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Call the Midwife Discussion Journal

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In general, Call the Midwife: a memoir of birth and joy and hard times seemed to be wellCallTheMidwifeCover liked. Reactions were positive, even inspiring one of us to read the other two books in this series, Shadows of the Workhouse and Farewell to the East End. The first member to speak said that he had expected to be overwhelmed with descriptions of childbirth but was surprised to find the book interesting and engaging. Another member mentioned that he had been impressed by the writer’s easy style and believability.

Since several, but not all, members have seen the PBS television series that is now in its third season, the discussion was a bit uneven, including some comparisons we could not all share in understanding. However, the dramatization brings up an important issue regarding fact vs. fiction – something we often take for granted when we see words like: based on a true story, non-fiction, or memoir. The author’s style is analytical, including a lot of social commentary and gritty details glossed over and changed in the television series. Yet it is also a memoir, written 50 years after the fact. An article in the Daily Mail quotes the author’s daughter Suzannah: “All the eccentricities of Sister Monica Joan in the books . . . are based on Monica Merlin.” *  British actress Monica Merlin, not an Anglican nun. The group did not seem concerned by this fictionalization, but perhaps it informed the thoughtful and lively, even occasionally contentious discussion that followed.

Discussion points included: No woman should have 25 babies. She was a prisoner. Breastfeeding is not a reliable method of birth control. All mothers are biologically driven to protect their children. Everyone is different. Expectations for fathers were different then. No baby as small as described could have survived. No baby would be forcibly removed from a mother in the United States, even in the 1950s. Yes possibly. Biology shouldn’t matter in the treatment and love for a child. He not only accepted the child but forgave his wife. Many, many, different, similar, and passionate opinions. I cannot stress enough how valuable all opinions were and are! Everyone was impressed by the author’s willingness to admit her failings, and we all thoughtfully considered our own history of judgment and enlightenment.  

Before the meeting, one member’s first response was that the book was sad. Stories take us so many places – real and imaginary. Inside and out. We cry, laugh, and learn. From the Land of Oz, to the docks of East London, to a post apocalyptic Colorado. Where will the Whitney Book Bistro go next? Join us and find out!

        * ”Cor… the midwife! An affair with a married man at 16? Pass the gas and air: It’s the wild past of Call The Midwife’s creator, by her own family.” By Jo Knowsley. January 25, 2014. MailOnline. Web accessed 5-11-2014. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2545981/Cor-midwife-An-affair-married-man-16-Pass-gas-air-Its-wild-past-Call-The-Midwifes-creator-family.html

  • Other works discussed (all non-fiction):
  • The life and times of Call the midwife : the official companion to seasons one and two by Heidi Thomas
  • The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman
  • Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
  • Historical non-fiction by Erik Larson

Round House Discussion Journal

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RoundHouseCoverRound House by Louise Erdrich was easy to read.  That was the last question I asked, and the consensus seemed to be positive, even if not everyone liked the book. One member was incredulous that thirteen year olds could be so mature.  We started the meeting discussing the age of the narrator, drinking, driving, and sex. We wondered if this was something distinctive to Native Americans, but some of us remembered our own early teen years while another wondered if this freedom isn’t common in white families with two parents working.  Our own experiences growing up—rural, urban, protected, wealthy, poor, free—have a profound impact on our reading and acceptance of a story, and this was clearly evident in a thoughtful discussion in which members referred to each other’s comments with respect and consideration.

One member felt that the tragedy of alcoholism and hopelessness on reservations was treated too lightly in the book. He referenced a recent article in the Review Journal about increases in suicides among Native Americans. Everyone understood that the author’s main concern in writing the book had been Indian law and jurisdictional issues – especially concerning violence against Native American women. We spent a good amount of time discussing respect and violence – how Americans seem to admire rudeness and be obsessed with crime, about the impact of violent video games and the value of positive role models.

Growing up, seeing our parents suddenly as old and flawed, facing Wiindigoos, spirituality and belonging: so many themes and characters that some of us found the book a bit hard to keep straight. One of us said that reading about the camaraderie made her wish she had been a boy growing up! We all agreed that Cappy was a true friend and felt the sorrow of his loss. We could have kept discussing. In many ways, we only touched the surface.

As I read Round House, I could not help but see connections to many other books I have read, in and out of the Book Bistro. The impact of reading on my understanding of the world around me and the variety of people I meet and serve in the library is profound and one of the most valuable, even when I read strictly for pleasure and when a book seems forgotten as soon as put down. I handed out a list of the many books long-time members may have read over the last several years and I encourage all readers to take an opportunity to stop and think about what they have read—as an exercise for the brain as well as because what we read has become a part of us, good and bad, and this shared community experience brings us all closer together.

