Summer’s Comments (group member since Nov 11, 2008)

Summer’s comments from the Afterwords group.

"To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation"
In a lot of ways I think this statement conflicts with the American idea of personal obligation. Too often people who are true to themselves are labeled as selfish or people feel guilty if they take time out for themselves. Is it really selfish to put yourself first or is aren't you your own number one priority? If I am ignoring my own priorities and dreams to spend all my time focusing on others then is any help I give them as useful or complete as it could be? But I find that there is this constant pull between being a "team player" or a "fun part of the crowd" and really doing what is right for the individual. There is a surface interest in individualism, but only to a point. In the story the boy left the seminary, even though his family had spend the little money they had to send him there. He chose his own dreams over that obligation. In books and movies we always feel that is the right thing to do, but what if it were your friend's son? Or your son? Would your reaction be the same?

I really liked the symbolism of the boy ending his journey in the same place he started out. It really helps to bring home the theme about the journey being as important, or sometimes more important, than the destination. Like the wind told him, if he had just told him where it was to begin with he wouldn't have seen the pyramids. I am a big believer that your life is shaped by every experience you have and person you meet. If you take one thing away you may end up somewhere totally different and I like to think of this story that way. If the boy had done even one small thing differently- left the crystal shop a day earlier or later, for example- he may never have met Fatima, perhaps never found the treasure... who knows?And the treasure itself is nice, but without the journey would the boy have truly appreciated it? Or would he have taken it for granted, passed it off as luck instead of fulfilling part of his personal legend?

Normally I would shy away from a book that is so heavy with God references, but I know several people, with varying belief systems, that have enjoyed it. I find that the spirituality of the story is general enough to be about the boy's journey instead of his religion. I read in the interview in the back of my book that the author is a Catholic, but I felt the author incorporated elements of other religions besides Christianity, making the book more universal. I found that even as a non-Christian I was able to relate and still feel inspired by the overall message. What did you think?

Just as a small note about the part on the first page where the boy tells himself to buy bigger books because they last longer and make more comfortable pillows. That made me chuckle because The Alchemist is such a small book. It certainly wouldn't make a very good pillow!

So I forgot to set up a discussion for this book, I'm really sorry! For future reference, the settings for the group are set so that anyone can add a book to the group shelf. When you add one there is a space automatically for setting up a discussion folder. I just always use the name of the book to keep things simple. I do have things I want to say about this book, but my copy is at home, so I will post again tonight or tomorrow. I hope everyone is enjoying the book so far.

I think that is a great thing to bring up Susie. I hadn't thought of it before and I don't believe it ever came up in our discussions when talking about starting this group. I personally don't think it's cheating to listen to it on cd. In my opinion, the central focus of the group is to discuss the overall themes and content of the books as well as our reactions to them. I can't see how listening instead of reading would change that. As a disclaimer, I have never listened to a book, so I am perhaps unaware of possible differences. If anyone has other feelings I'd love to hear them, but I think listening is a perfectly acceptable option.

I've never seen Emma actually, but perhaps I will try to Netflix it after I finish the book. I think what gets me about the clueless connection is that it's not direct, so I get distracted by the idea of how it fits together and spend my time thinking about that.

I can't stop picturing Emma looking like Alicia Silverstone and Mr. Knightley like Paul Rudd! I don't usually have this probably with books and movies, but I guess since it was not an exact adaptation my brain is working to figure out which character from the book fits into which character from the movies. It's driving me crazy!

I am also feeling that the reading is slow going. I think when I read Pride and Prejudice the first time it was like that at the beginning, but then it started to really flow when you got used to the writing style, like you mentioned. I also feel like there is more dialogue in this book, compared to the other Austen books I've read. That could be untrue, but it feels that way which for me usually leads to more laborious reading. Still I'm enjoying the book so far.

I totally agree about the therapy. I thought it was either unrealistic or a form of benign neglect for Amir and his wife to not put the boy in therapy. I do not feel, however, that Amir grew and changed at all. I'm going to start a new topic to continue that comment though since this topic is only listed as up to chapter 6.

