Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was an unexpected hit

Wow, was this an enthusiastic discussion about the unexpected fun of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos.  Thank you Ashley for hosting this lively discussion. Who knew this was such a phenomenon in its time, turned into a movie in 1928.



It was also a Broadway play starring Carole Channing in 1949, which included the song "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" and a 1953 movie launching Marilyn Monroe. "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" provided the scenario for the music video of Madonna's "Material Girl". And we haven't yet mentioned the Blonde inspired wallpaper and fabric, among other things. Who knew?


We thought this would be a quick and fun read and it was - James Joyce read this book when the strains of writing Finnegan's Wake got overwhelming. (Too bad the book wasn't longer, maybe it could have distracted poor Joyce from a few hundred pages.) Edith Wharton called it "the great American novel."

There is no doubt it was a romp, and it inspired a comic strip that ran in 1926. Evidently, this type of story was not so often told at the time, as it made a huge hit. 

The story of the "professional lady" may seem all too familiar, but in this case, the general consensus was that Lorelei Lee controlled her fate and used what she could to get what she wanted, unabashedly. Lorelei was perhaps named for the German mythical siren of the Rhine and the convoluted plot would support that theory. 

Lorelei and her "chaperone" Dorothy go through a convoluted series of adventures that result in one man after another buying them jewels, clothes, fancy dinners and more across two continents.   In the end, Lorelei gets what she wants, and we were rooting for her. 

Supposedly inspired by Loos seeing a young blonde exert control over an older H.L. Mencken, then a highly prominent journalist, this story was told in stylized way that some found hard to read. 

This novel was taken up by the women's lib movement, and the author was quoted as saying  “They keep getting up on soapboxes and proclaiming that women are brighter than men, That’s true, but it should be kept very quiet or it ruins the whole racket.” 

This book was published in the same year as The Great Gatsby and was if anything even more well received. Perhaps it is the odd grammar and spelling of the narrator but this story lives on as film much more so than as a novel, unlike Gatsby. 

And so on to November which will be at Lynn's. Good news for us all, we have decided to move War and Peace to January as we are all struggling with the small type. I keep getting distracted by the French, so I am crawling through it, although I am quite happily immersed. 

Our November book will be The Mating Season by P.G. Wodehouse, which was one of our Christmas swap books, brought by Gordon. While it may be in the same vein as Blondes, we wanted something light and fun to give us time for Tolstoy. Also, if you have read Wodehouse, or are attracted to a different one of his books, no problem, read what you want of his and we can have a more general author discussion. I have a stack of Wodehouse and feel Jeeves and I are old friends already. 

It is a pleasure to read something, like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, that I would have never, ever picked up on my own that was a cultural phenomenon in its time. It is one of the things I treasure about this group! Thanks everyone!

Tim Winton's Breath, oh so good

Wow, was that a fun night and a great read. Thank you Julie for hosting us in your beautiful home, next time I hope an art tour is in order. This time, we were just too enthralled with this wonderful novel to tear ourselves away, except perhaps for a nibble or two.

The consensus was that this was an amazing novel, beautifully written with an interesting and unusual central thought  - that breathing is both an imperative and a choice.  The emotional fallout of that choice had, in this case, recriminations that affected the trajectory of the lives of each character. While our attention is on the main character, Bruce Pike, each person in this narrative was damaged as illustrated by their breath, in some cases by their compulsion to stop breathing. Brilliant. And very intense.

If this were any less well written, more tautly constructed, this story would not work anywhere near as well. The descriptions, particularly of surfing were mesmerizing and wholly believable. The characters, perhaps were not as well wrought. Particularly the older (but far from old!) Eva and Sando, who were the center of the storm for these two young boys were a bit flat.

I wondered a bit whether what happened to these two boys, only 11 years old at the start of the story, was enough to set their courses so permanently. If it had been two young girls though, I likely would have considered the adult behavior predatory and dangerous. Even as presented, with a bit of the Aussie swagger, there are some experiences that you can't get over, no matter what you try. For Looney, it meant a life of thrill-seeking of greater proportions until the inevitable end. For Pikelet, it was a life apart. Maybe they would have ended up in those spots anyway, but it sure didn't seem so.

And so, on to October which is right around the corner. We are meeting on Oct. 16, place TBD as there is a last minute change. Anyone want to volunteer? And a change in the book - we were schedule to discuss War and Peace but decided we needed more time. The October book is now Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which we think will be an easy read, allowing more time for you know what.

See you all soon!