Book summaries - 2002-2003

FIVE QUARTERS OF THE ORANGE - Joanne Harris

SPIDER - Patrick McGrath

On Wednesday, September 10, 2003, we were once again “al completo,” as they say, minus only Eva who was doing battle with flooding in her den.  Considering the circumstances it felt particularly good for all of us to be engaging in this ritual meeting and Helle’s book, a seemingly slender, quick read, generated a great deal of discussion.

Helle chose the book, she said, because of the conversation she had with an employee of the book store, who heartily recommended it specifically because it defied easy categorization.  Helle was attracted by the idea of a book that seems to be one thing, changes midstream into something else and has you wondering all along what exactly you’re reading. Following our format proved, this time, to be extremely interesting because the perceptions each of us had of the book were often completely different and it was fascinating to be provided with a completely new take on the same book.

Helle (and me, too, I might add) read the book literally.  We believed Spider’s story, from the existence of a first mother to a mind becoming unhinged because of the maddening situation of knowing one thing and having the people you live with pretending that something completely different is happening.  Rosemarie (who did not see the movie, which apparently was based on this theme) had a deeply psychological interpretation.  The first and second mother were all one and the same, seen differently only because Spider (already mentally unstable) begins to perceive his mother as a real woman and, worse, a sexual being.   Froukje (who did see the movie) leaned more toward this latter interpretation, as did Francoise (who saw the movie but didn’t understand a thing).  Margie,Gillian and Dominique were rather undecided about what this book was actually saying, but ultimately they found Rosemarie’s interpretation convincing.

Aside from the differing perceptions our discussion was enlivened by an age-long philosophical question:  nature versus nuture.   While I don’t think any of us think a human being can ultimately be classified as resulting from one or the other exclusively, there was a difference of opinion as to how much either influences the personality and character of each individual.  Some of us lean more towards nuture, that it is the person’s environment and most intimate interactions (mother, father, family and friends) that create a ‘finished’ adult while others believe that many aspects of personality are already imbedded in a human being’s psyche, waiting, in effect, to be stimulated into action.  Though it appears a rather clinical issue on paper it actually arouses deep emotional responses because we are all parents and the highly personal connection to one view or the other makes for obvious conclusions about our children.    

Also interesting were some insights into mental illness, in this case schizophrenia.  Froukje had actually looked into this illness more fully and because her knowledge of the subject is now more than simply cursory she found that the author often manipulated the story or his characters to fit with existing data on schizophrenia.  To her it was quite clear that the author had rather first-hand information about this mental illness (his father was, in fact, a doctor at a sanitarium) and while most of us did not see this connection beforehand we could when she pointed out various symptoms and how they were incorporated into the story.

There were many digressions – two or three of us getting caught up in some related side issue and eventually ending up with the group broken into 3 sub-groups each talking about something else before Helle or Margie pulled us back together.  (Allow me to say that our sub-group talked about quantum physics, parapsychology and the metaphysical universe! So these digressions were fascinating as well).  And it is probably the first book I read for our group that changed dramatically in my perception because of the perceptions of others — an evolution many of us experienced.  It was an excellent choice and a stimulating evening. (T)

THE OXFORD ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF ITALY - George Holmes

On June 19, 2003, a small group of us met at Margie’s house. Our reduced number, the extraordinary effort made by some to get there (car trouble) and the necessity of actually fleeing a thunder storm into the house with our wine and cheeses, made the evening more cozy and intimate and contributed somewhat to the partial neglect of our new format (Froukje’s impatience with it did the rest).

We did start by having Margie explain why she’d chosen this book. More than her reasons (which we already pretty much knew since the desire for a real handle on Italian politics of the late 1800s came from having read "Christ Stopped at Eboli"), Margie detailed her disappointment with the pedantic and hard to follow structure of the book, the homogeneity of the various historians contributing and the unchanged muddle in her mind that even careful reading of the book has done little to improve. She also felt the illustrations were entirely removed from the text and did nothing to contribute to it. She was, however, still glad to have purchased and read the book because it will hereafter be an excellent reference that she can turn to whenever an unknown name or event is mentioned in the press or daily conversation. And she was also struck by how little, despite everything, things had changed in the Italian psyche. Nationhood, democracy, even full-fledged member of the European Union has done little to alter the basic Italian connection to family and place – the country as a whole less important than the region of one’s birth.

