The Transatlantic Book Club discussion

I enjoyed it--I found it one of Oates' easier reads, despite the violence--but not as much as I expected to. There was something disjointed about it, particularly about the importance of music. I'm confused about why her son's performance in San Francisco was so difficult for her, why it so unmoored her from the perfect exterior she spent so much energy in maintaining. I was also confused by the ending; I loved the exchange of letters, and especially Freyda's, but I couldn't see how it related to everything that happened to Rebecca after her parents' deaths. It would be interesting to compare this novel closely with A Garden of Earthly Delights and with Wonderland, which starts with a similar family annihilation but goes in an entirely different direction--this particular brand of violence seems to be one of Oates' often-revisited problems.

I enjoyed this and it left me wanting to read more of Oates' stuff. I think the importance of music originated with Rebecca and her mother secretly listening to the radio - although I do think the connection wasn't made particularly clear. My interpretation of her mood in the build up to her son's performance in SF was that the significance (i.e. that it related to cherished moments from her childhood and therefore was about the only thing in her life connected to her real self) brought out the paranoid atmosphere of her childhood and the tension of living with so many secrets in her adult life. I think. Rereading that thought it all sounds a bit twaddly.
The exchange of letters at the end was a nice way of tying up a couple of loose ends for me. I really wasn't sure if she was Jewish or not until that point. I'm unsure of it but I think there was some reference early on to her father claiming they came from a small protestant sect, and it seemed that they had fled Germany because of Josef's political beliefs, rather than race.
If I had to make one criticism though, it would have been nice if people kissed without always doing it wetly.