Next pick

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
by Stephen Greenblatt

Fantasy Fantasy League

If you were in a Fantasy Fantasy League — I'm not saying you're that geeky, although you kind of are — who would your five starters be? And why?

'Architecture'

Reading an interesting article in The New Yorker about Martin (written before "Dragons" came out).

What do you think of this bit?

Tolkien was what Martin calls an “architect.” Tolkien created entire languages, mythologies, and histories for Middle-earth long before he wrote the novels set there. Martin told me that many of his fans assume that he is as meticulous a world-builder as Tolkien was. “They write to say, ‘I’m fascinated by the languages. I would like to do a study of High Valyrian’ ”—an ancient tongue. “ ‘Could you send me a glossary and a dictionary and the syntax?’ I have to write back and say, ‘I’ve invented seven words of High Valyrian.'”

Sigils

I just read this line in Book Four: Lord Tyrell the warrior, the queen mused. His sigil ought to be a fat man sitting on his arse.

Hehe

What would your sigil be? (seriously)

Big and little

This just occurred to me. Do'h! The juxtaposition of Brienne and Tyrion. She's a giant, ungainly woman who's repeatedly described not just by the other characters but also by the narrator as "ugly." But we like her. She's brave and good and resourceful and suffers for love. And Tyrion is also described as horribly unattractive, and his size also is all wrong, only the opposite of Brienne's size. But we like him. He's smart and honorable and resourceful and suffers for love. Each of them is falsely accused of killing a king. Each of them is also a kind of bridge or liaison. Brienne is loyal to Catelyn but ends up being "close" to Catelyn's nemesis Jaime. And Tyrion is loyal to the Lannister clan but also can appreciate the value of other families. Do you think they'll meet?

Ladies

Do you have a favorite female character? Do some seem more plausible in their roles than others?

I am rather partial to Arya, just because she seems to combine common sense/integrity/moxie to a degree beyond all the others.

Betrayal

Like the deaths, the betrayals keep coming. Which one did you find most upsetting? or surprising?

I'm still stewing about the Red Wedding. I knew something was going to happen, but I didn't expect wholesale slaughter, and the violation of the guest rule/peace banner was utterly shocking.

I also was pretty outraged at Catelyn for betraying her king (Robb) and freeing Jaime. That just seemed stupid and ill-fated and not entirely explicable as an act of mother love.

I sensed that Theon wasn't altogether upstanding, but I was also surprised by his heartless and cruel betrayal of the Starks.

Central hero

Ned seems like the moral thread that was holding everything together. As long as he had some power, the center seemed to hold, more or less, but when he is killed it all falls apart. The "game of thrones" begins in earnest with his demise. Is there someone who takes his place, someone who becomes the hero? Tyrion? Or is he too pragmatic vs. principled? Jon Snow?

A shocking demise

These books are full of surprising deaths. Whose untimely end has shocked you the most thus far?

Song of Ice and Fire: Likable villains

As we dive into Book Four, we've gotten a thorough look at the story's villains. I find the characters interesting because there's a simplicity to them; pretty much for any character, if you were doing casting, you could easily define who gets a black hat and who gets a white one. The distinction between good and evil seems so clear cut. So you have that moral satisfaction. But there's also the satisfaction of several likable villains, like Petyr Baelish and Varys the Eunuch. I was trying to figure out what's so intriguing about these obviously rotten eggs, and maybe it's the fact that they understand their world so well? Their vile manipulations are so doable only because they are so knowledgeable about their surroundings and put so much effort into being on top of things. Their very horridness arises from their skill at their jobs, which makes them admirable in a way and fascinating to watch, even while you eagerly await their comeuppance.

Do you see any sort of distinction among the villains in the book? Why are some more interesting than others?

Beli

In many ways, Beli seems like as much a main character as Oscar does. Her story takes up about half the book, and is pretty compelling and overwhelming.

What did you think of her character development? Did her actions make sense to you? How much are we supposed to sympathize with her?

Dominican Republic

What did you think of the way Diaz described the Dominican Republic? Did anything surprise you?

Hocus pocus

What are we supposed to think about all the fuku business? The golden mongoose and faceless man and the other magical realism elements?

Writing style

What did you think of the very conversational, slangy writing style? Did you like all the Spanglish and references to geek culture, or did it distract from the story?

Oscar Wao

What did you think of Oscar's brief, wondrous life? What did you think of the book as a coming-of-age story?

Any other general thoughts about the story?

Next pick: A Song of Ice and Fire

This may not take a full month. (hehe)

Next pick

"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz

Martha

What did you think of her?

It's so interesting to me how her dad's job took her overseas briefly but that the experience completely determined the course of her life. I guess it's silly to think about how someone's life could have been different but for this event or that event, but it's so tempting with her. Her being in Berlin at that particular point in time was so decisive in her life, when she might easily have decided (as a grown woman) to not accompany her parents ...

