The World According to Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway said, 
 There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. 

Judging from the book so far, he thought that about living, loving, an simply being - if it wasn't true, there was no reason to be.  I both admire and am afraid of such unequivocal living.  

Hope you're liking The Paris Wife!


--Jac

Jane Eyre? What?

Okay, so I know we all kind of signed off on Jane Eyre, but I really was reading it. I finished it a few weeks ago, and I just have to say that this book loves me back. Meaning, I feel like the more love I put into reading it, the more love it gives to me. That sounds so weird and kind of creepy.

Let me explain in a more appropriate way.

I read Jane Eyre in high school...and when I say I read it, I watched the BBC version and briefly glanced over the Cliffs Notes. And didn't pass my test. What a good way to stick it to my English teacher, right? And to be honest, I thought the book was weird and stupid and totally turned me off to British 1850's lit.

I read Jane Eyre in college (on my own accord) and loved it so much that I read it in three days and wanted to start over again when I finished.

I read Jane Eyre as an English major who hasn't read a classic for a shamefully long period of time. I wanted to remember why I read classics and to stop feeling like such a moron...so I post-it noted, I underlined,  I copied passages. And there was just something there this time that moved me. The themes of loyalty, forebearance, independence and knowing oneself were (are) stewing in my mind.

I love this, by Helen Burns: "Yet it would be your duty to bear it, if you could not avoid it. It is weak and sill to say you cannot bear what is your fate to be required to bear." Stop griping about your lot in life...I needed this, right Jac?

And this, talking about Mr. Rivers:  "There would be recesses in my mind, which would only be mine, to which he never came." I just read another book where the main character entertains the idea of a relationship with someone who is too simpleminded for her, and I thought of this. What a sad day it would be to be "stuck" with someone who didn't "get" you.

And of course, how could I leave out Mr. Rochester (who, by the way, HAS to be better looking than the old BBC version of the movie...the new movie cast worked much, MUCH better for me): "He made me love him without looking at me." Oh my...

That is all. Just wanted to put this out there if anyone really did read Jane Eyre. And the new movie was fantastic.

Life as Mrs. Hemingway

When I said that our characters would be hanging out with Hemingway and other famous artists and writers of the 1920s, I obviously had not read the full description of the book.  Our main characters are in fact Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley.  I'm not sure what others of you are thinking as you start this book, but it's hard to read a story where you know that the relationship is not going to work out.

Oddly enough too, I'm still in love with Sandra Bullock as Agnes, Hemingway's first love (a nurse from WWI when he was injured on the battlefront).  Which is a roundabout way of saying that I really like Hadley and hope that her story ends well despite the fact that she married the amazingly talented and tempestuous young writer.

--Jac

July Book: The Paris Wife

The obsession of the summer is Paris so we thought it would be apropos to read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain.  It's the 1920s in the City of Lights which means our characters will be hanging out with the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and all the other American ex-patriots that are responsible for creating some of the greatest pieces of music, art, and literature that the world as ever known.  Hope you'll join us.  We promise to have more discussion on this book so that it feels more like an actual book club. Happy reading and happy summer!

-Jac

Jaclyn's Possession

Possession by Elana Johnson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am feeling a bit conflicted about this book.  On one hand I sat and devoured it in one sitting before I left for Europe.  On the other hand I felt like much of the plot was a blending of other teenage dystopian fiction with a few sparks of originality and a strong ending.  I think I feel most of my conflict over the fact that Meg’s friend wrote this book.  I am in awe that she did that – that she came up with a story and managed to sell it to a publisher.  I just wish I loved it more.  I would definitely recommend it to young people who loved Uglies or The Hunger Games.  My problem is that I would recommend those other books first.  All those contradictory things said, it was still an entertaining read.  Kudos to Meg’s friend for achieving her goal of getting published and on a national level.  So exciting!

On a totally trivial note, I love Johnson’s choice of character names.  Vi, Zenn, Jag, Gavin – they roll off the tongue well, and they are completely fitting for the type of story.