What a great feeling to see the group together in person again! What an absolute treat to hug, laugh, drink coffees and teas in our own space in a cafe for book group again!
We had so much catching up to do! It really was a delight to see people "in the flesh" (though I will admit to having bit more flesh that before the pandemic!) and hear how things were going. We started off discussing some shows we'd been watching lately (or not so lately), with recommendations to watch:
And movies which came up as we were discussing the book: In The Heights One Night in Miami
The book itself was both a good read and with a few problems. I think it was Catherine who said she had friends in a book group who read it and each saw it through they frame of their own lives, the black people had a different take than white people, those with trans family, etc. Fundamentally, it was a book about belonging and longing to belong and what humans will do to belong and out of fear of being cast out. We spent a good deal of time on the sub story of Reece and Jude which felt slightly underdeveloped and deserving of its own book. It did echo the theme of belonging as well so worked in that sense. But we had a lot of unanswered questions about Reece's back story and where their relationship would go.
Regarding the central relationship between Stella and Desiree -- as to who was supposedly the wild one wanting to leave, in the end Deseree not only came back, but made a new life in Mallard taking care of her mother Adele. Both she and Stella stumbled into a life they didn't expect but both were in some respects alone too. Stella so fearful of what would happen if she were ever unmasked that she would treat black people as badly as she did while also wanting so desperately to have a friend. Desiree, promising Jude that they wouldn't stay even as neither ever left until Jude left for college. There was a lot about leaving and transitions in the book too -- Stella leaving without telling Desiree, Therese leaving and becoming Reese by the time he got to Los Angeles; Kennedy, the child who had everything also having no idea who she or her mother really was, just leaving once she did. And also acceptance -- how the way people presented themselves was often just accepted. At no point in the book did anyone without the insight of personal experience with trans people see Reese as anything but a man. At no point, even when she was socializing with the black friends of her neighbour did anyone see Stella as anything but white. And the lengths people will go to maintain the illusion of themselves. We also discussed the timeline as most of the book takes place before 2000, so how the times coloured the experiences of everyone as well as how little some things change over time. Lots to talk about in this book!
During the discussion, we also touched on previous read of Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, as well as Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond (not read by the group but brought up in discussion before)There was a lot of discussion about structures that allowed Europeans to set the perceptions of value in our history, both by the luck of geography and the fact that much of our history of vibrant culture and knowledge advances were lost to the perception (myth) that while Europe was in the dark ages nothing advanced in the world even as that was not the case. The rest of the non-European world gained much both culturally and scientifically, it is just not a part of much of our historical knowledge and The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan which we touched on last October, addresses this. The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates was also brought up as a lesson in listening to the people who are being helped to find out what they actually need. We decided to read this one in August, though we didn't set a date for discussion. We should do that at our next meeting.
We had so much catching up to do! It really was a delight to see people "in the flesh" (though I will admit to having bit more flesh that before the pandemic!) and hear how things were going. We started off discussing some shows we'd been watching lately (or not so lately), with recommendations to watch:
High on the Hog from Netflix (Houston features in it)
https://houston.eater.com/2021/5/20/2...
Lupin, also on Netflix (apparently eminently bingable!): https://www.netflix.com/title/80994082
Mare of Easttown (I may have to re-subscribe to HBO...) https://www.hbo.com/mare-of-easttown
The Wire (and oldie but a goodie -- we have the full series on DVD if anyone still has a player and wants to borrow it): https://www.hbo.com/the-wire
And movies which came up as we were discussing the book:
In The Heights
One Night in Miami
The book itself was both a good read and with a few problems. I think it was Catherine who said she had friends in a book group who read it and each saw it through they frame of their own lives, the black people had a different take than white people, those with trans family, etc. Fundamentally, it was a book about belonging and longing to belong and what humans will do to belong and out of fear of being cast out. We spent a good deal of time on the sub story of Reece and Jude which felt slightly underdeveloped and deserving of its own book. It did echo the theme of belonging as well so worked in that sense. But we had a lot of unanswered questions about Reece's back story and where their relationship would go.
Regarding the central relationship between Stella and Desiree -- as to who was supposedly the wild one wanting to leave, in the end Deseree not only came back, but made a new life in Mallard taking care of her mother Adele. Both she and Stella stumbled into a life they didn't expect but both were in some respects alone too. Stella so fearful of what would happen if she were ever unmasked that she would treat black people as badly as she did while also wanting so desperately to have a friend. Desiree, promising Jude that they wouldn't stay even as neither ever left until Jude left for college. There was a lot about leaving and transitions in the book too -- Stella leaving without telling Desiree, Therese leaving and becoming Reese by the time he got to Los Angeles; Kennedy, the child who had everything also having no idea who she or her mother really was, just leaving once she did. And also acceptance -- how the way people presented themselves was often just accepted. At no point in the book did anyone without the insight of personal experience with trans people see Reese as anything but a man. At no point, even when she was socializing with the black friends of her neighbour did anyone see Stella as anything but white. And the lengths people will go to maintain the illusion of themselves. We also discussed the timeline as most of the book takes place before 2000, so how the times coloured the experiences of everyone as well as how little some things change over time. Lots to talk about in this book!
During the discussion, we also touched on previous read of Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, as well as Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond (not read by the group but brought up in discussion before)There was a lot of discussion about structures that allowed Europeans to set the perceptions of value in our history, both by the luck of geography and the fact that much of our history of vibrant culture and knowledge advances were lost to the perception (myth) that while Europe was in the dark ages nothing advanced in the world even as that was not the case. The rest of the non-European world gained much both culturally and scientifically, it is just not a part of much of our historical knowledge and The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan which we touched on last October, addresses this. The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates was also brought up as a lesson in listening to the people who are being helped to find out what they actually need. We decided to read this one in August, though we didn't set a date for discussion. We should do that at our next meeting.