Contracted at birth?

"....in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain."

When I first read this book, as a kid.. I stopped and in my adolescent thinking realized.. "that is true" How come? Still today as an adult I struggle with this silly, yet very strong aspect of our society. For example.. Adam and I have been addicted to this website lately. Whiskeymilitia.com It is one of those great deal sites, where something is sold at a ridiculously low price until it is gone. If you miss out you are s.o.l. It makes you feel like you have to take advantage because the same item won't be available tomorrow. You can't get it again, it is unattainable, Act now. Really, who is the fool. Yes, Me (and Adam).

Tom got those boys to whitewash the fence for him, plus earn boyhood riches for it, ie.. apple, an arrow, other things I can't remember. how? why? You have to admit you all have it too!

Relax, this is an easy one

Tom Sawyer, By Mark Twain

All righty folks.. Sorry about the delay, I have been out of town for a wedding and some good ol' family time.

This book is easy to read, easy to get, and I haven't read since I was about 12. So that said... Let's just read it at any pace. Hopefully I will get myself together enough to post a couple of discussion topics throughout the month (that is almost half over, oh my). Happy reading.

And We're Back...Right?

Um. I hope no one hates me – I have really dropped the book-club ball the last two months. But I'm back! And I've missed y'all. A huge thank you to Lindy, who was our last discussion leader. I loved Peace Like a River. It dealt with some serious subjects but in a way that brought resolution and hope. I like resolution and hope. So, way to go, Lindy!

As to the future, I think it would be better for all concerned – really just better for me – if we treat my dropping the ball as an unspoken agreement to take a summer recess. That will help me to shift some of the guilt that has taken up a determined residence on my shoulder and we can pick things up again in September, rested and relaxed and ready to go. That said, and with the assumption that everyone is still interested in doing this, I've gone to the hat for the September reading assignment and come back with Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, which means that Shana will be our discussion leader. I think this will be a great way to start our Fall Finer Things Semester. So, enjoy the rest of your summer recess and we'll see you in September!

The Old Wrap Up

I just knew that Jape was bad news! Why in the world would Davy take up with him? Although I do appreciate that he didn't want to leave his "daughter" with him.

Did you guys enjoy it? Did anyone read it? I don't even mind if no one else read it, because this gave me a good excuse to have a little fun reading this month.

I thinks it's interesting that both Jape and Davy are murderers, but Davy comes off relatively sympathetic and like a vigilante fighting for the greater good. Jape, on the other hand, seems like a creepy disgusting man who may just be symbolic of the devil himself.

I know that in some ways this book didn't provide a lot of closure with respect to the plot (how could Jape just get away with that!), but I feel like I got closure knowing that these kids were going to be cared for by Roxanna. I know that Jeremiah enjoyed a night with his whole family before he died. I know that Sara, another motherless child like Roxanna and the Land kids, but without the guidance and love of a caring father, finds love and acceptance. And I guess I got some closure knowing that Davy continues to roam free. And of course that Sunny Sundown finds peace.

Although my husband will only refer to this book as "Pee in a River" (clearly he is not a member of the Finer Things Book Club, because no one appreciating the finer things would be so crude) I do think it was a wonderful example of finding peace during turmoil.

If anyone had the chance to read it, let me know what you thought.

Half-Way Point

I hope you guys are enjoying this book as much as I am. I'll admit I didn't realize it was going to have such strong religious undertones, but nonetheless I am loving Engar's writing style. He is really a great story teller.

I have found a couple of things particularly interesting thus far:

1) When Jeremiah has a traumatic experience and is saved by a miracle he decides against finishing medical school and becoming a menial laborer. I have been thinking about how these two things are connected. A doctor is a noble profession focused on helping and healing others. It's not like he used to be an adult film executive who decided to give up a life of crime and adultery. I wonder if he was just looking for a simpler profession that would allow him to spend more time with his family. Either way, it has reiterated to me that I can never understand how another person thinks!

2) Reuben adores and respects each member of his family, but they all are decidedly different with different and conflicting ideals. I think this creates some of the conflict in the book--how can the same person who is in awe of his saintlike father and the miracles that he has seen as his hands give unwaivering support to the actions of his brother who, although with arguably noble intentions, provoked two thugs to break into his house so he could shoot them?

3) From a legal perspective (many of us went to law school so I'm sure you can appreciate this) it seems like a pretty weak case for murder. Even if Davy escalated the conflict by breaking the windows in Finch's car, they still broke into his house in the middle of the night with a baseball bat. Obviously the legal theory behind him being charged with murder isn't at issue in the book, but I'm surprised that the DA would go for it, and that the jury would buy a murder conviction.

These are just a few of my observations on the first half on the book. Let me know any thing you guys have come across. Enjoy the rest of the book and I'll see you in a few weeks!

