book on hold now!
My hold just came through, so I'm in. I've never done an online book club and haven't read the Dovekeepers. This should be fun
Another option if reserving copies becomes an issue is trying the Denver Public Library. I've had great luck reserving ADL book club books through DPL in the past. And depending on where you live the DPL locations may be closer than ADL ones.
I've read this one, but hope it's ok if I participate in the discussion!
Hey ladies! Sorry for the delay on my part, but let's kick off this discussion. Not sure if everyone's version has a reading group guide in the back, but mine does and that's probably a great place to draw inspiration to start us off. "Women's knowledge in The Dovekeepers is handed down from mother to daughter, sister to sister, friend to friend. Why do you think it is so difficult to know what the lives of ancient women were really like? Do you see any connections with the way in which your own family stories are handed down through the generations?"
I love the folk lore aspect of the story--the passing down of information, traditions and even to a certain extent religious practices. Most of the people at this time didn't read/write and depended on the scholars and priests to guide them in their pursuits. With knowledge so readily available to us now and literacy being what it is (yay!) I do think we miss out on some of the person-to-person relationships and experiences that people used to have. When was the last time you called a family members to ask how to do something? Or did you go to Google and trust the rated and quickly available knowledge of a perfect stranger? I will freely admit to doing this, and I probably do it on a regular basis. But thinking of it now in terms of this story I hope that I think twice the next time. We all have relatives, friends and acquaintances whose experience and knowledge could be just as well thought out as that of the rated responses on Google--and yet in the age of social media we learn more from perfect strangers than from each other.
Folklore and all it's storytelling relatives have so much to offer us. You get a glimpse of the time, region and culture from every version of a story. Every fairy tale started differently than the ones we've grown to know through Disney of all places. Juxtaposing Grimm and Disney alone shows us the influence of time, region and culture and it's not in the least bit subtle. We shield our children today from the violence and harshness of life, whereas the original German tales told each of those stories to warn of very real and deadly horrors that children needed to know to avoid. For better or worse, what message are we really getting now from the Disney versions?
Jessica wrote: "Hey ladies! Sorry for the delay on my part, but let's kick off this discussion. Not sure if everyone's version has a reading group guide in the back, but mine does and that's probably a great p..."
Wow, Jessica, great points. I do tend to Google instructions for everything and I think my mother errs on the side of not instructing me because I would take offense. Also, as a librarian, it's sort of a challenge to try and ferret out information myself.
I think Disney movies can be violent and scary, but we tend to not take them seriously because they're animated. I try and share the "real" version with my kids along with the Disney version. Makes for some great discussions!
I thought The Dovekeepers was a great read--I was really pulled into the story once I got the feel of the character. Did anyone have trouble adjusting from character to character?
Let's all shoot to have it read for March 1 and meet back up here to talk about it. I can't wait to get the discussion started.