It appeared throughout the course of our discussion that most of us shared at least one of her observations, but there were significant differences. Rosemarie, while she too found the structure of the book hard going, in no way felt that the authors were alike. This was shared by Eva, who did not manage to finish the book given its denseness but was nonetheless able to discern basic differences in writing style. Though the material is extremely complex, Rosemarie felt she gained a significant foothold in understanding the basic events leading up to the unification of Italy, while Helle pointed out the enormous influence of art on political events and praised the use of prints in the book to illustrate this concept. I felt the way Margie did. Perhaps my basic paucity of historical knowledge concerning Europe in general made me a prime candidate for confusion because while I forced myself to keep reading in the belief that it would all eventually make sense, I finished the book with the jumble of facts pretty much as intact and intractable as before. I also found the various writers to be stylistically identical and the photographs so unconnected to the text as to be totally useless.

Understandably, comparisons between countries we know about was inevitable – it was curious to contrast Italy’s lack of patriotism to America’s glut of it, despite America’s youth. Helle was struck by how united America seems despite the extremely varied backgrounds and nationalities of its people, while Eva contrasted the rather rigid obedience of rules and regulations in Germany with the general laissez-fait attitude here. Digressions were rampant and sometimes intense as we ended up debating the various pros and cons of different countries and their mores and general belief systems. How much patriotism is too much? When does obedience to rules indicate lack of moral fiber? To what extent should one compromise personal ideals in the struggle to improve society?

Since the evening was at Margie’s we got to enjoy her now famous strawberry shortcake – a treat that soothed and sweetened moods that got a bit feisty now and then. In the end, there was less discussion on the material of the book and more on how modern day Italy compares to other countries. We all agreed that only our living here enabled us to make the connections we made. Our own experience, and the information in the book, have coalesced into a better understanding of Italy and its people. (T)

WHITE TEETH - Zadie Smith

On May 8, 2003, we met at Dominique’s house and enjoyed an Ethiopian dinner out on the balcony as a summer rain threatened but never delivered more than a few drops. At the beginning of our discussion, Rosemarie suggested a new way of structuring our meetings. She thought it would be more inclusive if everybody were to first say what she thought of the book without comment or debate from the others. The person who chose the book would start and then one by one we would give our impression. Then the discussion would begin. Before leaving, everybody would make a final comment in order to see whether the subsequent debate had any effect on our perceptions. Though it was not easy to refrain from commenting immediately on people’s opinions, we did do it this way and found it an interesting procedure.

Dominique said she chose this book mostly because of the extremely good reviews and awards it had received. Upon reading it, however, although she enjoyed the dialogue and setting, she did not feel that it was at the same level as that of other writers commenting on today’s multi-ethnic urban scene. Not only did she feel that the book lacked true higher literary merit but she felt it had been overrated. I was firmly in her camp. Gillian, too, enjoyed the dialogue, which she considered authentic, but thought the book was too long and attempted too many subjects, diluting its potential. This view was also held by Margie, who thought the author wanted to pack everything she considered important into her first book but should have written more than one using the various issues she put into this. Helle unabashedly loved this book. She thought it was very funny, completely authentic and an excellent commentary on the wider repercussions of cultural and ethnic mixing in today’s society. Eva was mildly entertained but found there to be simply too many sub-plots, sub-characters and general digressions for her to want to attempt to follow all the threads to the end. In fact, she did not finish it. Neither did Francoise, who felt the book was too scattered and would have required much more time to finish. Though Eva did not feel inclined to ever continue, Francoise said she would like to finish it eventually, if nothing else in order to see how it ends. Rosemarie enjoyed the book and found parts of it to be hilarious. Though she conceded there was an awful lot of material she found each character interesting and the various plot lines convincing enough to have her interest firmly held until the end