Peace Like A River

And I'm officially the boss again! I'm glad because it actually motivated me to go out and find the book this time--they had it available at the local library, but my mom's card was expired so instead of going down to the library and renewing it, I spent $13 at Borders. If only we were in my home library town. I could have renewed my library card in no time.

My copy of this book is just over 300 pages. Let's try to get through the first 149 pages, to the Chapter entitled "At War With this Whole World," by mid-month (Goosey's birthday, if you will), and then finish it up by the end of the June. I started it this afternoon and so far I'm really enjoying it.

Happy Reading everyone!

And the Winner Is...

Hey y'all. I'm sorry that I'm so slow about selecting the book this month. I'm not sure why but the 31 days of May felt more like 2 and so I am not quite ready for June. And yet, here it is. This month's read is "Peace Like a River" by L.L. Enger and our own Lindy Langston will be the discussion leader.

From the title, it sounds like the perfect book to start the official summer season -- it makes me think of cool, shady spots on the banks of a river or under an umbrella on the beach.

Mmmm...delicious.

The Wrap-up

Let me just apologize for picking a novel that ended up being so inaccessible for some of you. I had no idea! For those of you who did manage to get a copy, I hope you enjoyed it. Let us know what you thought about it in the comments.

I'm just going to leave two quotes that I really liked, taken from Part II of the book. I think Orual becomes very self-aware and articulate in these final pages.

"The change which the writing wrought in me (and of which I did not write) was only a beginning - only to prepare me for the gods' surgery. They used my own pen to probe my wound."

"I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Til that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?"

I thought this was a beautiful book, and liked the reconciliation at the end. I think the whole "You also shall be Psyche" bit was a little ambiguous but very symbolic of Orual's anguish as Psyche accomplished the tasks, maybe? Any thoughts on that?

Oh, and for you legal folk, I totally think you should try to work "the complaint was the answer" into your work somehow somewhere. So confusing and yet so...literary. Thanks, everyone!

Are we on the same page?

Okay, maybe not exactly, but is anyone else reading this one? I just finished the book last night (library due date is today), and have to say I rather enjoyed it. For now, we can just discuss Part 1 though. I don't want to throw off any schedules or anything.

I feel like this book is dripping with symbolism that I'm not necessarily picking up on, so if any of you have some insights, I'm looking forward to reading them. I have noticed a lot of vision/sight symbolism. Maybe some of us can relate to Orual in many ways, like when she starts to veil her face and eventually "the Queen of Glome had more and more a part of me and Orual less and less." Are there parts of our lives that we try to hide from the sight of others, even ourselves, because they are too painful (you obviously don't have to be specific, but I think this is worthy of some introspection)?

Also, have any of us felt the anguish of Orual through the "loss" of a loved one whom we feel is "blind" to things we feel can see?

I have a couple of other questions I've had on my mind that I'll post later. I do feel like Lewis shows compassion and sympathy in these hard realities he's exploring in the novel. I'm glad to have read it. For any of you who are reading this one, I sure hope you're enjoying it!

Revival!

Okay, everyone. School's out, so our summer reading program has officially begun! I haven't read this month's selection before, but I've been wanting to for quite some time (it's a favorite of my parents...translation: this could go either way, but definitely worth a shot). I suppose you can go to wikipedia to find out more about Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, but in a nutshell, it's the retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche from the perspective of Psyche's sister, Orual. The book is divided into two parts, with the first part significantly longer than the second. So, as far as a reading schedule goes, I say let's just have the first part (to about p. 250 in my version) finished by May 20th and the rest of the book (to p. 309) by the end of the month. Give or take. And now, for your reading/browsing/just glancing over pleasure, I'm going to include the story of Cupid and Psyche (included also as a note at the back of the book), for those of you who weren't FORCED to take Greek and Roman mythology to get their degree in humanities like I was. I'm still a little bitter. This is long, so brace yourselves, people.

