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Book: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Discussion:
Several of our members returned this month for the discussion of Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants. Many Page Turners had read the book before and enjoyed it, as the voting proved. Ten readers voted thumbs up, one thumbs down, and one thumbs sideways. To begin the discussion I asked those who did not vote up if they would like to share their opinions on the book. One found the narrative a bit implausible. She wondered why Jacob ran away after his parents died and their house was repossessed instead of staying with friends in his hometown. She also thought it was very convenient that he would find veterinary work straight out of school during the Depression, and it seemed even more fantastic that this work was with the circus. Some Page Turners liked this stretch of implausibility, thinking that it fit in well with the circus atmosphere.
It was also suggested that some of the circus history was inaccurate. One Page Turner worked for the publication Billboard in the 1950s, which covered the country’s circuses. The head of her department was an expert on circus history and imparted some of it to our fellow member. Another Page Turner revealed that she is from Hugo, Oklahoma, which shelters many circuses during the winter because of the relatively mild climate and profusion of open spaces for hosting circus animals. Having lived there for many years, this Page Turner told us of various friends of hers who were performers and of circus companies still in business today. We definitely had no lack of knowledgeable Page Turners at this meeting!
Another topic receiving much discussion was that of elephant temperament. Apparently it is not uncommon for mistreated elephants under stress to maim or kill their trainers. According to some of our experts, trainers in the past continued to use elephants until they had engaged in two or three acts of violence, and only employed female elephants. Now, companies have both male and female elephants, though they only take the females on tour, and retire an animal from performing after one violent incident. Conversely, elephants can also be extremely affectionate and gentle. One Page Turner shared a story of how an elephant once nuzzled her face, an endearing, albeit a hairy gesture. Apparently their temperaments can vary as much as a human’s can.
We also discussed circus movies such as The Greatest Show on Earth and Toby Tyler. According to the New York Times, Water for Elephants should be made into a movie in 2009. We also commented on the 2009 reading list and the book for next month. Copies of that novel, Hard Truth by Nevada Barr were made available, and flyers for upcoming programming were also distributed.
Monday, October 27, 2008
September 25, 2008: PageTurners 7 p.m.
Book: Pére Goriot by Honoré de Balzac
Discussion:
We had a smaller group this month, several members having scheduling conflicts, but we did have two new faces and an interesting discussion. This month we read Pére Goriot by Honorè de Balzac. At our August meeting one member envisioned that this book would generate many thumbs down votes. Her prediction proved correct as four Page Turners voted down and only one voted up. However, there were three sideways voters, one of which convinced another who had yet to finish to continue plugging away.
The main detractors of the book seemed to be that it was a bit boring, a little depressing, and that the French names were hard to remember and differentiate. One reader made a list of the characters in order to help keep them straight. We also decided that the main character, Goriot, was too melodramatic, at least where his daughters were concerned. The book discusses how he would wait in the park all morning to catch a glimpse of one of them as her carriage drove by. This, combined with his total deterioration for their sake, seemed a bit over the top, yet we disliked the daughters for their lack of appreciation as well. One Page Turner poised the question of whether Goriot’s deterioration was the cause or effect of his son-in-laws’ rejection of him. We decided the two events were probably simultaneous. Goriot was already lacking in money from helping his daughters in arranging their marriages. His financial deterioration probably began then and had some physical decline associated with it. His sons’ denunciation may have just exacerbated his state.
We also spoke about the amount of detail in the book. Some found that it was too much, while others enjoyed Balzac’s style and use of language. One critic praised the author as one of the greatest novelists of all time, yet said his writing of French, the grammar, syntax, etc., was not excellent. This same critic disparaged Dostoevsky and Tolstoy’s Russian, in addition to Dickens’ English. This led us to discuss the translations of the book. Together, we had about five copies of the book, each translated by a different individual. One Page Turner recommended her translation, which included our novel and another, Eugénie Grandet. Due to the similarity between the second book’s title character’s name and our other main character Eugene Rastignac we thought the two novels might be related, as Balzac’s characters frequently reappeared in other books. This was not this case with these two, but as the Page Turner with this edition read both stories, she was able to give us her comparison between Père Goriot and another of the author’s works, which is always interesting.
The meeting ended with a discussion of the upcoming 2009 reading list. Several members turned in their votes, and I am now hard at work on finalizing the list. Flyers for upcoming programs were also distributed, and an announcement about the blog was made.
Discussion:
We had a smaller group this month, several members having scheduling conflicts, but we did have two new faces and an interesting discussion. This month we read Pére Goriot by Honorè de Balzac. At our August meeting one member envisioned that this book would generate many thumbs down votes. Her prediction proved correct as four Page Turners voted down and only one voted up. However, there were three sideways voters, one of which convinced another who had yet to finish to continue plugging away.
The main detractors of the book seemed to be that it was a bit boring, a little depressing, and that the French names were hard to remember and differentiate. One reader made a list of the characters in order to help keep them straight. We also decided that the main character, Goriot, was too melodramatic, at least where his daughters were concerned. The book discusses how he would wait in the park all morning to catch a glimpse of one of them as her carriage drove by. This, combined with his total deterioration for their sake, seemed a bit over the top, yet we disliked the daughters for their lack of appreciation as well. One Page Turner poised the question of whether Goriot’s deterioration was the cause or effect of his son-in-laws’ rejection of him. We decided the two events were probably simultaneous. Goriot was already lacking in money from helping his daughters in arranging their marriages. His financial deterioration probably began then and had some physical decline associated with it. His sons’ denunciation may have just exacerbated his state.
We also spoke about the amount of detail in the book. Some found that it was too much, while others enjoyed Balzac’s style and use of language. One critic praised the author as one of the greatest novelists of all time, yet said his writing of French, the grammar, syntax, etc., was not excellent. This same critic disparaged Dostoevsky and Tolstoy’s Russian, in addition to Dickens’ English. This led us to discuss the translations of the book. Together, we had about five copies of the book, each translated by a different individual. One Page Turner recommended her translation, which included our novel and another, Eugénie Grandet. Due to the similarity between the second book’s title character’s name and our other main character Eugene Rastignac we thought the two novels might be related, as Balzac’s characters frequently reappeared in other books. This was not this case with these two, but as the Page Turner with this edition read both stories, she was able to give us her comparison between Père Goriot and another of the author’s works, which is always interesting.
The meeting ended with a discussion of the upcoming 2009 reading list. Several members turned in their votes, and I am now hard at work on finalizing the list. Flyers for upcoming programs were also distributed, and an announcement about the blog was made.
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