Books!

I gotta start somewhere...And I thought I'd start with my Literacy Club. There are 4 women in our club, and all of us are avid readers, obviously! One is the designated leader ( not me, for sure, LOL), and at our first meeting, she set guideline that the books we read would be from the Pulitzer Prize list. We went through the list and elected to read "Madame Bovary" by Gustave Flaubert. The reason for choosing this one was the book was about a woman and it was written by a man. We questioned whether a man could "immerse" himself into the physiology of a woman?? And it was written in 1880s, and was quite a controversy due to the fact there were detailed sexuality in the book, but by our modern standards, the sexual exploits were quite G rated. My personal opinion was the book was excellent and the Pulitzer Prize award was appropriate. Sometimes such awards could be politically motivated such as the Oscars - not shared by the popular opinion of the public at large, but it was not the case with this book. The author earned the award. Summary: the book is about a country French doctor who married a young woman whose ambitions were unrealized when she moved into the country with her husband who was blissfully happy with the lifestyle. You guessed it - she started wandering. A version of "Vanity Fair" with Reese Witherspoon if you had seen the movie. The book was written in Old French context which was challenging to read - it was not an easy reading but immersing nonetheless! To answer the initial question whether Flaubert accurately understood women's physiology - by George, he GOT it! He was a gifted author.

The second book was "Gilead." The opposite of Madame Bovary...The author was a woman, Marilynne Robison, and the leading character is a man. Did Robison succeed Flaubert? At the beginning, it appeared to be another political Pulitzer Prize award....But that was disproved at the end of the book. The leading character was a priest who married a young woman and had a son with her. He was dying and started a journal for him. If you could get past the religious references, you will find the book quite enlightening and enjoyable. I read this book on my vacation at Doheny Beach while my boys were on a chartered sportfishing boat along the Southern California coast. To answer whether Robison was Flaubert's peer - yes, she was, indeed. She earned the award.

Now, we are reading Kite Runner. I haven't started reading it, but what I know about it is it is NOT a Pulitzer Prize winner...More like the New York Bestseller. Someone mentioned to the club's leader that it is a must-read, so we suspended the List. I will soon find out why it is a must-read and whether I agree with the opinion. It is about a group of people living through a war, mostly the children. War is not my favorite subject and something I don't care to know or read about, but the sypnosis sounded captivating, so I will give it a go.

Anyone care to recommend a book? We meet again next month.