Hi Everyone,
Summer is certainly spiraling to an end since some of us met
in June. During our meeting, held in unison with the Butler Symphony Garden
Tour, we very lightly discussed the title The
Girl with a Pearl Earring during breakfast at Anderson’s Restaurant on Main
Street. Becky, Cheryl, Ginnie, Barb K., Lori, and I were in attendance. Greg,
Cheryl’s husband, an avid gardener and horticulturist also joined us for our
tour.
For our garden excursion, we were blessed with a perfectly
lovely day, pure sunshine and the pungent scent of summer roses. Those of you that didn’t attend missed one of
Butler’s most captivating events. As we strolled through one enchanting garden
after another, we were mystified by the range of plant varieties, the ingenious
landscaping, the creative yard furnishings, ornaments, and “animals,” but most
of all the vivid displays of color. After sauntering through gardens all day, I
felt like I had just returned from a relaxing spa or a mini vacation. I believe
we all came away truly inspired from the tour, newly invigorated to spend time
in our own gardens weeding, planting, and creating magical places of beauty and
solace. Needless to say, the Butler Symphony’s Garden Tour, like their
Christmas Home Tour will definitely be a mainstay on our book club’s calendar.
As for our book title The
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, I’ll give it 2 stars out of
3. It was certainly a quick read, I read it on my flight to Portugal and finished
it on the beach. It wasn’t particularly thought provoking, but it did not lack
in page turning capability. Most definitely more fiction than history,
Chevalier builds a subtly provocative tale of forbidden love simply from the
romantic images she draws from Vermeer’s great work The Girl with the Pearl Earring.
I would consider the book more of a psychological drama. Written in
first person narration, we enter the thoughts of the main character, Griet.
Forced into a job as a servant by her parents who have recently undergone hard
times, Griet is quickly infatuated with her new Master, the famous painter
Johannes Vermeer. The unspoken interplay that Griet exchanges with the artist
while going about her duties looking after his home and family contains just
enough sexual tension to keep you reading. Griet never fully tells us the seedy
intensity of her feelings towards Vermeer, but we recognize the subliminal
messages in lines like, “Sir, perhaps you should have me do other things,
things that a maid does.”
Vermeer softy asks, “What does a
maid do?”
Griet tells us she had to wait a
moment to respond, her jaw was trembling. She adds, “I forced my gaze up to his
eyes. I felt as if I were burning, but I endured it - he wanted me to.”
Griet is willing to bare all as
Vermeer paints her portrait. The passage where Griet agonizingly forces a
needle through her ear namely for the sake of pleasing her Master, is
symbolic. The throbbing pain yet erotic
satisfaction Griet feels from the piercing is equivalent to her excruciating
desire to lose her virginity to Vermeer. However, when her hair (again
symbolic) which always remains hidden under a cap is exposed after Vermeer
interrupts her in the changing room, Griet undergoes a psychological change.
The incident represents the figurative end to Griet’s virginity. Once done, her
tresses unleashed, she feels used and exploited. So what does she do? She runs
out into the night to find her suitor, Pieter the son, and lets him take her
virginity, literally, in the back alley of a tavern.
The Girl with the Pearl Earring offered enough implicit information for
me to enjoy a bit of passion and romance. Unlike Fifty Shades of Gray, our May title, Chevalier did not resort to
dishing out the trashy stuff. There is something to be said for modesty, and I
rather prefer it. Sadly, however, there are more people who think otherwise.
Recently, Becky sent me an email concerning our May title; read my attachment
to learn about the alarming content she discovered. After you read it, then say
a prayer for the state of the world’s moral demise!
As for our August book club, upon
receiving only a handful of responses to my text message yesterday, I rendered
a date for this month’s book club. We will meet at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, the
22st, at my house. There is no assigned book for August; it is your personal
choice. Just come and share any book that you enjoyed reading this summer. I do
have a homework assignment, though. Try
to identify an object of symbolism in your book then if you can, find the
object or a picture of it to bring with you. It is sure to help you remember
the most important details of your title when it is your turn to share. Be
analytical! In addition, bring your favorite farmer’s market style snack and
we’ll celebrate the tastes and textures of summer.
Finally, for those of you who
requested a copy of our book club’s reading list; it is included as a second
attachment to this month's email. I look forward
to seeing everyone and sharing not only our books but our stories of summer
travels and events.
God bless,
Tammy
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