Part One, Other thoughts...

Here are some other things I (Katy) have been thinking about part 1 and was interested in discussing:

A) Pg. 5 “For he was one of those born in the phenomenon of strength. He’d always had it, from the beginning and each year it increased”.
- In this case the author is discussing Fidelis’ physical strength. But does this statement hold true for emotional strength also (not just Fidelis’)? Are we born with emotional strength or do we develop it over a lifetime? Why are some ‘stronger’ than others?
- In what ways do other characters in the novel exhibit strength (for example, Eva, Delphine, Markus, Cyprian)?

B) Pg. 85 “Who are you, is a question with a long answer or a short answer”.
- What are some of the elements that make up identity?
- What are your answers?
- How is your identity influenced by those around you, the culture you live in, or your own ideas about who you are?

C) Pg. 107 “Since she’d known Eva Waldvogel, and also traveled here and there with Cyprian, she had started to understand how a woman’s attention could succeed in making sense of a man’s blind chaos and yet women needed their own wildness”.

I absolutely loved the image Erdrich paints here. I think many men become better organized, shaven and fed once a woman enters their life. Of course, relationships also work both ways and men influence, encourage and grow their partners in other ways too. I found myself wanting ask all of you:
- Is Erdrich’s statement true? Is it applicable in your own relationship (marriage)? Do you make sense of, control or ease your man’s chaos (sorry Gretch)?
- What is your wildness?

I would like to think it is true that Craig is neater in his dress, more organized in his tasks, and soothed by my encouragements. His house is cleaner, very tidy and his drawers no longer contain wadded up clothing (although piles of them still emerge on the floor here and there sometimes). His dreams are supported and together we are working to achieve his goals. Of course, when Craig laughs at my constant worrying, my obsessive-ness and my attempts at perfection, I am also a calmer, better person.

My wildness is an interesting question…I don’t even think I have ever thought about this…maybe my “itchy” feet. I love to always be poking my nose in something unknown, sometimes literally, and trying to figure out what it is and everything I can know about it. I adore going new places, sitting back and watching life occur. I thrive on constant learning and seeking. But, I know my husband wishes I would ‘calm down’ a bit and ‘settle’ more, be more interested in creating our home, rather than planning my next trip abroad. I also can go a bit 'wild' at the mall, if I don’t control myself.

D) Pg. 53: Who looked up “syzygy”? What does it mean?

I did and I could tell you but I am wondering if anyone else did? OCD…

E) Pg. 169 “It was a routine, she later thought, she didn’t treasure enough. An even life, without any jumps or starts. No stalls either. It was the kind of life you didn’t know at the time you were living it was a happy life”.

Again she is crafting beautiful sentences (but obnoxiously alluding to things rather than just getting on with it!)…I want to ask:
- Have you ever had this experience or feeling?
- What did you learn from it?

That's all. Love.

Part 2 deadline...

Hi Girls. The second half of a book always goes faster than the first. I was thinking that we could start Part 2 discussion on Dec. 15th. BUT...it has taken me a while to get this posted, the 15th is four days from now, and some of us haven't posted yet about Part 1 (or finished posting...heehee)...BUT I wanted to get us finished before holiday busy-ness commences...BUT maybe there is not enough time to finish...BUT I have already completed the book and am on to another. SO, does anyone have an opinion? It is hard to set a pace since we are all new to this and all have such different lifestyles! Please share what you think.

The Master Butcher, Part One

Hello Ladies!

I'm sorry this has taken me most of the day to write. Due to a few unexpected circumstances (having to work and Alex being in town) I didn't get to read all day yesterday like I thought I was going to. That said, I have been scrambling to finish the first half today, but I realized about twenty minutes ago that I didn't want to rush this. I still have about thirty pages to go, but I have a quite a few thoughts I'm ready to share.

(And Katy, I didn't really read your e-mail too carefully because I didn't want to spoil the plot. So comment away!)

I don't really know what format I want to use for organizing my thoughts (if that is even possible), so just roll with me. And any pages I use in reference are from the version with the pictured cover.

