As far as the book goes, we had a very lively and long discussion about State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. While almost everyone liked the book and enjoyed reading it, there were certainly some aspects that were less than ideal. I thought the story was totally unbelievable and so were the characters, not much else left except the writing, which I liked quite a bit. Everyone else like the book a lot but also agreed that the story and characters were over the top.
Val brought along some real live book club questions on the book which actually very useful in getting us to think about the book in new ways. Beryl was a superstar, pointing out the symbolism of the names. Milton, guiding people along their journeys, and Easter, rising from his deafness and reappearing to his tribe, are two very good examples. She also raised the question of whether Marina was pregnant at the end, a bit of an open question once she laid out her evidence. (She clearly paid more attention than I did!)
There was some discussion also about the contrast between Minnesota (Val being the resident expert) and the jungle and the clear distinction between the descriptions and impact on Marina of the two landscapes. While the jungle was dark, menacing and required constant vigilance, Minnesota's air was clear, the atmosphere light and the open plains pretty liberating after the tangle of the jungle.
There was consensus that the book built quite a story, then rushed through the resolution entirely too quickly and neatly, with really major things happening with little comment or input. Finding Anders, giving back Easter, the quick end of Dr. Swenson's pregnancy (and with a rare birth defect, mentioned years earlier in a lecture she gave and dismissed as highly unlikely), all seemed like tossing everything together in a few pages at the end. Too bad, as the buildup was pretty entertaining.
Our next book is Cutting for Stone. Right now we are planning to meet at Kathy Baker's, she is out of town right now so it is tentative for now. Please CALL Kathy to let her know what you want to bring along as her email access is not consistent.
We also lined up the book after that - who remembers what it was? Not me! See you all soon.