Nazi goofs

I admittedly haven't read a lot about the Nazis, but this is the first thing I've read that has shown just how bumbling and juvenile and egotistical they were. I mean, you see Hitler in film footage carrying on like a buffoon, but everyone around him seems so smitten and serious (when in fact he is so laughable ... his contemporaries could have laughed him off the stage, but we can't laugh at his laughability because we know how the story ends). The focus always seems to be on the sinister, on this united wall of Aryan determination. In Larson's book, you see the Nazis as petty, in-fighting, not terribly bright individuals plagued with paranoia and various delusions of personal grandeur. That was very interesting to me, in light of so many depictions of them as simply cold, calculating "evil geniuses."

And it's interesting to think about how, if you were thrown into that society in the capacity of a diplomat, you would interact with these people as individuals.

Ambassador Dodd

One of the things I really liked about this book is how Larson portrayed his subjects, the Dodds, as human beings with flaws and weaknesses — individuals who were caught up in an historic moment and reacted to it like human beings, frequently with self-interest and denial, sometimes with courage and honor. It was interesting to see how they navigated that world that they so strangely found themselves enmeshed in. Dodd's progression from naive and aloof and doubting to outspoken and belatedly involved was particularly compelling to me. Do you think he was a good ambassador in the scheme of things?

Staying out of it

A question I always had regarding Hitler was how did the United States let this happen. It's not like he suddenly came to power and wreaked unsuspected havoc in Europe. His ascension was years in the making and his goals of conquest and genocide were fairly transparent. I had always heard the stuff about the U.S. being war-shy after WWI and the whole isolationist vs. interventionist argument, but Larson's account of our diplomatic relations with Germany is the first time I really had a firm grasp of precisely how the U.S. let this happen, including a horrifying and cowardly indifference to the fate of Europe's Jews. Not really a question. Just an observation, if you have thoughts.

Next pick

Some nonfiction for June 25. (I noticed Christy used a story about this on last Sunday's book page!)

Aftermath

Did it surprise you how Bob Ford's life turned out after he killed Jesse? I suppose the stage re-enactments and dime store photos were that era's version of talk shows and TV movies.

It struck me that the descriptions of Bob after he went to Creede and opened his saloon sounded a little like Jesse. He was hot-headed and jumpy and good with a gun, a local leader and good businessman. But his arrogance and swagger was unpleasant, not charming. People loved Jesse; they hated Bob. It seemed like Bob's dream was always to be Jesse, and he could never quite get there.

Mrs. James

I found Zee's story pretty interesting, especially the way she turned a blind eye to Jesse's criminal activities. What kind of life must that have been for her? It was really sad to me how her life seemed to fizzle out after Jesse's death.

Dirty little coward

What did you think of Robert Ford? Did you sympathize with him? Do you think he deserved to be labeled a coward? Did it surprise you that he went through with Jesse's murder?

Jesse James

What did you think of Jesse, as presented in the novel? He's clearly one of those larger-than-life people who are so charismatic that people are drawn to them no matter what dreadful crimes they commit. I found myself rooting for him in the story, even though obviously I knew he would be killed. I felt let down a bit when he was no longer around. I feel like a dumb American "taking heroes from the criminal classes," as Oscar Wilde said, but I like the guy. I'm guessing the Brad Pitt movie doesn't do much to counter that.

So what did you think? Was Jesse the hero of the novel?

New pick

"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" by Ron Hansen
(Now a major motion picture starring Brad Pitt!)

Pick for March

Gloria Naylor wrote "Women of Brewster Place," which I read back in college. This might be a treat for spring.

"Blast Kills People Again"

Vote for your favorite Ruby Zaga headline! (or any other)

The name

And now for the de rigueur title question. Why "The Imperfectionists"? Any thoughts? Is it a comment on the profession of journalism? On this particular group? On people in general?

Deep background

What did you think of the italicized story that made up the end of each chapter? Did knowing how the paper was founded and its decades of history add something to the story?

Rome

Why do you think Rachman set the story in Rome when it's so easy to imagine this basic story unfolding in any number of locales across America? Do you think it's simply because the author himself was a foreign correspondent, or did you perceive an additional reason for the international setting?

Favorite story

Whose story was your favorite? And, as a journalist, whose story resonated most with you?

Characters

All of the stories seemed to have a deeply sad twist, which, even though I loved the book, left me with a faintly bitter aftertaste. I mean, it just felt like every single person connected with this dying newspaper had some kind of deep flaw, weakness, unhappiness, etc. Did that seem realistic to you? Am I missing something?

"The Imperfectionists"

Did you like the book overall? How about the way it was written, with each chapter focusing on a different character (and a different bit of the newspaper's history)? Do you think that was a strong way to tell the story or mainly just a convenient way to manage/organize a kind of sprawling narrative?

Obscurity

Although "The Eighth Day" was a bestseller and won the National Book Award in 1968, it wasn't universally loved. The New Republic called it “a book that means nothing.” Newsweek called it “a worthless bauble.” The New Yorker said that “none of the characters, major or minor, rings credible to the reader."

And it has fallen out of favor in the years since. A new edition was published in 2007, but for most of the past 40 years it's been out of print. I had never heard of it until I saw it on a list of National Book Award winners. When I went to get it from the Wichita Public Library, they had to dig it out of storage.

