Happy New Year my girls!
Sorry, the bustle of Shanghai kept me away from the computer and I missed the date I was going to post my thoughts on Part 2. It is probably ok since not all of you have finished yet anyway? Anyway, as we continue to explore this “book club blogging” experience, I am going to try a different format for the topics this time. Many separate posts on different lines of thought...I have loved our discussions but have been bothered by the need to constantly scroll up and down to read everyone’s ideas in sequence. So let’s try this and see what it’s like. I too type in Word and cut and paste so sorry for any strange formatting errors. Let's keep discussing which discussion format is working best for us...
On to the novel...I love the swarm of thoughts that circle in your head upon finishing yet another book. What did you all think?
Overall I felt I was left with so many unknowns. What happened to Erich? Are we to assume he returned to Germany, married the woman mentioned at the statue unveiling and never spoke to his immediate family again? What was Franz’s return like and what exactly happened to his face? What about Delphine? The last time we are allowed into her thoughts she was fretting, consumed by her culture shock in Germany, and then kneeling over her husband as he died. But how did she live out her days? Did she find what she was searching for? Is anyone frustrated by Erdrich’s choice of closing? Was this intentional? Why does she leave so many things undeveloped? (Craig would say, so she could write the companion book telling us all about Cyrian’s marriage, Markus’ life, the butcher shop’s fate, Clarisse’s insanity, haha?!?)
Thursday, January 1, 2009
M.B. Prt 2- The novel's central focus?
Erdrich allowed us a unique window into so many characters lives. Using unusual vocabulary, she painted some really cool scenes in my head and I loved the way she found to describe really deep personal feelings, things we might never even think to put into words but feel deeply, nonetheless.
But this novel differs from most in that it focused on so many personalities rather than one or two characters and their thoughts, lives, etc. She brings so many people into the story, allows us to peek into an individual's mind and emotions for a chapter or two and then that’s it, onto the next. Were you interested or frustrated by her scattered narrative approach?
I think this also relates to the issue Gretch raised in Part 1, about Erdrich's introduction of Fidelis in the beginning but then her apparent abandonment of him? Why do we never get to return to his thoughts? (What did he think about marrying Delphine? about the loss of his sons? about his choice to go to America?)
Lastly, I felt that Erdrich could have developed so much more to do with the singing club (or maybe that was just my perception since it was the book title) but she doesn’t. Why?
What is Erdrich trying to get us to see in writing how she did?
What is the central focus of the novel?
But this novel differs from most in that it focused on so many personalities rather than one or two characters and their thoughts, lives, etc. She brings so many people into the story, allows us to peek into an individual's mind and emotions for a chapter or two and then that’s it, onto the next. Were you interested or frustrated by her scattered narrative approach?
I think this also relates to the issue Gretch raised in Part 1, about Erdrich's introduction of Fidelis in the beginning but then her apparent abandonment of him? Why do we never get to return to his thoughts? (What did he think about marrying Delphine? about the loss of his sons? about his choice to go to America?)
Lastly, I felt that Erdrich could have developed so much more to do with the singing club (or maybe that was just my perception since it was the book title) but she doesn’t. Why?
What is Erdrich trying to get us to see in writing how she did?
What is the central focus of the novel?
M.B. Prt 2- Things left unsaid
Which leads into the next big feeling I got from this book: things left unsaid. We read the thoughts of so many characters who couldn’t say what they were feeling, who didn’t express in words to others what they were experiencing or what they desired, who didn’t often communicate their needs. I feel amidst all the sorrow, death, struggle, and longing for human companionship and love, the characters in general were terrible at actually speaking to each other and in turn, finding that human connection. No one really managed to fill his or her emotional needs in a healthy, positive way. There were so many life histories, secrets, experiences and dreams left unshared. Why? Is this due to the time period the novel is set in? To the culture collisions? To the human tendency to shy away from difficult things?
M.B. Prt 2- Quotes to ponder...
Here are some specific quotes I wanted to share that interested me:
1) Pg. 255- the image the Delphine has of stacking the men in her life the way chairs used to be stacked on her belly.
I was struck by how precarious this image was, by how much she had to balance all their needs. And yet, if one small thing went wrong the whole bit would be upended and collapse in a heap. Sometimes, I feel like my life is like this; I juggle so many things and feel like I am barely getting by. I fear the day that something will go wrong and cause my happy little life to fall apart. Additionally, I have had very little severe tragedy in my life. I am thankful for this of course but sometimes, I worry what will happen when it is my turn. Life is so precarious. A car crash or death happens in just seconds. And then nothing is the same. I recall Mazarine’s description of entering the curtains surrounding Franz’s bed, the before and after. Things could and will change so quickly…this is probably silly and irrational but I could really relate to her image of a teetering balance of life.