So now I am on chapter 6 and I am starting to feel quite a trepidation about where this is going. I suppose that is either a sign that the author is doing a good job or just my extreme dislike of stories involving children being awful to each other. Either way, he is certainly setting the reader up for what's about to happen, but like with Bel Canto, I don't know if it will help in the end. This is the third book I've read recently that uses this kind of technique, letting the reader know certain things ahead of time(what would happen to the kidnappers in Bel Canto, for example, told in the very first chapters), or hinting at events to come by telling side details of the future(end of chapter five, "that was the winter that Hassan stopped smiling"). Does it sometimes make it worse to know what's coming? Or better? Is the bad news easier to take then? I think it makes it worse when it's bad news. For me it makes it harder, like pulling a Band-Aid off slowly instead of one big rip all at once. Wondering how everyone else feels.

I just started this the other day and I wanted to just mention a part I really liked right away when I started reading. On the very first page the narrator says, "but it's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realise I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years." That passage really resonated with me and drew me right in to the book. I think that's true personally. I've found that even things you truly forgot find their way to the surface again if it is something that did really affect you and who you are. There really is no escaping some things. Even if you remove yourself from somewhere that reminds you of the past because of places, people, and things, it still creeps in. I didn't get to read much more then a few pages that night, but I was intrigued based on that passage.

To me it ended up seeming more like a "winter" book for me. :) In the summer there are so many things going on that my focus is not what it should be I guess. In the winter I can buckle down and get through the hard stuff! I still want to finish it, maybe I will try to do Kite Runner and Brideshead at the same time...

I've been having trouble too. I started way late in the month due to moving and planning a trip home, but then I haven't been making really any headway since starting. I usually love British writers, but there are times when I am just lost with what he's saying. Sometimes I like the way he somewhat rambles on, for example the first paragraph of chapter one is fun because he isn't straightforward about describing when he had previously been to Brideshead. It creates a more alluring paragraph then if he had just laid it out, but in the second paragraph of Chapter One the same thing is done and I find myself annoyed. I don't know what he's really talking about when he says Oxford is under water now and "eights week" and the woman being around disrupting things. Although it is the same style, I felt the first paragraph was clear, but the second convoluted. This is a problem I'm continuing to have as I keep reading.

That's definitely a good point. I guess I felt like it would be too much of a reminder and if they were only doing it for that they shouldn't, but if they were in a relationship with someone else I suppose that someone else would never understand what they'd been through and what they'd lost. I still prefer a Disney ending where everyone lived happily ever after though! haha

I was cleaning up my Netflix queue tonight and saw Simon Birch was already in there. So I suppose at some point it will come to me in the mail and I can see how it compares!

So I read the book in just a few days because I was really drawn into it, but I was extremely disappointed with the end. Not that all the terrorists died, that sucked because you had grown to like them, but the author set it up early that the terrorists would die, which I think was good because then I wasn't shocked or devastated, etc. I was disappointed with the marriage of the singer to the translator. It just didn't sit right with me, I didn't think it fit. Any thoughts?

It was a really great book. I got a little bored at the parts that were really heavy on bible passages, but I never do well with borrowed text inside a story. I've never seen Simon Birch, I didn't realise it was based on this book. Owen was definitely a little too good to be true, but I found that to be both a positive and negative to the story.

Wondering what everyone thinks about Owen Meany? I think the author did a great job bringing the character to life. I really like the contradiction between Owen's family owning a granite quarry- a big, heavy business- and Owen himself being so small in stature. I think Owen's dialogue really highlights his quirkyness too.

I just finished the book two days ago! I kept plugging away almost daily, but I just couldn't read very much at a time. I had the exact same problems Richelle. I just couldn't get into their relationship. Catherine seemed so awful with so much of her dialogue. And I also agree with you comment about the writing style. It got better for me as the book went on, but I never warmed to it, I just especially hated it at the beginning. But you're so right about the plot- I was interested in that, which made me hate the characters (and Hemmingway) even more in some ways.