Hi Everyone,
During the
last week of August, the Butler Women of Wisdom Book Club has been very active.
First, on Tuesday, August 23; Becky, Cheryl, Ginnie, Lori, and I met at my
house for a discussion of the novel The
Paris Wife by Paula Mclain. Later, on the following Sunday, August 28, a
few of us, Ginnie, Sharon, and I, along with Sharon’s daughter and
daughter-in-law, met at the Regal Cinema to see the film version of one of our
former book club selections, The Help.
The
characters from the novel The Help
were cast appropriately in the movie with very convincing actresses playing the
key roles. Unlike many books made into film, the movie followed the original plot,
I thought, fairly closely. I highly recommend that you make a movie date and
check it out. It contains both scenes that will make you laugh and scenes that will
make you cry. My favorite parts are those that depict the sisterhood between
the black “help” and their faith community. I admire the way these women were
able to keep their sense of humor and relationship with God in the midst of the
racial discrimination and hatred they tolerated daily.
As both The Help and The Paris Wife are so fresh on my mind, I’d like to make a very
general comparison between the two books. In both books, the stories are
centered round two very elite social groups. In The Help, we read about the upper class wives of the southern white
aristocrats of Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960’s. They were
egotistical in believing they were justified in their prejudice just because
they were white. They used their status in society to make others adopt their
hate toward black people. Similarly, in The
Paris Wife, we read about the elite, the literary elite. Although this book
was set in Paris during the early to mid 1900’s, the writers and poets are also
an arrogant group like the Jackson, Mississippi socialites. In The Paris Wife, the writers lived
hedonist lifestyles forcing the ones that loved them into slave like acceptance
of their perverted pleasure seeking. These literary geniuses believed their own
greatness was due in large part to experiencing acts of immorality. In both The Help and The Paris Wife, the social groups are selfish and insensitive; they
use others in their distortion of their own self-importance.
Most of us
at the meeting remembered when our book club read Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises. The narrator of The Paris Wife, Hemingway’s first wife
Hadley, shares with the audience how this book changed her husband’s life.
After the book’s success, Hemingway became extremely popular becoming the
center of attention wherever he went, especially with women. Poor Hadley didn’t
have a chance when Pauline came along, a beautiful young model. The most
despicable act of infidelity committed by Ernest was when he fornicated with
Pauline in the same bed right next to his wife Hadley. How could he? I hated Hemingway’s
book The Sun Also Rises and, now, think
even less of him once I learned of his deliberate lack of respect for the
sanctity of marriage! Needless to say, I am not joining his fan club.
Despite
Hemingway’s wickedness, we rated the story of his marriage to Hadley with high
marks. Following this winner, we have another promising title slated for
September, Major Pettigrew’s Last
Stand by Helen Simonson. In this book we will chuckle over the main character’s
British sarcasm and wit. According to the New York Times, “many screwball
ingredients” will keep readers riveted. Let’s meet for a “high tea” discussion of,
yet, another odd love affair at 6:30 pm on Thursday, September 22, at Panera in
Butler. Until then, enjoy reading this humorous fiction selection as we slide
out of summer; I look forward to seeing you on the 22nd, the eve of
the autumnal equinox!
Yours in
books,
Tammy