1 - First Impressions So far I am loving this book. I was a little on the skeptical side when Katy and I picked it out, modern literature is sometimes a bit hard for me, but within the first few pages I was completely drawn to her writing style. Yes, it is a bit gruesome here and there (the worms are the thing that really killed me!), but I think she is writing it beautifully!

Even on Page 2, I was captivated by this line: "As he opened to the world again, everything around him was distressingly intense and all things were possessed in feeling, alive, as in a powerful dream... (at the end of the next paragraph) To come alive after dying to himself was dangerous."

I love the thought of dying to oneself only to reawaken to a whole new world. I have no real idea what this is like, but it feels passionate. And it does feel dangerous, but in the I'm-about-to-jump-out-of-this-plane-and-pray-that-my-chute-opens sort of way. And yet so much deeper. Does anyone have an example of this in their own life?

2 - Delphine I'm continuing on with that quote because although I know it was referring to Fidelis, I think it pertains to Delphine so much more. I feel like she was shut down when we first met her. Yes, she loves/d Cyprian, and is making a good life, but even before she knew he was gay, I don't think she was truly living. I think she sort of died a long time ago and has been revived by returning home. I think Eva opened her eyes to more than she could ever fathom there being in life. And I also think that she's going to find this to be so dangerous, because once you experience love, it's impossibly hard to give it up.

"With their eyes locked they rushed through the air, ecstatic, hearts lurching." (Page 137) How is she supposed to go back to a nothing existence after that?

But I must confess that I'm not really sure how I feel about Delphine. I think I love her, for her fierce loyalty to everything Eva, for protecting the children, for her loyalty to her father, and her stubborn, resolute, no-nonsense attitude. But she's driving me mad over Cyprian. Yes, they love each other, yes, they are wonderful friends, but wouldn't that be killing her? Or am I misinterpreting it? And I know I can't judge her or be really mad at her, for haven't most of us wanted for someone who wasn't right for us?

And I think I want her to take a step of self-confidence as a woman. I think she knows how to be friend, helper, mother (to her father, and maybe even the boys), but I'm not sure she knows how to be a woman. To stand alone and say "This is me: broken and ragged and hurting and soft and wanting to be loved." Maybe that was something that wasn't done in the Thirties, but even so...

3 - Eva Love her. Love her. Love her. I love her for loving Delphine, I love her for being that woman, I love her for following Fidelis and making her life far from her home. I love her for being fierce about her love, almost to the point where I wondered for a long time if she really did love Fidelis or not.

All that said, I think the story is really beginning now that she is gone. I hurt for Markus, and Fidelis, and Delphine, yes, but I think Eva was right when she said "...death is only part of things bigger than we can imagine... What next? You will see, and you will see your mother is of the design." (Page 119) She is an integral part of this story, no doubt, but there is something more coming that couldn't have happened if she were here.

Strange to think? Maybe, but I think it's true...

4 - Other thoughts Is anyone else confused as to why the first chapter make a fairly big deal out of Fidelis and then the ensuing chapters hardly even use him as a supporting character? Especially since he is the title. See... There's a lot more story to come!

I don't have much else to say right now. Well, I do, but I want to hear what your first impressions are. And your questions. So go to it! I'm going to fix dinner and then finish the rest of my thirty pages!!!

The Rules and First Assignment

Welcome to Book Club!

Well, after along period of procrastination (on my part), we are ready to start this! But first we have a few rules, or thoughts, or guidelines, or you-better-abide-by-all-of-these-or-else things.

Anyway...

#1 - Each book will have a "moderator". That person is in charge of picking the book of their choice, assigning reading sections, and starting the discussion. You'll have to come up with thoughts and questions for us all to answer and talk about, but just as a starting off point. And whoever is the moderator for that month (or however long it takes to get through the books) has complete control over the book choice. The rest of us get to just smile and nod : ) So if you want to choose "Island of the Blue Dolphins" (Which I for one would be thrilled over!) or "War and Peace" or "The Catcher in the Rye" (I beg of all of you, though, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't choose that!), go for it!