Froukje also liked the book, especially the relationship between the two men which spans it from beginning to end. She found the voices authentic and the situations fully believable, except for the school-master’s sending kids to another family’s house to study as punishment. This sparked a lively debate as some of us found this troubling, an indication of a value judgment predicated more on cultural perceptions than reality (poor equals bad), while others felt that in slum conditions, any attempt to offer children a better opportunity was valid. Eva and I worried about the humiliation inflicted on the parents while Rosemarie, whose home has been a haven for many students, considered the whole affair perfectly harmless. We also touched upon the cultural implications of humor (why some of us simply did not find the book funny), the possible reasons for the unusual title, the cultural battles resulting from immigrant populations attempting to maintain their identity in their new homes despite mores or laws to the contrary (arranged marriages, female circumcision) and how different art forms have portrayed the new urban scene (movies, theater). Eva commented on the sagacity and insight of the author – a degree so marked for a woman so young Eva actually thought it possible Smith hadn’t written the book herself.

Though the final comments did not stray far from each person’s original perception, they were flavored by the opinions expressed during the evening. While some of us have no desire to read her next book and some will expressly do so, we all enjoyed the discussion the book promoted and consider it valuable for that alone.(T)

 CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI - Carlo Levi

On April 2, 2003, we met at Eva’s house and, after trying to cram in more than a month’s news in less than an hour, started to share our opinions of Christ Stopped at Eboli. We unanimously agreed that the book was extremely well written. It seemed to have made no difference whether we read it in the original Italian, in English, German or French (I don’t know if this is a first for anybody else but it is certainly a first for me – a group of us reading the same book in four different languages!). Whatever language we read it in, we were impressed with the fluidity of its structure and the cumulative effect of Carlo Levi’s descriptions. By the end we all felt as though we knew his village of exile as well as he, and the people that marked his stay there became our acquaintances, too.

Eva had chosen this book, she explained, because of a trip she once took through Lucania on the way to Sicily. She was struck how poor, still, the area was, and how tight and hard its people. While it is clear that things are better now than when Levi was writing about them, poverty is still a problem and its effects on the people who can’t get out of it are the same as they always have been. Now, however, having read this book we all felt we had a better sense of how people became the way they are. The most striking thing was our feeling that this book and Levi’s observations are applicable to many world situations today—from the mean-spiritedness of small town people to the development world’s current (new?!) emphasis on participatory development. As Levi wrote, poverty will never be solved with "experts" coming in from the outside and imposing a solution. It can only be beaten when the people themselves are party to their own development.

Many of us had personal experiences that mirrored sentiments expressed in Levi’s book, and we felt that the book gave us a better understanding of Italian culture as a whole. Froukje and Eva both were struck by how basically accommodating people are, and how "live and let live" seems to be the motto followed, whether for personal gain (you never know when you might need somebody’s help) or simply because this has always been the way. They both had experiences that would have escalated quickly into anger and fighting in other countries but that were sidestepped and basically glossed over here. While we agreed that this has its pros and cons (it makes for more civil living but true sentiments are often masked by fake smiles) we felt that Levi’s book explained it in a way we hadn’t considered previously.

I felt that his description of resigned submission exploding suddenly into complete and blind rage was very apropos for the many such explosions that mark our times. And we completely agreed with his three-fold reasons behind continued poverty – reasons that continue to engender poverty today. Margie became very interested in modern Italian history, say from 1894 on, because Levi’s book was a tantalizing look at a period of time that significantly changed the Italian landscape, and she is looking for a book that covers this era for us all to read.

We found that though we all agreed on the very timely messages in Levi’s book and were equally taken by his descriptions, we had different ways of approaching the reading. Some, like Rosemarie, took it all in one sitting, completely transported to Levi’s time and place. Others, like Francoise and myself, needed to read it a bit at a time. It just seemed that Levi was talking about so many interrelated and tangential issues it was hard to keep reading and do the mental follow-up that the various issues brought on. We liked to think about parts of the book before continuing. And as Helle said, when we all first came to Italy there were many things that disgruntled or annoyed us but now that we have lived here so many years, these same things we find endearing – a transition that Levi himself experienced and described beautifully.

