While searching for Cheryl Jarvis’ The Necklace: Thirteen Women and the Experiment That Transformed Their Lives in the library, I was surprised to find myself in the non-fiction aisle. The title conjured memories of reading Guy de Maupassant’s short story, “The Necklace.” Interestingly enough, though, having finished Jarvis’ The Necklace, the two works together spark a thoughtful comparison of themes while encompassing two opposing genres.
A literary sap when it comes to biographical non-fiction, this is, in essence, what kept me turning the pages. Intrigued by these thirteen women’s truthful revelations, I was compelled to understand the seemingly shallowness and pride which seemed to exude from the pages in a rather (as Dr. Howard would say) sophomoric style of writing. Yearning for more substance, I struggled within chapters trying to determine whose story was actually being told as well as waiting for a dramatic conclusion to each individual’s tale which never came to light. Feeling I would find what I was hoping for in the final chapter: growth, redemption, resolution; instead, I was and still am bewildered.
For book club purposes, a read which may not make everyone’s “Top Ten” usually makes for the liveliest discussions. An imitation (cheap!) version of the diamond tennis necklace may be purchased for your book club in order to fulfill the guidelines offered in The Necklace. Tamales are a must since it was revealed in Mary O’Connor’s section that they are “a Southern California holiday staple” (179). In addition, a nod to each woman should be incorporated into the meal; for example, local-grown organic strawberries to represent Roz McGrath and perhaps a bottle of Dom Perignon (or not) to represent Priscilla Van Gundy. What ideally one should come away with from this reading is the motivation to create change, find a cause, and fund raise for a purpose.
Month: September 2011
Learn More about Romance Author Heidi Hall
Train to Nowhere Book Club
After completing Train to Nowhere: Inside an Immigrant Death Investigation, a few days were needed to fully comprehend the senseless, traumatic occurrence that author Colleen Bradford Krantz features in her work of non-fiction. Without bias, Krantz unfolds various accounts and backstories of the people involved in the gruesome deaths of eleven undocumented immigrants. Not only does Krantz paint a vivid picture through the peppering of the text with actual photographs, but also provides legal documentation and historical backgrounds while detailing the politics involved in the immigration issue. By the end of this written account, I felt as if I, too, had made feeble attempts to preserve dirt floors, to search tirelessly for repeat immigrant offenders, and literally to bake to death while desperately searching for a better life.
On a grammatical note, tears welled in my eyes at the accurate punctuation of “20s” (35). Yet, my anal English-teacher self cringed at the repetitive use of the words “got” and “things” which (in my opinion) would have read much cleaner and clearer with the use of active verbs and concrete nouns respectively as replacements.
For the purposes of book club, no food or drink allowed. This meeting does not call for feasting and merriment. Instead, a productive talk about how an individual can act as an instrument of change regarding the immigration situation in this country. Furthermore, a viewing of the accompanying documentary Train to Nowhere: Inside an Immigrant Death Investigation will only further place the reader inside this journalistic must-read.
Colleen Bradford Krantz
Learn More about Author Colleen Bradford Krantz
A film that brings tears to your eyes . . .
2) I’d wish for a boatload of money with which to do good around the world. Yes, money might be the root of all evil, but, let’s face it, it can also be a tool for good.
3) I’d wish that all my future wishes would be granted once I’d submitted them and waited a required two-week waiting period to make sure it was a smart wish.
Of Love and Other Demons Book Club
Searching through my tubs of books, I came across Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Of Love and Other Demons. Remembering that I had purchased this short novel years and years ago after a class introduced me to this remarkable Nobel Prize-winning author via One Hundred Years of Solitude, I knew I had unearthed my next read while feeling a pang of regret at not yet having turned its pages. Translated by Edith Grossman, Of Love and Other Demons in much the same manner as One Hundred Years of Solitude immerses the reader into the genre of magical realism.
This style of writing not only entrances me through its melding of fantasy and reality, but also, quite often, causes me to giggle at its absurdity written in such an authoritative manner, “He was an funereal, effeminate man, as pale as a lily because the bats drained his blood while he slept” (9) . . . “In Burgos he had seen a possessed woman who defecated without pause the entire night until she filled the room to overflowing” (98).
For the purposes of book club, the host may prepare a meal of “goat’s eyes and testicles cooked in lard and seasoned with burning spices”(65) in order to be true to the female protagonist’s likings. However, cups of chocolate accompanied by bread and cheese may better suit more finicky tastes as it did the Bishop in the novel. In addition, an assortment of pastries much like those smuggled in for Sierva Maria by Cayetano would be a welcome addition.