2) Pg. 267 “She saw that from her life there was a woman shaped hole, a cutout that led to a mysterious place. Through it, her mother, then Eva, and now Clarisse had walked. If only she could plunge her arms through and drag them back.”
Do you feel you have, or had at one point, a hole in your life? How (with what/who) did you fill it?
3) This book is full of so many beautiful quotes about the internal struggle of emotions, how people attempt to cope with what life presents them. Here are two:
a)Pg. 277 “Nothing is by accident, nothing is by chance, she told herself. I went in to see that delver of minds for a very good reason: whether or not she could see the whole thing, I wanted to get my own mind clear. I had to hear myself say those things, had to hear out loud what I don’t even know I am thinking inside…put it all out where I can see the shape of it.”
For me, writing out what I am thinking often reveals beautiful insight. When I pull out all my thoughts and force them into sentences they often create such surprising shapes and solutions. Talking with good friends or a spouse works too!
b)Pg. 365 “She knew she shouldn’t have agreed to see him. Her presence leveled the defenses she’d put up and made her wretchedly alive (sic) with longings, thoughts, and hopes.”
She said something here that I would have never even thought to put in words but that I have experienced before and find to be very truthful. We often put up defenses to ‘protect’ ourselves but what if we would let them be knocked apart (a SCARY thing indeed)? Would we be open to much more vivid living? To be ‘wretchedly alive’ is something I am very interested in.
1) Pg. 255- the image the Delphine has of stacking the men in her life the way chairs used to be stacked on her belly.
I was struck by how precarious this image was, by how much she had to balance all their needs. And yet, if one small thing went wrong the whole bit would be upended and collapse in a heap. Sometimes, I feel like my life is like this; I juggle so many things and feel like I am barely getting by. I fear the day that something will go wrong and cause my happy little life to fall apart. Additionally, I have had very little severe tragedy in my life. I am thankful for this of course but sometimes, I worry what will happen when it is my turn. Life is so precarious. A car crash or death happens in just seconds. And then nothing is the same. I recall Mazarine’s description of entering the curtains surrounding Franz’s bed, the before and after. Things could and will change so quickly…this is probably silly and irrational but I could really relate to her image of a teetering balance of life.
2) Pg. 267 “She saw that from her life there was a woman shaped hole, a cutout that led to a mysterious place. Through it, her mother, then Eva, and now Clarisse had walked. If only she could plunge her arms through and drag them back.”
Do you feel you have, or had at one point, a hole in your life? How (with what/who) did you fill it?
3) This book is full of so many beautiful quotes about the internal struggle of emotions, how people attempt to cope with what life presents them. Here are two:
a)Pg. 277 “Nothing is by accident, nothing is by chance, she told herself. I went in to see that delver of minds for a very good reason: whether or not she could see the whole thing, I wanted to get my own mind clear. I had to hear myself say those things, had to hear out loud what I don’t even know I am thinking inside…put it all out where I can see the shape of it.”
For me, writing out what I am thinking often reveals beautiful insight. When I pull out all my thoughts and force them into sentences they often create such surprising shapes and solutions. Talking with good friends or a spouse works too!
b)Pg. 365 “She knew she shouldn’t have agreed to see him. Her presence leveled the defenses she’d put up and made her wretchedly alive (sic) with longings, thoughts, and hopes.”
She said something here that I would have never even thought to put in words but that I have experienced before and find to be very truthful. We often put up defenses to ‘protect’ ourselves but what if we would let them be knocked apart (a SCARY thing indeed)? Would we be open to much more vivid living? To be ‘wretchedly alive’ is something I am very interested in.
M.B. Prt 2- Thinking and Growing
Finally, I want to talk about how this book influenced our lives. We have already discussed and thought about the book in regards to the character's lives and choices. But what did you learn, if anything? How could it help you grow? How will you love better after reading it?
M.B. Prt 2- What else?
I think that is all from my head for now. But what is still turning over in yours? Maybe, what songs/singing represent in the novel? What makes a ‘happy’ home or marriage? Other themes you noticed- strength, filling emotional needs, different meanings of love? What else would you like to rant, rave or ask about?
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