A king and queen had three daughters of whom the youngest was so beautiful that men worshipped her as a goddess and neglected the worship of Venus for her sake. One result was that Psyche (as the youngest was called) had no suitors; men reverenced her supposed deity too much to aspire to her hand. When her father consulted the oracle of Apollo about her marriage he received the answer: "Hope for no human son-in-law. You must expose Psyche on a mountain to be the prey of a dragon." This he obediently did.
But Venus, jealous of Psyche's beauty, had already devised a different punishment for her; she had ordered her son Cupid to afflict the girl with an irresistable passion for the basest of men. Cupid set off to do so but, on seeing Psyche, fell in love with her himself. As soon as she was left on the mountain he therefore had her carried off by the West-Wind (Zephyrus) to a secret place where he had prepared a stately palace. Here he visited her by night and enjoyed her love; but he forbade her to see his face. Presently she begged that she might receive a visit from her two sisters. The god reluctantly consented and wafted them to her palace. Here they were royally feasted and expressed great delight at all the splendours they saw. But inwardly they were devoured with envy, for their husbands were not gods and their houses not so fine as hers.
They therefore plotted to destroy her happiness. At their next visit they persuaded her that her mysterious husband must really be a monstrous serpent. "You must take into your bedroom tonight," they said, "a lamp covered with a cloak and a sharp knife. When he sleeps uncover the lamp--see the horror that is lying in your bed--and stab it to death." All this the gullible Psyche promised to do.
When she uncovered the lamp and saw the sleeping god she gazed on him with insatiable love, till a drop of hot oil from her lamp fell on his shoulder and woke him. Starting up, he spread his shining wings, rebuked her, and vanished from her sight.
The two sisters did not long enjoy their malice, for Cupid took such measures as led both to their death. Psyche meanwhile wandered away, wretched and desolate, and attempted to drown herself in the first river she came to; but the god Pan frustrated her attempt and warned her never to repeat it. After many miseries she fell into the hands of her bitterest enemy, Venus, who seized her for a slave, beat her, and set her what were meant to be impossible tasks. The first, that of sorting out seeds into separate heaps, she did by the help of some friendly ants. Next, she had to get a hank of golden wool from some man-killing sheep; a reed by a river bank whispered to her that this could be acheived by plucking the wool from off the bushes. After that, she had to fetch a cupful of the water of the Styx, which could be reached only by climbing certain impracticable mountains, but an eagle met her, took the cup from her hand, and returned with it full of the water. Finally she was sent down to the lower world to bring back to Venus, in a box, the beauty of Persephone, the Queen of the Dead. A mysterious voice told her how she could reach Persephone and yet return to our world; on the way she would be asked for help by various people who seemed to deserve her pity, but she must refuse them all. And when Persephone gave her the box (full of beauty) she must on no account open the lid to look inside. Psyche obeyed all this and returned to the upper world with the box; but then at last curiosity overcame her and she looked into it. She immediately lost consciousness.
Cupid now came to her again, but this time he forgave her. He interceded with Jupiter, who agreed to permit his marriage and make Psyche a goddess. Venus was reconciled and they all lived happily ever after.

Whew. There you have it. To me, it's kind of like a Beauty and the Beast meets Rumplestilskin (sp?) meets Ladyhawke (has anyone else seen that?). Anyway, get reading!

Mrs. Lily Mott, Come on Down!

Hey, everyone. I hope y'all have enjoyed the thoroughly thrilling (and ultimately dissatisfying -- sorry, Todd, but that's what I think) "Smilla's Sense of Snow." It is time to move on and the lucky discussion leader for the month of May is none other than our own, lovely, Lily Mott. (cue cheering crowd noises: Yeah! Wohoo! Alright!)

Lily brings us back to our philosophical roots with her selection, "Till We Have Faces" by the excellent C.S. Lewis. I know almost nothing about this book but "I am already disposed to approve of it" (to quote one of the best books on the planet) because (1) it's CS Lewis; and (2) it's Lily's suggestion.

So. Get to work! Lily, we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Out with the Old and in with the New

Well it's a new month and you all (or ya'll according to Abby) know what that means...it's time for a riveting review of last month's read. Jill, I simply cannot wait a minute longer to read your fascinating take on Blood Brothers. I'm sure you have lots to say about this interesting book you recommended.

It's also time to start a new book: Smilla's Sense of Snow. This book tells a tale of murder and international intrigue amidst the snowy peaks of the mighty Alps. It's full of highs and lows, twists and turns and will leaving you thinking "hmmmm...that book gave me a whole new outlook on not only snow, but life itself." OK, maybe it won't because maybe none of what I just said is true. I'm pretty sure there is going to be some snow involved based on the title, but I haven't read much yet so the rest is still a mystery....a mystery we will all solve together as members of The Finer Things Book Club.

Fire and Ice

Hey y'all. I just wanted to remind y'all that this month's book is Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts. I've only read about 15 pages but so far it's been a scintillating read. I'm sure that Jill, this month's discussion leader, must have some deeply profound and possibly paradigm-shifting insights that drew her to this reading selection. We hope she will share at least some of them with us soon.

Also, I wanted to give y'all a heads up on April's reading selection. Todd will be guiding our foray into the enchanting world of "Smilla's Sense of Snow" by Peter Hoeg. (FYI Todd: this means you'll actually have to read the book -- or at least read enough reviews on Amazon.com to come up with a discussion question or two.)