Do you think the book deserves its fall into obscurity? Why do you think it's not more popular?

The tapestry

The Deacon of the Covenant Church shows Roger a carpet with a woven pattern and points out that from the back, the design can't be seen; it's a jumble of yarn and knots. He implies that there is a hidden pattern to life and that there may be some special role for the Ashley family in the design of the world.

Then the book ends like this:

There is much talk of a design in the arras. Some are certain they see it. Some see what they have been told to see. Some remember that they saw it once but have lost it. Some are strengthened by seeing a pattern wherein the oppressed and exploited of the earth are gradually emerging from their bondage. Some find strength in the conviction that there is nothing to see. Some

What do you think is the message? Why the dangling "some"?

Covenant Church

What did you think about the inclusion of the Covenant Church at the end of the story? Were you surprised to learn they were Ashley's rescuers?

Miss Doubkov

Miss Doubkov may be the most remarkable resident of Coaltown. She's certainly the most perceptive. Early on we learn that she figured out long ago who killed Lansing and who rescued Ashley. She seems to understand everyone's situation, everyone's motives. She's the one who helps Lily run off to be a singer. She's the one who instructs George on how to make his confession and escape to Canada. In fact, she was the inspiration for George's dream of Russia.

I don't have a question, here, and I don't have my book to reference all Miss Doubkov's important scenes, but her character seemed to play a significant role in the story of the two families. Thoughts?

Breckenridge Lansing

The guy was awful, clearly, and there's no excuse for his behavior. But Wilder says he was just reflecting his own father's behavior toward his wife and son. And he knew at some level that he was incompetent and unloved, so he protected himself by using cruelty. And at the end, after his illness, he seemed poised for some kind of redemption. Did you feel any sympathy toward him at all?

John Ashley

My favorite John Ashley moment was when George was having nightmares before his tonsil surgery and John came in to calm him.

"Does the sun go round the earth, George, or does the earth go round the sun?"
"The earth goes round the sun, Mr. Ashley."
"And anything else?"
"The moon, and ... the planets, I think."
"And what's the sun doing all that time?"
"It's going very fast."
"And carrying us with it?"
"Yes."
"It's as though we were on a great ship moving through the skies." Pause. "I often have that feeling just before I fall off to sleep. We're going at that great speed and yet you saw how quiet it is down there in the square. It's a wonderful fact, isn't it?"

I love the gentleness with which he approaches George and the way he talks about life. It was especially touching to me after seeing the cruelty of George's own father.

What did you think of our generous workaholic, simple family man, genius inventor, fugitive murder suspect John Ashley?

Beata Ashley

"The Elms" may have been my favorite chapter of the book, with the delightful boardinghouse section. It made me wonder, though, about Beata Ashley. We never really got inside her head. Why do you think she refused to leave the house? She didn't strike me as the type to be ashamed.

There were a couple of sections that shed some light on her character. The first was Lily's insights to Roger in Chicago: Their mother adored their father, a self-centered, possessive love. An all-consuming love that kept her from having any friends or even paying her own children enough attention. Their father had a lot of friends, but he didn't tell their mother about them. "He simply didn't tell her because she wouldn't be interested. She was not a noticing woman and she was not a ... a sympathetic woman."

But Roger offered another picture: Beata worked hard every day, never let the children know they were poor, read them the best books and played the best music, was never short-tempered. And "there was nothing small about Mama." She held her head up and walked every day to their father's trial.

In the Hoboken chapter we see Beata's resemblance to her mother: "If her husband had entered the house one day and told her that he was bankrupt, she would have uttered no word of complaint. She would have moved to a slum and improved the tone of the neighborhood." She was taught never to demonstrate affection or tenderness and to develop "a spine of steel" and a "royal carriage."

Did you wish to know more about who Beata was and what she was thinking? Or was it not as important as her famous husband and children?

The Eighth Day

What did you think of the title, "The Eighth Day"? It comes from Dr. Gillies' speech at the tavern on New Year's Eve 1899.

"Nature never sleeps. The process of life never stands still. The creation has not come to an end. The Bible says that God created man on the sixth day and rested, but each of those days was many millions of years long. That day of rest must have been a short one. Man is not an end but a beginning. We are at the beginning of the second week. We are children of the eighth day."

Man is still evolving, he says, and in the new century (the 20th) mankind will enter an enlightened stage of development focused on Mind and Spirit, moving from the "self-favoring life into a consciousness of the entire community of mankind."

But Dr. Gillies didn't believe any of that. He thought the 20th century would be as miserable and dark as all the previous ones. He lied because he saw Roger Ashley and George Lansing there and believed "it is the duty of old men to lie to the young."

Let these encounter their own disillusions. We strengthen our souls, when young, on hope; the strength we acquire enables us later to endure despair as a Roman should.

What do you think the story has to do with this concept of evolving humanity, or of strengthening yourself on youthful hope?

Next pick

I'm very excited about this. It's about journalists! Feb. 10?