AfterEllen.com Book Club discussion

Since I know a lot of people have already read this book, I thought I'd make the discussion post just one space instead of splitting the book up.

Because of timing for me this month, I probably won't be able to finish the novel until right at the end of the month--so I don't have any real questions for you, but feel free to throw out your random thoughts and discuss away!

I just finished the book and I have to say I'm glad I've read it. Thanks for the suggestion, otherwise I don't think I would have heard about it, and it really worth reading. It's easy to follow and be trapped in the story, easy that you identify yourself at some point with the characters, and the ending is .. well, I'll wait for everyone to finish reading it.
I gave it 5 stars cause I really loved it!

I read the book in about a day or so. I've never heard of it so like the other reader, I'm glad it was recommended. What's nice about this book is that the author described the feelings of a first love that some of us (well at least me) are too afraid to admit we had. The ending though... I thought it was a little fantasyish specifically the decision Carol made. No one in their right mind would do that. Other than that I was happy with the book. I think it's cool that someone could write a gay book like that in the 50's and be a success!

Couple questions though:
What's with the name? I don't get it. Embarrassing I know. Sorry.

Also, what's with Carol always sending Therese to bed? I know there's something about it, but I can't put my finger on it. Is it because she sees her as a child?

Thanks

Well I agree with some of the comments and questions above. For instance: why that name? What does it mean? I also found a little bit weird the fact that Carol keeps sending Therese to bed.
To be honest, I really liked the book, I read it in a few days simply because I needed to know what was going to happen. (Having read that it had a happy ending made me read faster)
When I think about the characters I find certain similarities between this book and The Last Nude. Carol and Tamara are older than Therese and Rafaela, and at least in my opinion, not the nicest women. Both Therese and Rafaela fall madly in love with them and are willing to give up their lifes.
Carol seems like an emotionally unavailable woman to me, even when she says she loves Therese, it makes me wonder if it is true. And once again, her treating Therese like a child, makes me consider if she wants a partner or the child that has been taken away from her.
The ending was not exactly what I was hoping for, but it seems clear why it is considered a "happy ending"
And last but not least, considering that the book was written in the 50's made the book more appealing for me.
I gave it 4 stars.
I'm really glad the book got picked up for this month.

I've never heard about the book either, and I liked reading it. Therese was a very likeable character from the start, but I couldn't really connect with Carol. she just always seemed too distanced, too cold, too old for Therese (she really treated her like a child, I found that very annoying) and I constantly wondered what it was that Therese loved in her.
but when Carol broke up with her in that letter and for the first time gave insight to her own feelings, I really had to cry. it was a though choice she had to make.
I also really liked how Therese grew up, how she was a totally different person in the end, and she seemed so happy I was kinda hoping she would not go back to Carol, cause to me Therese deserved so much more (surprised myself with that, I normally always want a HEA)

as for the title, I have no clue abou that either, I'm glad I'm not the only one who couldn't figure it out

This book has been on my 'to read' list for a while as it is often mentioned on AE as a classic and I can see why.
Overall I enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend it. And just knowing it was written in the 50s made it so much more enjoyable.

I agree with what some of you have already said and wasn't overjoyed by the ending. I loved the growth and transformation of Therese and did not expect her to return to Carol. I never warmed to Carol much, she treated Therese as a child throughout so even though Therese 'grew up' in the end I have my doubts Carol's behaviour was going to change much (I also find it hard believing she would give up her child so completely). In a way I am glad we got a happy ending, though I can’t imagine the new dynamics of their relationship.

Many people seem to have a hard time with the title. Here are a couple of passages from the book that may help:

"In the middle of the block, she opened the door of a coffee shop,
but they were playing one of the songs she had heard with Carol
everywhere, and she let the door close and walked on. The music
lived, but the world was dead. And the song would die one day,
she thought, but how would the world come back to life? How
would its salt come back?"

“She felt shy with him, yet somehow close,
a closeness charged with something she had never felt with
Richard. Something suspenseful, that she enjoyed. A little salt,
she thought."

I think the title makes sense once you understand the context of how she is using "salt". Interesting that it's often said this book has a happyish ending. It seems the title is more focused on the ish part.

I LOVED this book. The writing has a very nice rhythm, quite poetic. I thought I would have a problem with the whole older lady/young innocent girl thing, but we can actually see the (younger) character grow through the book.
The resolution is quite realistic too and mostly heartwarming.