  • Other Works Discussed:
  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  • Jeremiah Johnson (DVD)1972; Robert Redford; Sydney Pollack (Director)
  • Stand and Deliver (DVD) 1988; Edward James Olmos
  • Stand by Me (DVD) 1986; River Phoenix (based on the short story “The Body” by Stephen King)
  • This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Pride and Prejudice Discussion Journal

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Pride and Prejudice Discussion Journal

I was surprisingly nervous going in to our discussion about Pride and Prejudice by Jane PrideAndPrejudiceFlyer2014Austen.  Her books have been so widely read – loved and hated!  Made in to movies. Adapted. Imagine Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith. She was the favorite author of my English Novel professor in college.  Sir Walter Scott’s quotes make him seem smitten. Twainquotes.com shares many negative comments, ending in this excerpt from a letter written by Mark Twain in 1898, “Everytime I read ‘Pride and Prejudice’ I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.” I just can’t get past, “Everytime I read . . .”!

Fortunately, several members had either never before read Jane Austen, or had read Pride and Prejudice in school and no long remembered it – perhaps even forgot it because it was required reading! Many of us asked, why is this considered great literature? Or, it was laborious to read, how in the world do high school students get through it?

I am not sure that Jane Austen’s works are considered great literature. One of the library’s Great Courses DVD sets, Classic Novels: Meeting the Challenge of Great Literature, does not include any of her books. We discussed the importance of considering the time the book was written, a period of great social change. The American Revolution. The French Revolution. Not a political book, but definitely a social one. A book of manners, behaviors, and opinions about the time during which it was written.  It is not an historical novel, but it gives us a glimpse of history. One member pointed out that we cannot be sure that the words pride and prejudice even had the same meaning to the author as they have to us!

We discussed whether or not technology, such as washing machines, has decreased the need for men to find a wife. How men can now stay home and care for the household. About arranged marriages and the role of Internet dating. About the time spent walking. And walking. And walking. To town. Through gardens and around the estate grounds. About the quiet – compared to teenagers walking in malls or meeting for coffee (and a donut!). About lust versus love. How great a role did the wealth of Mr. Darcy really play in Elizabeth’s sudden change of heart? Jane Austen was only 21 when she first wrote this story, how did that influence her characterizations? Why is Pride and Prejudice the most popular of Jane Austen’s novels?

One member asked about the name Jane.  Why did Jane Austen use it in her novel? Did she identify with that character? Although I imagine this question has been asked and researched somewhere, we were stumped. I think the consensus was that it must have been a common name. Yet, I have come back to that question again and again. Although I had always assumed that Jane Austen identified with the spunky character of Elizabeth Bennet, the one character who showed the least pride and prejudice was Jane Bennet. Names are always important. As are the questions. Thanks for joining the discussion.

  • Other Works Discussed:
  • Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
  • Emma by Jane Austen
  • Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  • Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte
  • Classic Novels: Meeting the Challenge of Great Literature (Great Courses DVD) by Arnold L. Weinstein
  • Pride and Prejudice (DVD BBC mini-series) Colin Firth
  • Multiple other film versions of Jane Austen’s works

Destiny of the Republic Discussion Journal

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From George Washington to Barrack Obama, forty-four men have served as president of the United States. Some names we recognize as founding fathers, others because DestinyOfTheRepublicCoverwe associate them with wars, the Great Depression, our hometowns, current events. None of us at the meeting knew much about President Garfield before reading Candice Millard’s book, Destiny of the Republic: a Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President. I barely remembered that he had been assassinated, let alone that he served less than six months before being shot and then lived for nearly three months before succumbing to an infection. We liked the book, found it easy to read and were impressed by President Garfield’s character and constitution. Although I found the depiction of President Garfield almost too saintly, we accepted the book’s accuracy because it has been well-reviewed and includes copious notes.

We started the discussion with an absent member’s suggestion that medicine hasn’t really changed much – hospital workers still often don’t wash their hands enough and many don’t get flu shots. Although some of us felt that we are so much more advanced now that we couldn’t agree, we also couldn’t help but think of the recent re-used needle scandal that convicted Dr. Dipak Desai; and of the mother and newborns that died of undiagnosed tuberculosis this last month. Our incredulity that Doctor Bliss’ authority could go unchallenged was tempered by our discussion – not only is truth stranger than fiction, but it is always easier to see the truth in hindsight. I was reminded of the member who told us about penicillin toothpaste.

We briefly discussed the changes in the approachability of the president, the politics of patronage, the change in Chester Arthur, the love story between Garfield and his wife, and the insanity of his assassin. We did not actually use the entire hour for the discussion. The book had little that was controversial but much that was new to us, and the discussion was thoughtful and considered, as is the written review another absent member gave me to share, and I will post it as a comment below. Destiny of the Republic is a book about President James Garfield, but also about the country, moving from war toward a new millennium. I was particularly moved by individual contributions – Julia Sand, who wrote to vice president Arthur and inspired him to rise to the challenge of the presidency, and all the individuals who lined the tracks of Garfield’s train as he traveled to the sea, finally pushing the train up the last hill to his cottage. Individual contributions and shared community experiences make a difference!

  • Other works discussed:
  • Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
  • Jerry Silverman’s Folk Song Encyclopedia v. 1 (includes a song about Charles Guiteau)
  • American President (PBS Series – DVD)