Though we missed Gillian and Dominique, Salaam’s presence was appreciated and here’s hoping that her vagabond life allows her time to join us more often. (T)

THE LITTLE PRINCE - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Summary of the 25^th Anniversary Castelli Book Club Discussion

This was a very special meeting, and I worry that it will be more difficult to give justice to it at a distance; thus I am sitting in a shaft of sunlight coming through an alcove window, writing my summary now, as conversations continue around me… on books, faulty plumbing, olive oil.

"The Little Prince" generated a lot of animated conversation. Francoise and Dominique, perhaps because of the cultural background, or reading in the mother tongue or extra material on Saint-Exupery, were enchanted with the book. It can be read at many levels. There are universal truths simply stated, plays on words, lovely language… Froukje, who chose the book, appreciated the symbolic value of the story: the little prince as alter-ego, the crash in the desert a personal psychological breakdown of some sort. Some believed her symbolic parallels too far-reaching—an adult key for a simple child’s melody—but many thought the psychological metaphors apt. Another adherent of this enthusiastic group was Jill, who was fresh from having seen the theatrical production based on the book now being performed in Paris. She noted that the play, like the book, captivated both herself and her three-year-old granddaughter. As Margie pointed out, the book is second only to the bible in number of copies sold.

Some commented on the particular pleasure of reading something now that they first read as 12-13 year old girls. For a few, this second reading shed new light; for others, it was re-discovering the initial pleasure at a distance of many years and much experience.

Then there were those of us who did not like the book, of whom I was the most vocal. I found the morals trivial and blatant, the author a sexist, the language trite. Gillian, in her usual diplomatic fashion, expressed her not liking it much only while conceding that this could have been due to the translation, or a less than careful reading, perhaps a different cultural perspective. I, on the other hand, could not be dissuaded from feeling that I was being preached at, and any new light on the author and his life only added to my dislike.

But whether one liked or disliked it, the book most certainly generated a wide-ranging discussion about semantics, translations, the muses of famous men, the power of charisma and the changing perspectives experience provides to one’s core personality. I was, as always, quietly thrilled to be part of it, part of the obvious synergy of our book club, and delighted at how I could feel this same synergy with people I had met only just now. As the newest member, I got to blow the candle out on the cake Francoise made commemorating the 25^th anniversary, but I did not feel like the newest member. I felt that strong affection that underlies long-standing relationships, as if I have known you all for as long as you have known each other.

Someone once said that each individual is a unique window on the world, so I want to thank you, my friends, for these marvelous glimpses through your eyes and lives—for this wonderful sense of belonging. Thank you to those who came from far; to Helle, for her generous hospitality; to Colin, for the graceful accommodation of this invasion. It has been a fine celebration, and I am only sorry that Eva, who was very much missed, could not be a part of it. It is she, in truth, that I must thank most of all for helping me become a part of the Castelli Book Club. A long life to the club and to us all. (T)

We had a wonderful 25th bookclub reunion, and all the members that couldn't be there really missed a lovely weekend in Tuscany.......made possible by Helle and her very understanding and helpful husband, Colin! We had a great time in their lovely Tuscan country house in the middle of very beautiful surroundings! Helle spoilt us all with very tasteful and delicious food and wine and never-diminishing hospitality! Thank you very much, indeed, Helle, and thanks to all the "oldies" who had arrived from various parts of the world and had made our get-together extra special.

It was the very first time in my life I participated in a discussion of St.Exupery's "Little Prince" that led straight into a heated exchange of "sexist" related ideas and arguments!When I first read The Little Prince around the time when I was 11 or 12 years old, the most powerful impact its contents had on me was that I had "found" a grown-up at last that was on the side of children and young people. An ally, so-to-speak,  who set the record straight: not the adults knew what the world was all about but the children did! I, together with my friends, were enchanted with Exupery's way of communicating to us a state of  mind we still found ourselves in at that stage: money was not important, DREAMS were! Facts were inferior to FEELINGS! And one true FRIEND was more important than many useful acquaintances. Knowing "The Little Prince" made it infinitely harder for me to step out of my childhood and embrace the adult world. His ideas stayed with me for a very long time. They remained very important throughout my teens and during my twenties, so much so that I was very indignant,  if ever I met someone that hadn't read this little book!

