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Hello Family! The next book we will be reading is titled Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. The date by which this book should be read is Sep. 3 Have fun reading! Thank you for your participation!
3 comments:
I'm not sure if I'm posting this right but I'll try it. This is Esther. Sam, what wonderful introductory comments. Much of what you said resonated with me -- I, too, was at first put off by the gritty, dark, even depressing nature of the lives of many of the characters. But as I read on, I felt very connected to many of them. And, as you said, the writing really carried the story. I thought the language was beautiful in many of the chapters. And I was quite impressed with how McCann managed to create such distinctive and believable and diverse voices.
The characters that drew me in the most were Corrigian, Gloria, and the tightrope walker. Corrigan was such an interesting character. I loved his ability to see through pain, danger, and despair to try to bring about human connection and even beauty with people in need. I enjoyed the descriptions of the old people and could see those scenes quite vividly. I loved the old Jewish guy and got a kick of his "party" night with the hookers.
Gloria I loved for her softness and sturdiness, how she incorporated both of these qualities to survive some tough circumstances. I had questions about her, too, and wished she could have climbed out of the projects world. Perhaps it is a class or race thing. I felt more comfort with her as an educated person and could even identify with her alienation from the other women in the mothers-of-dead-veterans group. I admired her for rescuing Janice and Jaslyn and giving them such a good home. They symbolize redemption (especially Jaslyn) in the book and that brought hope to so much tragedy.
I'd love to hear what people think about the tightrope walker and why McCann chose that act as a "leitmotif" for the book. I loved the description of his preparation and his experience of the time on the wire. I saw the film, Man on Wire (I think last year), and could see him and hear him. It was a very spiritual choice as a central image. Perhaps he symbolized the challenge we all face. How do we prepare ourselves to do the thing that is most meaningful to us, even when it might threaten our safety? Or, in what ways were the other characters walking a thin line between what made their lives meaningful and their demise. Corrigan stayed safe with his celibate, altruistic life, but his love for Adelita, his passion, endangered this path. Tillie and Jazzlyn led reckless lives, but also had love (Jazzlyn for Tillie, and Jazzlyn's daughters) to keep them on a path of love. I won't go through each character, I'm not sure the metaphor works for each one.
I also loved the idea of taking a moment or an event and taking a look at how various lives intersect within it. It could happen everyday of our lives. We come in to contact with so many people and we're unaware of the layers of connections. I have more to say but I will stop here!
This is Joan this is a test
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