RATING: 5 BOOKS!
Hayl introduced us to Mark Helprin with The Pacific. A collection of short stories that we all agreed were beautifully written. Meticulous and yet expansive...or as the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Small masterpieces, testaments to the perfectibility of explaining the minutiae of life, if not life iteself."
Certain themes popped up in the stories and our discussions. Every story touched on perfection and how it can bind us to love and/or honor. The ocean...its sounds, colors, power and distance...made its presence known. And there was a spark of "magic" in every story that seemingly fit and seemed very real. And we felt former books/characters/authors illuminating our way through stories...Chaim Potok, The Things We Carried, Owen Meany. Hayl pointed out that while Helprin's writing is accessible, it helps to be well-read in order to fully appreciate this collection of stories. Some of us are more well-read than others! (who the heck is de'coke ville?!?)
We focused on 5 stories so our discussion revolved around those:
Monday--without Jackie I don't know if we would have realized the wonderful possibility that Lilly is the second Mrs. Fitch!
A Brillian Idea and His Own As I'm writing this, I can't believe we didn't discuss the title! I don't get it so feel free to comment... A tough read for some of us at first but an amazing story of honor. It made us think of more current wars and how they differ/compare to this era.
Vandevere's House Jackie found Vandevere to be quite similar to the antique dealer guy in Suite Francaise--not very likeable until the end of the story. The description of the house struck us most--the plumbing, the pantry, the olive oil storage and the pool with its 40 foot depth. In honor of his great love...
Perfection Our favorite--we loved Roger. He reminded us of Owen Meany. A story about an American tradition melding with an otherworldly, wise 14 year old Hasidic Jew. This story was funny, poignant, and inspiring.
The Pacific Lee and Paulette--what a great love story. Lee a soldier during WWII and Paulette, a precision welder. "As long as she did her work and as long as he stayed alive, she sensed some sort of justice and equilibrium." The last sentence is beautiful and haunting.
To my fellow worms--this was much harder than I thought. I should have taken notes. And, I know it is too long but I can't edit any more. I'm very stressed about being the first to do this so be kind:) And I can't find a darn photo of 5 books so I'm going to take one and replace the image above. I'm off to read Black Swan Green...
3 comments:
Fantastic! you have set the bar with a rating piece worthy of "5 books."
i love our book group blog!
Okay, the techno-tard (a term one can only use to refer to oneself!) is finally on board!!!!! Enjoyed, as always, discussion and laughter yesterday. Great job on the review, too, Angie.
I love the picture at the top of your review - please don't change it. And the review is great! I caught the title of the second story on the first or second page, when the guy talks about the idea to parachute in during a bombing raid, and he said "it was a brilliant idea, and his own." See you soon - maybe at Pawit's?
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