The Catholic Book Club discussion

1. Use this thread to share thoughts or observations that you have while reading, or that may not fit in another thread.

I could only start the book 3 days ago, but I just finished it. It is a fast read.

I am left with the impression that I would have liked the conversations to be more in depth and to learn much more about the characters.

The cook talks about Topfenstrudel, a filled Austrian pastry, and the word "Topfen" gets translated with cream cheese. For an American audience that's not a bad translation, but strictly speaking, Topfen is a different dairy product from what Americans call cream cheese, and most native Germans living here in the US really miss it. What in the Austrian dialect is called "Topfen" the German calls "Quark". Topfen/Quark has a much lighter consistency than cream cheese, which is positively dense in comparison, it is also less sweet.

I was totally puzzled by why Prudencia suddenly decides she wants to find a husband. It seems totally unmotivated by anything up to that point. What's especially curious to me is that the only married couple we meet in the book are the hapless Motts. Other than that, either people are unmarried or we don't meet their spouses or even know whether they exist. A serious shortcoming on the part of the novelist! It's also odd that we only see women looking for husbands, not men in want of wives. But I do like Lulu's assertion that you don't marry your equal, you marry your better!

I'm wondering what others think of the Man in the Wing Chair's approach to education. I love the books wandering into the pantry!

Why aren't all these people grossly overweight eating so many sweets every time they have a conversation?