May 2011 Host: Stephanie
(I cannot locate this pictures for this book club date so I am posting the summary and the one recipe that I have, if I find the pictures, I will add them.)
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
Summary
This story takes you to war torn Vietnam during the 1960s and 1970s and is told through the viewpoints of three photojournalists, Helen who wants to prove herself in a male dominated profession, Sam a seasoned Pulitzer prize winner and Helen‘s mentor, and Linh, their Vietnamese assistant. Helen often feels shame for immortalizing the war but continues to try and gain an understanding of her brother’s recent death in combat. Like the Lotus eaters in Homers’ Odyssey who become obsessed, possessed, and addicted by the Lotus plants, she becomes intoxicated, with the Vietnamese culture and the pull of the war on her is as addictive as any drug. Her obsession with war surpasses the horrors human cruelties of the war. The author explores the emotional and physical effects of the war on all sides, which is oftentimes sad and brutal.
Discussion
-Helen’s sexuality plays a major role in the novel (humanizes the participants).
-This is a war novel written through a female emotional eye.
-Linh exhibited dignity and kindness throughout, even though he endured even after unimaginable losses.
-We are reminded of how different US soldiers have been received by their country throughout the decades, Vietnam soldiers were heavily protested.
Frito Corn Salad
1 green or orange bell pepper (chopped)
1 red bell pepper (chopped)
1 cup red onion (chopped)
2 cans regular corn
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
1 bag chili cheese fritos
Mix all together except chili cheese fritos. Add chili cheese fritos before serving.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Summary
This novel is set in 1962 in Jackson, Mississippi at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Skeeter, a young wannabe journalist, has just graduated from college and moves back home where her family and friends insist that her finding a husband is all that matters. She becomes intrigued by the lives of black maids, partly due to the disappearance of the one who all but raised her. She begins to enlist the help of her friends’ maids to write a book about themselves from their perspective. Skeeter is forced to interview the maids in secret, although that still puts her and them in danger as blacks are beaten or murdered by white men for various insolences - and if they are caught - the same could happen to them. The maids cooperate (even though they are terrified to do so) as it is the first time they have had a voice in anything. The book describes how hard the maids worked and how frequently they existed in a life or death environment. Not only were their jobs to cook and clean, often the maids raised the white women’s children - oftentimes the white children loved their black nanny more than their own mother
Summary
This novel is set in 1962 in Jackson, Mississippi at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Skeeter, a young wannabe journalist, has just graduated from college and moves back home where her family and friends insist that her finding a husband is all that matters. She becomes intrigued by the lives of black maids, partly due to the disappearance of the one who all but raised her. She begins to enlist the help of her friends’ maids to write a book about themselves from their perspective. Skeeter is forced to interview the maids in secret, although that still puts her and them in danger as blacks are beaten or murdered by white men for various insolences - and if they are caught - the same could happen to them. The maids cooperate (even though they are terrified to do so) as it is the first time they have had a voice in anything. The book describes how hard the maids worked and how frequently they existed in a life or death environment. Not only were their jobs to cook and clean, often the maids raised the white women’s children - oftentimes the white children loved their black nanny more than their own mother
Discussion
-We all really enjoyed this novel and the perspective it gave us on the white women and their relationships with their black maids in the early 1960s in the South. This was a time where the white families didn’t know any different, this was their way of life and how they themselves were raised.
-It was unimaginable to us the fear that blacks often felt when doing something that might not be acceptable to their white employers such as using the bathroom inside the house rather than using the bathroom built for the black help outside the house. “The help” basically lived in a regime of fear. It was not uncommon for the white women to use threats and lies to secure and exercise power over their black maids. Being employed was an absolute necessity for all black men and women during this time and era as they were paid very little and it took both parents’ incomes to raise a family in what they often lived in - nothing more than a shack with partial dirt flooring.
-The author did a wonderful job developing the various personalities of the maids. Aibleen who writes prayers to God eventually becomes the impetus for the book getting written, and Minnie, who has a difficult time keeping jobs because of her funny but blunt comments to her white employers, are just two of the many fascinating characters in this book.
-There were some issues that we felt were not closed - such as whatever happened to the main character when she moved to New York and whether or not the maids ever made enough money from the book to break out of the never ending cycle of them becoming maids.
-We all really enjoyed this novel and the perspective it gave us on the white women and their relationships with their black maids in the early 1960s in the South. This was a time where the white families didn’t know any different, this was their way of life and how they themselves were raised.
-It was unimaginable to us the fear that blacks often felt when doing something that might not be acceptable to their white employers such as using the bathroom inside the house rather than using the bathroom built for the black help outside the house. “The help” basically lived in a regime of fear. It was not uncommon for the white women to use threats and lies to secure and exercise power over their black maids. Being employed was an absolute necessity for all black men and women during this time and era as they were paid very little and it took both parents’ incomes to raise a family in what they often lived in - nothing more than a shack with partial dirt flooring.
-The author did a wonderful job developing the various personalities of the maids. Aibleen who writes prayers to God eventually becomes the impetus for the book getting written, and Minnie, who has a difficult time keeping jobs because of her funny but blunt comments to her white employers, are just two of the many fascinating characters in this book.
-There were some issues that we felt were not closed - such as whatever happened to the main character when she moved to New York and whether or not the maids ever made enough money from the book to break out of the never ending cycle of them becoming maids.
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