We had a lovely large group on our Zoom chat this morning with Paula joining us from California, Linda from Victoria and Kathy from Wimberly! I think we shall have to keep a zoom option for our meetings once we go back to in-person meetings. With Chantal, Emma, Veronica, Margo and me, we had much to talk about in this book.
Sarah mentioned in her email that she found the writing weak, and I said I tended to think of the writer as more of a lighter read than literature -- we agreed that there was a lot of the story that was not well developed but perhaps that gave us room to dissect a lot. From the lack of support in her family, Elsa was exposed only to books a life outside the home (aside from church) through the library. I was surprised that so much of the book took place in California as I thought it was more of a Texas Dustbowl story, but it did have a lot to tell us of the hardships faced by early settlers in Texas in this time period. We were all surprised at the extent of the damage both to land and to health that the dust storms caused, their length, and ferocity. That the animals were giving dirty milk and were so badly undernourished and affected by the dust storms that they were full of dirt when they died was heartbreaking. And that even though Elsa was reluctant to believe in the promise of moving to California, she did so because of the health of Ant.
We talked about the damage done by families, the internalization of the family dynamics, from Elsa only seeing herself as ugly (though later in the book several people refer to her as beautiful) to Rafe having been "coddled" by this mother and whether that gave him a "weak" character and only able to see the world through lost dreams instead of facing reality. We also discussed human nature in the growers wanting to only pay the least possible amount to workers, to the demonization of the "Okies" by native Californians and the Okies who came before admitting it wasn't as hard when they arrived but not really standing up to make things better for those who came after -- was this self protection as life was harder for everyone? Also the demonizing of Jack and the others as Communitst (that word not having the baggage that came after the 1930s). We wondered why Jack took Elsa and the kids to the Welty camp and didn't warn her about the trap that it could be into indentured servitude. A trap employed by bosses across the world and across time. We talked as well about the role played by Librarians in both Elsa's youth and in shaping Loreda's view of the world. Again, there was much to relate to both today in terms of climate change and inequality and the role of police. Overall a very interesting view into some history we were not all well acquainted with.
Margo mentioned a book she'd read with a wealth of information on the Dust Bowl called Bad land: An American Romance by Jonathan Raban and, in reference to the relationship between mothers and daughters, the book You're Wearing That? Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation by Deborah Tannen. There was so much more we could have delved into -- the relationship between Else and her in-laws, her need to belong, her relationship with her grandfather (reference but not really fully written), the "education" offered at the school on the Welty camp and Elsa's ending, her strength but what it cost her and her family. We also touched on The Biggest Little Farm in reference to the large scale farms Elsa was surprised to encounter in California and how that has been the shift away from the small far, as well as the documentary The Dust Bowl (it is a Ken Burns film!) on PBS: https://www.pbs.org/show/dust-bowl/
Sarah mentioned in her email that she found the writing weak, and I said I tended to think of the writer as more of a lighter read than literature -- we agreed that there was a lot of the story that was not well developed but perhaps that gave us room to dissect a lot. From the lack of support in her family, Elsa was exposed only to books a life outside the home (aside from church) through the library. I was surprised that so much of the book took place in California as I thought it was more of a Texas Dustbowl story, but it did have a lot to tell us of the hardships faced by early settlers in Texas in this time period. We were all surprised at the extent of the damage both to land and to health that the dust storms caused, their length, and ferocity. That the animals were giving dirty milk and were so badly undernourished and affected by the dust storms that they were full of dirt when they died was heartbreaking. And that even though Elsa was reluctant to believe in the promise of moving to California, she did so because of the health of Ant.
We talked about the damage done by families, the internalization of the family dynamics, from Elsa only seeing herself as ugly (though later in the book several people refer to her as beautiful) to Rafe having been "coddled" by this mother and whether that gave him a "weak" character and only able to see the world through lost dreams instead of facing reality. We also discussed human nature in the growers wanting to only pay the least possible amount to workers, to the demonization of the "Okies" by native Californians and the Okies who came before admitting it wasn't as hard when they arrived but not really standing up to make things better for those who came after -- was this self protection as life was harder for everyone? Also the demonizing of Jack and the others as Communitst (that word not having the baggage that came after the 1930s). We wondered why Jack took Elsa and the kids to the Welty camp and didn't warn her about the trap that it could be into indentured servitude. A trap employed by bosses across the world and across time. We talked as well about the role played by Librarians in both Elsa's youth and in shaping Loreda's view of the world. Again, there was much to relate to both today in terms of climate change and inequality and the role of police. Overall a very interesting view into some history we were not all well acquainted with.
Margo mentioned a book she'd read with a wealth of information on the Dust Bowl called Bad land: An American Romance by Jonathan Raban and, in reference to the relationship between mothers and daughters, the book You're Wearing That? Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation by Deborah Tannen. There was so much more we could have delved into -- the relationship between Else and her in-laws, her need to belong, her relationship with her grandfather (reference but not really fully written), the "education" offered at the school on the Welty camp and Elsa's ending, her strength but what it cost her and her family. We also touched on The Biggest Little Farm in reference to the large scale farms Elsa was surprised to encounter in California and how that has been the shift away from the small far, as well as the documentary The Dust Bowl (it is a Ken Burns film!) on PBS: https://www.pbs.org/show/dust-bowl/