I was therefore quite surprised that Tatiana -at age 9- should have already had this strong "feminist" feeling against the little prince (or the author),who is comparing the rose with a woman, portraying her as this weak and silly flower who maintained that she needed the little prince to survive! Was in fact worthless without his recognition of her! In Tatiana's own words: "I didn't like the book then and I   like St Exupery even less now" after she and we all heard from Dominique about the author's difficult relationship with his own wife. This particular background information Dominique found in the book: Consuelo de St. Exupery, Memoires de la Rose, a book that Francoise had lent her, (and I believe many of us will also want to read!)

Having re-read the "Little Prince" for our 25th anniversary get-together, I must admit that I was not as charmed by it any more as I had been when I was younger.  It made me a little impatient at times: it seemed oversimplified, when the world really is much more complex. It still carries some truths for me but not the WHOLE truth as it once had. It is beautifully written and very poetic which must be partly the reason for its enormous success and appeal. Margie told us that it is the second most-bought book after the bible! (Have I remembered this correctly?) Strange then that the fox's secret has still not become more well known.....that  only the heart can see properly and the essential is invisible to the eye!!!! (RM)

THE HOUSE OF SLEEP - Jonathan Coe

The "Sunday Times", "Time Out", the "Daily Telegraph, "The Times" the "Guardian" and "The Oldie" had stacks of praise for the novel "The House of Sleep" by Jonathan Coe, which was not shared by many of our bookclub members, and by some of us, not at all! The discussion group was somewhat reduced because three of our members could not come to my house last night, but Jessica, my youngest daughter, (and home from University) joined us because she had read the book some weeks ago and had suggested it for our book group because she thought it was a good read. None of us "oldies" were enthusiastic about the novel (or did I miss something?) and Froukje especially could not see any comic or funny or amusing side to it at all. She thought it totally out of place to treat major problems of the book's characters (sex change, inability to express one's love, inability to communicate one's feelings, coping with death etc.) with so little respect and empathy. Some felt that the characters (with the exception of Gregory Dudden) were not very well developed at all. There was also the criticism of some of the situations to be too artificial and contrived and hardly credible, i.e when Sarah ran into Alison who turned out to be Veronica's daughter, which then opened up the way into Veronica's life again, after she had suddenly disappeared out of "sight". We all found the issue of sleep, or lack of it, very interesting, and I was not alone in not having known of the existence of narcoleptic people before reading about them in this novel. Yet the mixing up of reality and dreams we were all able to identify with having had  experiences of this kind ourselves (albeit not with the same results as Sarah's confusions had prompted!!!) Jessica liked the book a lot, she thought it quite clever but sad, and the people seemed very real to her, being a student herself right now. She particularly liked Robert's poem, a feeling that was shared by a few others in the group, too. Some of us also thought that the  uncorrected footnotes were really hilarious, and I was also quite amused when Gregory Dudden found himself in the situation at the conference for members of the psychiatric profession where he had to listen to Sarah's account of him as an unsatisfactory lover during their student years, when Russell Watts produced his notes on  "the case of Sarah T." We were under the impression that  the author meant to ridicule the entire psychiatric profession anyhow when Russell Watts produced his interpretation of Sarah T's case. I didn't think we had explored all aspects of the book nor the time that the story was set in. It was the time of Margaret Thatcher when England went through a great number of idiological changes which society had to come to terms with and act upon, like changing the health service within the concept of a business into some management culture. (" Motivating for Change" was the heading of the conference) Our first meeting in 2003 will be on January 13th (or 14th) at Francoise house. Until then I wish you all a very happy holiday time, a lovely Christmas and a good start into the New Year. Love RM

