Hi Everyone,
The summer days are longer, but I still can’t seem to find time to write, so again I am sorry for the long delay. Book club will be here in just a few days on Tuesday, June 21 at 6:30 PM, so I hope you open this email early enough to get started on our June selection, The Dirty Life by Kristen Kimball. I am changing our location from Mama Rosa’s to Panera Bread since, if the weather is pleasant, we can enjoy eating and discussing outdoors.
The May book club met at Mama Rosa’s Restaurant on Tuesday, May 31 to discuss the book Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. In attendance were Barb, Cheryl, Ginnie, Jody, Lori, and myself. As the book was recently made into a movie, Jody opted to see the cinema version. It was interesting to hear how Hollywood translated the book into film. I am anxious to see it, although the “nursing home” setting is missing, a part of the book I viewed as vitally important. Jody, however, having not read the book, still enjoyed the movie. If at all possible, whenever you don’t have time to read the book and the movie version is available, by all means watch the movie instead. Many of my favorite books were made into film: Pride and Prejudice (the Hallmark version), Gone with the Wind, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Christmas Carol, etc. Films, as Jody noticed with Water for Elephants, are brimming with visuals that bring much to the story like mood, drama, theme, and, yes, art. Also, we all love to imagine our favorite actors and actresses in the roles of our favorite book characters. Movies often offer a different interpretation of the characters, an added dimension to them that cannot play out in print.
Let me be the first to say, I loved Water for Elephants. This book provides so much in the way of plot. As I read the book, I was also instructing The Odyssey with my English classes and saw the many parallels in the Hero’s journey. The Odyssey begins with Odysseus telling the story of his journey home from the Trojan War to King Alcinous; Water for Elephants begins with the main character Jacob Jankowski telling the story of his journey with a traveling circus:
· Separation: Odysseus is separated from his young wife, newborn son, and his land; Jacob is separated from his family when his mother and father die in a car crash.
· The Call: Odysseus is called to fight in the Trojan War; Jacob, overcome with grief, answers an inner call by running away from his great loss and his veterinarian studies.
· Crosses the Threshold: Odysseus crosses the threshold when he sails away to the Trojan War; Jacob crosses the threshold when he jumps on the circus train and joins the circus.
· Challenges: Odysseus faces many challenges like the Cyclops, the Lotus Eaters, and the witch goddess in his journey to return home; while working for the circus, Jacob is challenged with dirty and dangerous jobs like feeding the lions and dirty and dangerous people, like August and Uncle Al.
· The Abyss: Odysseus must travel to the abyss, the Underworld, to find the way home; Jacob travels to the abyss by daringly hopping the moving train cars in an attempt to kill August.
· The Transformation: Odysseus is transformed when he loses everything, his men, ship, and his hopes of returning home; Jacob is transformed when he loses his friends Camel and Walter after they are “redlighted” or thrown off the train.
· The Revelation: Odysseus realizes that he must give in to Poseidon and admit that he is “nothing”; Jacob realizes that he must outwit Uncle Al and August in order to save Marlena’s life and his own.
· The Atonement: Odysseus must fight to win back his home from the suitors; Jacob atones for his actions by marrying Marlena, taking his final veterinarian exam, and providing a home for the abused animals.
· The Return: Odysseus returns to his wife Penelope and son Telemachus to reclaim his throne as king of Ithica; Jacob returns to working with animals by joining the Ringling Brother’s Circus as a veterinarian along with Marlena, Rosie the elephant, Bobo the chimp, and the horses.
Many more similarities can be added, but my point is this, Gruen’s story follows a basic pattern recognized in all literature. The pattern is based on the human experience. Although Becky wasn’t at the meeting, she shared a story about her husband Jim that shows clearly how life mimics the hero’s journey. Like Gruen’s character Jacob, Jim experienced separation from his father and mother as a young man. It happened at the end of his sophomore year at Grove City College, and, like Jacob, Jim had just finished studying for his last final exam. Looking forward to the summer, when Jim woke up on Memorial Day ready to begin several months free from all night cramming, he never expected what he would find, his father dead from a heart attack. Within a week following, Jim’s mother suffered a nervous breakdown and was admitted to the hospital. Jim’s life changed dramatically in those few short weeks and he knew, as a dutiful son, he had to answer the call to care for his mother. As the only child, the sole person to accept the responsibility, Jim crossed the threshold into years and years of caring for his mother. During those years Jim overcame the many challenges of meeting his mother’s needs and caring for her home while still spending time with his own family and maintaining his own home. Becky added that Jim never once complained about his mother’s care, but instead remained loving and devoted to his mother until the end of her life. Jim’s story shows what powerful lessons we can learn from each of our human experiences and as we have come to discover those lessons are told and retold through the stories we read and the characters we love.
I’ll finish my letter by noting a few of the numerous vocabulary words Gruen used in her book. I like when our authors make an attempt to strengthen our word usage:
· apoplectic – (appa plektik) furious with anger; having the symptoms of a stroke
· bowdlerizing – to remove parts of a work of literature that are considered indecent
· desultory – random, aimless
· ablutions – ritual washing - cleansing of a priest’s hands
· panoply – full array - full ceremonial dress, suit of armor, etc.
See you at Panera’s on Tuesday,
Tammy
P.S. Homework: Be ready to discuss the questions from the back of the book!
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