[Note: Writing the titles for those books in this post, drew up very strong color images for me -- the red for Blood Brothers and the white for Smilla's Sense of Snow. I think it will be interesting to see if/how that plays into the books themselves and what significance, if any, we find in reading them one right after the other.]

End of the road...

Thanks for all the great discussion this month! I definitely gained some new perspective from this book (and our chats, of course). The one thing I think was missing (at least for me) was more revelation about the actual lives of the women in the book club. I would have liked to see more of Tehran through their eyes and not just through Azar's, but I suppose that's not really possible with a non-fiction memoir. On a final note, anyone have any idea who the wizard was? Thanks again!!

Halfway Point

I hope everyone is enjoying the book. I know I am, but it also makes me sad at times, and I was hoping to bring some light reading to the list...sorry.

Anyway, I'm stealing from Abby's last comment: Does everyone agree that empathy is at the heart of the novel? I certainly think Nafisi's novel draws on empathy. A powerful moment for me (and one that has stuck with me since reading it) was when Nafisi says that her students' generation is different from her own because while her generation suffered a loss, the girls of her students' generation have no past and a "sense of longing for the ordinary, taken-for-granted aspects of life" ...like the ability to wear pink socks. Sitting at my desk at work, it is hard to imagine going through life with so little control ...and so few of the little, silly things that can make the bad days bearable (like pink socks).

Anyone else have one of those "lightbulb moments," as the inimitable Dean Levmore would say???

February Reading Schedule

Hey everyone!

I am very excited to finally get a chance to read Azar Nafisi's "Reading Lolita in Tehran." Let's read the first seven chapters (through page 173 in my book) by Friday, February 15th, and then finish the second half of the book in time for the leap year on Friday, February 29th.

My opening discussion question is: Why is it important (or even just worthwhile) to read fiction?

Man's Search--the Wrap Up

I'm really glad that I read this book again, especially at this time of year. It's a great time to get 2008 spinning in the right direction, and I am reminded that where it goes is my choice. To me, that is what this book was about. Each of us, no matter how deprived, depraved, or neurotic can choose kindness, compassion, and dignity. That's something that I've always "known", but even last night when my sweet baby woke up at 1:30 and cried for an hour and a half I wanted to spank her bum! Such a simple concept, yet so hard to execute. Isn't life grand? Needless to say, I'm glad for this little reminder!

For those of you who read this book, let us know what you thought. No specific question--just what stuck out to you, what you enjoyed, what you didn't, etc.

Enjoy the last few days of January, and I'll see you suckers next month!

psst. next month's reading...

I don't want to disrupt the Man's Search for Meaning discussion, so I'm posting very small, but I wanted to give y'all a heads-up on the next two month's readings. (I accidently picked two books out of the hat.) So. Congratulations to Tracy who will be our February discussion leader for "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi, and to Jill Wright, who will lead our discussion in March on Nora Roberts's "Blood Brothers." Good luck and happy reading! Lindy, back to you...

Man's Search for Meaning, Pregunta Uno

I hope that you guys found the first part of this book both as depressing and uplifting as I did. I know it sounds contradictory, but here it works.

Viktor Frankl talks about the prisoners' struggle to survive the day to day savagery of being debased and treated like faceless, nameless animals. Each prisoner was identified only by a number. He says that this was basically the hardest thing to survive--being completely insignificant. How did the different groups mentioned in the book combat this feeling? What did they do to make themselves significant, and at what cost?

Do you see any parallels in today's pop culture, politics, or even your personal relationships?

Better Late Than Never

Let's give a great big Finer Things Book Club welcome to latecomer respondent and new member, Jill Wright (who evidently decided that the statement in the original book club email asking for a response "by Wednesday at 5:00 pm" applied to everyone but her). Jill comes to us as a well-read, well-traveled graduate of BYU Law School, currently working and living in Washington D.C. She is a virgo who enjoys reading, going to the mall, and is a dedicated Paris Hilton enthusiast.

She has submitted three excellent book suggestions and has agreed to abide by the very strict and stringent club bylaws. We are thrilled to have her join us and believe that she will be a great asset to the club ( and by "we" I mean me. Y'all can comment for yourselves.).

Man's Search for Meaning

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Holiday and set a New Year's resolution to enjoy the Finer Things. Let us start with a little Viktor Frankl. As Todd so callously pointed out, I have read this book before, but not for many years, so I'm looking forward to discovering it again.

I'll be posting discussion questions that accompany the following reading schedule:

January 18: questions regarding Part I: Experiences in a Concentration Camp--in my edition (4th) this runs through page 100.

January 28: questions regarding Part 2: Logotherapy in a Nutshell and the 1984 Postscript: A Case for Tragic Optimism--in my edition this runs through page 154.

Happy Reading!