MY NAME IS ASHER LEV - Chaim Potok

At first I felt a little impatient with the book, which had something to do with the dialogue, I think. For some reason I had an inexplicable -and totally irrational!- aversion to Asher Lev asking his father in a direct question:" Is my papa going away again today", or when talking to him about languages, (again in direct speech and alone with him!) :"I never heard my papa speak French before." His mother, however, he addressed directly:" Mama, are you feeling better?"  When I tried to be more rational and less emotional about this strange way of conversing with a parent, I decided that it must have had something to do with the high level of respect from a Jewish son towards his father that demanded  an introduction of a more formal address from a very early age. As if to keep a kind of physical distance between father and son! Which leads me straight to the father-son relationship in the book as such: it was obviously the task and conviction of the father to pass on the Jewish heritage to his (taken for granted!!) obedient son. Like his father had done before him and the father before that, etc. The various conflicts that occur in"My Name is Asher Lev" never diminish the respect and love that Asher has for his father, nor do they result in a total breach of his family ties. Asher lives according to his own convictions as an artist but is also prepared to take all the blame for their shattered relationship. He demonstrates this by following the demand of the Rebbe in the end, to go away into exile, for he had outraged his parents and his religious community with his "Brooklyn Crucifixion"paintings. Because Asher Lev had grown up as a Hasidic Jew and remained a practicing one throughout, he knew exactly what kind of consequences to expect if he also followed his own strong artistic convictions which had no place in the Hasidic teachings.
Although he tried many times to explain his paintings, his father did not  want to listen, and his mother could really only cope with the beautiful aspects of art. Any representation of pain or fear or hatred she closed her eyes to and would always ask:" Is it a pretty drawing, Asher?" or "where are the pretty flowers?"
The fact that the book was written in the first person made me curious about Chaim Potok. And it didn't surprise me to find out that he, at the age of ten, had wanted to become a painter, but both his father and his Talmudic teachers refused to permit him to do so. It was only later in life that he started to paint and make use of his talent.When I was reading about the author's life I found an interesting comment by him that he had made in response to someone calling him  an ethnic writer. He said:" I advocate nothing in my fiction: I look, I absorb. I gaze into my own mirror, I write.That is all I know to do on earth, and all I want to know." I became more and more involved with the story of Asher Lev and could almost feel it in my bones that the artist in him would produce something earthshattering. Sometimes I thought it was going to be a nude picture of his mother: he painted her a lot, loved her more than anything and found her very beautiful. When he began to work with Jakob Kahn and started to paint nudes, I was wondering whether he would use a model's body with his mother's head, just like he had done with other paintings and the people he knew! Then I slowly began to realize what would in fact be his ultimate work of art as well as his biggest betrayal of his parents, his faith and the community he was so attached to. And I found the suspense quite unbearable: I wanted to jump the pages to exactly discover how the story would end.To my surprise I could both identify with  Asher Lev and his parents. They did not understand that there was no better artistic way of expressing ultimate anguish and torment than to use the crucifixion theme. They could understand only that their son had "crossed the boundary", leaving those behind that loved him most.His mother had tried all her life to reconcile father and son; she herself had been torn apart because of her love for both of them.   Asher Lev, on the other hand, had expressed her protracted suffering in his crucifixion painting, showing her and everybody else, how deeply he had been aware of her pain and torments, largely caused by him.

The Rebbe,  who had been a very wise and clever counsellor throughout, never lost his concern and love for Asher Lev, even though he sent him into exile in the end. He was a figure who seemingly knew everything about everybody, and was listened to and obeyed as well as consulted in difficult situations. On every level of the social set-up there seemed to be teachers or tutors who acted somehow as substitute fathers who took care of a young person's education and personal development. Jakob Kahn was such a mentor to Asher Lev.But it was the Rebbe who held all the strings in his hands, which made him seem like "Big Brother" or a benign Patriarch, depending on how you viewed the whole situation!