I'll try not to bemoan stupid Holden Caulfield. (I'm only really complaining about this because I HIGHLY doubt any of you would have chosen that stupid, stupid book.)

When it is your turn to be moderator I'll e-mail you an invitation to become a contributor to this blog. That way each of you can log on and write straight from here.

The order of moderator will be as follows: Kate, Meagan, Karissa, Suz, Katy, and me. So Kate, be ready to announce the new book at the end of "The Master Butchers".

#2 - NO PLOT SPOILERS! However the moderator decides to split a book up is up to them. For "The Master Butchers" we will do it in halves. If you want to read past the halfway point, awesome! Just be sure that you don't include anything in your comments that take us further than the halfway point. Make sense?

#3 - The "discussion"... Since we can't actually talk about all of this in a normal conversation, we are going to talk to each other through the comments section. Comments are posted from first to last. So read through the moderators thoughts in the actual blog and then read through everyones comments and post your own. Pretty easy!

#4 - Everyone must comment at least once per reading section. This is a book club, right? So we all want to hear what you are thinking! So speak up and ask more questions and challenge us! If the discussion takes us a long time, then AWESOME! Let's keep it going : ) And feel free to leave numerous comments.

Okay that's it for the RULES!!!!

Eventually, Katy and I would like to open this to more girls, but for now let's keep it to us just so we can get the "flow" down. But think about ladies you know who might like to participate!

Ummm... I think that's all I've got for right now.

OH!!!!!!!! The first assignment: We will read through chapter eight, "The Burning of the Mutts." In my book that takes us to page 198, almost exactly half way. Let's have that read by December 1, two weeks from today. I hope that works for you all!

I will have a new blog posted on that day with my initial thoughts and questions, and then we shall have this going... YAY!!!!!!

If you all can leave a comment just saying you read this and are able to comment, I would appreciate it. Also, if you have other thoughts or rules, please to mention them!

Be blessed, dear girls,
Gretch

Hello Katy!

Sorry it took me a bit to respond. Life has been hectic... There is a massive girls e-mail going out soon.

I set this up here because I am already really familiar with blogger and it's fairly easy to use. Maybe for each book choice the girl whose choice it was could log in here, assign the next book, set a reading schedule, and start the discussion: thinking of initial questions, trains of thought, or other miscellany. Those of us not moderating could then just post in the comments section.

I totally agree that everyone should post for each section read, and NO PLOT SPOILERS!!!! I can write up a general information and rules board. As for organizing the comments, they are just posted first to last. So once we finish reading the actual blog, we can scroll through whoever said what first and so on and so forth. Make sense?

As for The Master Singer's, what if we agreed to have the first half (I don't have it in front of me, or else I would choose a page) read by December 1st. That gives those with crazier lives (ie, Karissa) plenty of time to read it. And then let's say December 15th for the rest of it. What if you moderate this first round and I'll moderate the December 15th date? Does this sound okay?

With the order, let's go with next with Kate, Meagan, Karissa, Suz, you, and me. You can change that up, however you like. I just typed the names that came first into my head! And yes, NO complaining about book choices. And although I would like to ask for a commitment from everyone, I don't think that we should enforce it. This should be fun, not stressful if some of us are going through a busy patch.

Another question I had: Do we want to broaden this at all? I just know of a few other girls that might really enjoy this. That said, I'm perfectly happy keeping it to the six of us, it might just be fun to widen the circle. Maybe at some point down the road.

Ummm... I think that is about all I've got for now. Let me know, through the comments section, of anything I might have forgotten. And I'll, in turn, respond through the comments section. I hope you'll be okay with all of it, but really I'm open to anything. I have been thinking about this a lot lately and am eager to start reading! So let's get this show on the road. As soon as everything is okay by you, set the reading schedule and e-mail everyone the plan.

Do I sound too bossy? I don't mean to!

Much love, GG