Hi Everyone,
I’m
sincerely sorry that I waited so long to put out this email for our October
book club. The date is looming, Tuesday, October 18, and many of you have no
idea what we’re reading. That’s poor book club management, I will say so myself.
Regardless of my irresponsibility, we will be meeting at Red Lobster for our
seventh anniversary dinner. Yes, book club has been together for seven years
and this month marks our 75th book. We are reading Fifth Avenue 5 AM by Sam Wasson. The
book is a work of nonfiction which serves to enlighten the reader with little
known facts about Audrey Hepburn and the making of the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. We will meet at
6:30 PM to discuss our October selection.
Last month’s
book Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by
Helen Simonson was a hit with our group. The Major, the main character, is a dignified
elderly Englishman. His former duty as an officer in the British military and
his upbringing in a family of undefined nobility have contributed to the Major’s
stiff British posture. We like him, however, as he is endowed with the
customary British quick-wit. His observations such has those he makes of the
help at his private golf club are hilarious, “Many seemed to suffer from a
disease of holes in the face and it had taken the Major some time to work out
that club rules required the young women to remove all their jewelry” revealing
the gaping holes of multiple piercings. Another passage I enjoyed is a comment
the Major makes to Mrs. Ali’s nephew when he tells the major he is in love with
an unsuitable woman. The major replies, “My dear boy, is there really any other
kind?”
Besides
Major Pettigrew’s quick-wit, he is also insightful and very astute to human
behavior. He gives us much food for thought in this passage, “The world is full
of small ignorances. We must all do our best to ignore them and thereby keep
them small, don’t you think?” Every day we encounter and sometimes even
contribute to the small ignorances, on the highway, at our jobs, in our
families, etc. Like the Major, it is more dignified to ignore them than to call
them out, as irritating as the ignorances may be. We also learn from Major
Pettigrew that it is much more acceptable and considerate to create our own sarcastic
thoughts concerning ignorances and keep them to ourselves. My husband is great
for finding sarcasm in everything, but not quite as subtle in sharing his
observations as the Major!
At the
September book club we discussed another thoughtful passage where, in his
wisdom, Major Pettigrew considers the consequences of mailing a letter. He imagines
the closing of the iron mailbox lid, his last chance to retrieve his thoughts
before they become gone from him forever, now public. It always bothered him
that “one’s words could not be taken back, one’s thoughts allowed none of the
remediation of speaking face to face.” How true this is, we discussed,
especially with the use of email, Facebook, text messaging. It is so easy to
send out our words without giving them careful thought. Young people,
especially, are not even aware of the connotation of their words. They send text
after text, publicizing their opinions of people, places, and things without the
slightest thought as to how the receivers of their messages are going to interpret
their words. Wars have been started with much less written and verbal
communication. We shared at book club how many of us agonize over the possible
suggestions of our words before we send them in emails. It is very serious
business in these days of immediate communication. I’d love for Major Pettigrew
to speak to my class on the topic, wouldn’t he be a hoot? The kids would love
him!
Well, since
Major Pettigrew is not available, I really would like our book club to hold a
meeting for my classes at Karns City sometime soon to celebrate our 75th
book and our 7 year anniversary. The book I would like us all to read is called
Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth
Pfeffer. Exploring the possibilities of a major disaster, this book uses first
person narration and a diary format to share the realities of a world faced
with the aftermath of a meteor hitting the moon. I like to impress through
reading this book the importance of creating an emergency disaster kit in
families and the importance of knowing how to rely on your own abilities and
ingenuity when faced with disaster. We can discuss more about KC Book Club Day
at the meeting on Tuesday!
Yours in
books,
Tammy
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