At the end of the book I felt that AsherLev had only just started on the road to find his identity and authenticity, and it is good to know that on the list of further books by the author there is one that is called "The Gift of Asher Lev". So his main protagonist is obviously going to continue with the quest for making sense of God and the world. I am very curious to find out what will happen to him and will definitely read the sequel to this book. 

I am really sad to miss the bookevening! It was a good book, Gillian, and you are bound to have a good discussion! There are so many more things that I would have loved to have said, like Asher's bewilderment about the unanswerable question of how The Master of the Universe can allow physical and moral evil and pain in a world created by Him. There is the character of the uncle and of Anna Schaeffer and Jakob Kahn that play such an important role in the book. And Asher's own "dialogues" with the Master of the Universe.....and...and... and! Please keep notes, so I can read what went on in your discussions! Have fun and see you in December at my house!!! RM
 

RAVELSTEIN - Saul Bellow

With all the rain it's been a good time to curl up with a book but I wish I'd liked it more.  I have found neither Ravelstein nor Bellow himself to be endearing but more like two old geezers with time running out and nothing truly interesting to tell me.  Sometimes you read a book like this and come away wanting to meet the people but I didn't at all, despite having read and enjoyed other books written by Bellow.  Perhaps this highly intellectual philosophical bent is beyond me?  Or maybe it's just their old age being the most significant thing about them.  What is Rosalind thinking?! ( T)

THE RED TENT - Anita Diamant

I have always believed that "holy" books are nothing more or less than human beings putting into writing their beliefs and codes and what they think are the most important aspects of what they consider a just life.  Claiming that these writings are God's word, or the teachings of Jesus Christ, is supposed to give the books authority which cannot be breached by anyone without being traiterous, blasphemous or down right evil.  It is a way of exerting control over others - to a good cause, I am sure the writers truly believed - but control nonetheless, as evidenced by what lengths fundamentalist believers of all faiths will go to to force adherence.  What Anita Diamant has done here is to take a bible story and completely re-write.  Far from being raped and then avenged for that rape, Diamant has Dinah falling in love and then being betrayed by her brothers and fathers who murder her lover and all the other men they can find.  There is, in my mind, nothing that makes the bible story "the truth" and Dimant's story "fiction".  Things could have gone either way and it is what the storyteller wants us to believe that is important, the personal agenda the story teller wants us to accept as our own that guides the telling.  Religious people say that faith can't be questioned. That it simply is.  This I myself believe. You can't prove or disprove faith. All you can do is decide whether or not you want to believe it.  If it were left that way I'd have no quarrel with anybody but for some reason many "true" believers want to make sure that everybody believes what they believe and this is the basis of so many atrocious events in human history you'd think we'd have done away with it by now, seen how destructive it is.  Anyway, I enjoyed Diamant's story and appreciate all the scholarship that went into her reconstruction.  I must say that I definitely rejoice in being born now and not then.  I used to think that we have, in our modern society, lost a great deal of unity and cohesion but if having unity and cohesion means you have to have lives like the kind women led then, then I take our patchwork life hands down.  At least we can, through groups like this great reading group, through closeness with our friends and neighbors and family, have the cohesion I think is so important for a good life, and we can create it without having to give up our autonomy completely.  Perhaps the truth is we really have come a long way, baby! (T)
 

FIVE QUARTERS OF THE ORANGE - Joanne Harris

What strikes me most about this book is how parents, being simple human beings, can wreak complete havoc on the lives of their children without even having to do anything totally outrageous.  The mother's drug addiction, her shame at the connections she has to make in order to  get "fixes", and her own psychological problems ended up crippling her children psychologically - the one daughter going completely crazy, the son stunting his emotional capacity and the youngest ending up incapable of having a "normal" relationship with her own daughters.  Nothing about this situation seems far-fetched to me.  To the contrary, I think the book is very realistic in examining the results of dysfunction in parents.  I remember reading data on how many people who were abused as children ended up abusing their own despite their very best intentions not to.  So in the end, having kids truly is an enormous responsibility and though one can only do the best one knows how it certainly is sobering to consider how easy it is to make mistakes.