My favorite quote:
"Love was supposed to be a kind of blissful insanity"

Me too.  Loved it. Loved it enough to re-read it after many years. 

The book hums with tension, longing, things left unsaid.

(view spoiler)[ The tension as Therese and Carol negotiate their relationship at first, the road trip, the strain of having the detective chase them, the weeks waiting to return to New York not knowing what was happening. (hide spoiler)] Highsmith truly was a master of the art of suspense.

I loved this quote:- "Happiness was a little like kite flying, she thought, like being a kite. It depended on how much you let the string out." 

I won't be able to finish the book in time - got about 100 pages left - due to the flu and inability to understand what I'm reading.

I'm a fan of Highsmith's Ripliad and love the way she writes, which makes it surprising that I thought this novel was really difficult to get into. There’s lots of brilliant, five-star-worthy scenes that just make me want to bow down to her literary style.

Still I'm left mostly unaffected by Therese and Carol, with a side dish of "why the hell does everybody want to make out with Therese?". I thought she acted like a moody child for a huge part of the novel. Therefore I'm very relieved that a lot of you say that she grows up towards the end of the book.

Like somebody also mentioned, I felt a bit thrown by the fact that Carol treated Therese mostly like a child. I thought Carol was very hard to like. She was very cold and distant, and I couldn’t quite understand what Therese saw in her.

It’s too bad since this is a novel I’ve been looking forward reading since I first heard of it. I’m still going to finish it, but I didn’t like it as much as I expected to.

Just finished the book myself (late! Bad group moderator!) and I loved so many of the insightful comments in this discussion. Would any of you mind me quoting a few of you as I type up the official discussion post for AfterEllen?

Jill wrote: "Just finished the book myself (late! Bad group moderator!) and I loved so many of the insightful comments in this discussion. Would any of you mind me quoting a few of you as I type up the official..."

Ooh hey, I saw that you quoted me in your discussion post. That is all kinds of awesome!

(Hey--A lovely commenter called Drumcorp messaged me saying she kept trying to add her comment to this but couldn't. So I'm just going to copy and paste her comment, because it's worthwhile for everyone to read!)

I just wanted to say something about happy endings and the phrase "the price of salt."

I have used the phrase happy ending when I describe and recommend this book to others. I'd like to explain why.

If we forget what we think of as a happy ending today and consider the options available when this book was written, it could be seen as a happy ending.
Today maybe happy is the wrong word, but what if we consider the ending as not happy, but hopeful.

The story has no dead lesbians.

While we all can argue about the mental state of Carol and her treatment of others, no one in the story goes off the deep end crazy.

Neither woman returns to a man, and both women make their final choices on their own--whether we might agree with those choices or not.

For both these women, the price of salt (the price of life on their own terms) was a roller-coaster of happiness and unhappiness. For lesbians of the time who were lucky enough to find the story might have seen that as a happy ending.

The ending itself is just sad enough to slip through the censors/gatekeepers of publication, but was given the works available at the time, hopeful enough to give women something special to hold on to.

I think when looking at this work we need to remember just what Highsmith was up against just to get the story published.

Happy ending--perhaps its in the eye of the beholder.

I agree with Drumcorp. It is a happy ending because no one died, went crazy, went back to a man, or denied ever feeling in love with a woman. Even by today's standards this would count as a happy ending.

And I think,especially given the time period it was published, frankly, it is, an amazing story. (Although, I am surprised there weren't more negative reviews about Carol leaving her child.)

This was my second reading of the book and it really hit me much more personally this time. So I have too many feelings and am not capable of commenting on it how I'd like. But I will say something about the title.

As Jill said on the AE post, "price" implies a sense of loss or sacrifice. I also think "price" can invoke the idea of value or worth to something. As well as, the willingness to pay that price.
One definition I found of salt was: "An element that gives flavor or zest."
If you consider living a life that is worth living, not just inhabiting space, living a life full of salt, then what is that price? And then are you willing to pay it?
I think if you look at the title in this way, both women experience changes and sacrifice different things so that by the end, they have paid the price for salt. They are going to live their lives now with flavor. And I believe that can also be somehow applied to the happy ending.

I'm way behind schedule with the reading, I just finished The Price of Salt. I loved it and it was easy to read, even though I found most of the characters very annoying (especially Therese, ugh!)...

What do you guys think about Cate Blanchett playing the role of Carol? I think she's truly perfect for this book's film adaptation.

Anyway, here's my short review for The Price of Salt (no spoilers!): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...