Hi Everyone,
Those of you that missed last night’s book club missed out on an enchanting Victorian home tour. Thank you, Becky, for allowing us to enjoy your charming home. Becky’s decorating flare, “New England” style as Cheryl identified it, in addition to Becky’s memoirs associated with her various knick-knacks and furnishings transported us to another place and time, kairos (Greek for “the right moment”). Other members besides Cheryl in attendance, Ginnie, Jody, and myself, all relaxed in the ambiance of Becky’s candlelit garden patio. A very “wabi” (Japanese for an understated form of beauty) summer indulgence.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog was a perfect read for summer discussion. It seems that the books we read are most often read in “kairos.” I can’t exactly pinpoint why, but reading Muriel Barbery’s book this month felt like the right time for it. With school out for the summer, I had time to contemplate Renee’ and Paloma’s philosophies on life. I agreed with Paloma more often than not. In her deploring of humans, she points out that we “live in a world where it’s words and not deeds that have power.” True. How is it that the fine talkers who rule our world would most likely be incapable of defending and feeding their own families if they were required to do so? I like this thought; it compels me to have more appreciation for my husband. I know he could kill a rabbit or a squirrel for me if the situation demanded. And, I am certain, he could even build a crude dwelling, if necessary, and defend it for me, too!
Paloma is the queen of manga pop culture. The Japanese literature is her creed guiding her belief system, which isn’t all that far fetched. For instance, in mangas “people eat differently, more simply, refined, moderate. You eat the way you look at a beautiful picture or sing in a beautiful choir; neither too much, nor too little.” For breakfast Paloma likes “tea and mangas: something elegant and enchanting;” unlike her father who prefers coffee and the newspaper to “reconstruct” himself each day. Our KC student Zach Roxby, a cult follower of mangas, would appreciate Paloma’s insightful references to the anime serial.
The two main characters’ Paloma and Renee’ are in hiding throughout the main course of the story. Both disappointed in the sincerity and superficiality of society, they retreat into their private worlds of writing. “I witness the birth on paper of sentences that have eluded my will and appear in spite of me on the sheet, teaching me something that I neither knew nor thought I might want to know,” declares Renee’. I understand her words completely as I am taken with the same illuminations. Although, while for some of us, writing can provide an outlet, some of us are inspired by music, prayer, dancing, or art. Paloma reminds us, for instance, that all the ailments and struggles of life can momentarily disappear when human beings surrender to music. Like Paloma, one beautiful chord can tighten my throat and plunge me into weeping uncontrollably.
One of my favorite lines from the book “if you dread tomorrow it’s because you don’t know how to build the present…” Paloma, again, incites the secrets of life as she ponders on her aging grandmother, Mamie, “Build something, now, at any price, using all our strength. Always remember that there’s a retirement home waiting somewhere and so we have to surpass ourselves everyday, make everyday undying. Climb our own personal Everest…” The Elegance of the Hedgehog offers so much to think about from the rite of tea drinking to the rules of go and grammar, we are all impelled to wonder at the beauty, “wabi,” in all things and to consider that anything can happen when in “kairos.”
As June’s choice was a thought provoking read, July’s The Shack may also prove just as reflective. We will meet at Cheryl’s house on Wednesday, July 29. Join us for our midsummer book discussion under the stars.
Yours in books,
Tammy
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