Rescheduling again

Yeah, book club ended up not happening again. Oops. We will reschedule soon. Once we actually read the book.

Book Club Rescheduled

New date is Sunday, August 26th at 2pm. My house.

A Non-Book Post

I came across the following post through the lawyer-mom network... it was written by a blogger who has breast cancer. I thought it was really important to share:

_________________________________________________________________

We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?

I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.

Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.

Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.

Don't worry, no spoilers

I stayed up late last night to finish the last Harry Potter book. (That made it fun to get up for mass, since I was cantoring.) I won't give anything away, but I wanted to express some thoughts on the series of books in general. (I guess if you haven't read up to Book 6, maybe you shouldn't read this afterall, but I won't give away anything that happens in Book 7.)

1) The black, the white and all the grey in between. The thing I like most about the books is that, along with the main characters, the books mature and develop into something more than one dimensional stories of good versus evil. By the last book, it is finally very clear to Harry that, with a few notable exceptions, people are not just "good" and "bad." These are lessons we (hopefully) learn as we become adults. While there might clearly be a side of right and a side of wrong, the players are not always such. Good people are capable of terrible things, and bad people are capable of kindness and compassion. The ability for abstract reasoning comes with age, maturity and development. I once heard a high school teacher discuss such differences between sophomores and seniors. By the time we reach adulthood, we have the ability to understand such things previously lost on us only a couple years prior. Doesn't mean we necessarily ever do understand, of course, there are still plenty of people who don't, but we at least have the capacity.

In Book 5, Harry finds out that his father wasn't this awesome role model he believed him to be (and neither were his buddies). He was a rather arrogant bully instead, and was pretty cruel to Snape, which paved the way for Snape's own torment of Harry throughout school. Harry had wanted to paint Snape as the bully, a grown-up version of Draco Malfoy, but he soon realizes that his father may have had more in common with Draco instead. Harry is disturbed by this, because he doesn't realize that, first of all, people are flawed, including his sainted parents. But mostly he can't yet comprehend how his father could have been this great wizard, a freedom fighter, a hero, but have acted like a prat during adolescence. His belief that his father wasn't "good" is quite devastating to him.

Those themes continue throughout the next two books as loyalties are tested and people are faced with their own limitations, regardless of what side they had already chosen. Fear also plays a role in this.

2.) Fear as a catalyst for choice. In Book 3, Pettigrew is revealed as the traitor to the Order, and to the Potters. A long-time trusted friend of the Potters, Pettigrew betrays his friends. He wants to be on the winning side, but I think maybe not completely for his own glory or what he believes Voldemort and the Death Eaters can provide. I think fear had something to do with it as well. There is a lot about fear throughout Book 6 and especially in Book 7. When faced with the fear, some man-up, some run away, and some crumble. Others simply ignore the problem altogether and try to stay neutral. I noticed a lot of WWII type themes, which is really the historical prototype for the rise of the evil empire and subsequent resistence. In Book 5, the Ministry of Magic provides us with the political element and acts as a stereotypical government would: deny there's a problem; but even if there's a problem, we've got it under control; and blame someone else. All the while acting as inefficiently as only a bureaucracy can.

But again, back to the whole good-bad dichotomy, fear is in many cases what leads to several characters' chosen paths, good and bad.

3.) The theme of love. Here's the heartwarming, squishy one. Although it is clear J.K. wants to use "love" as the ruling element, I would almost say loyalty and compassion before actual love. The whole reason Harry survived Voldemort's original attack is because of his mother's sacrifice. But for a "good" person, and maybe not even a particularly good person, that person might usually kick puppies and cheat on his taxes, but in a crisis, in a life-and-death situation, many people, without even thinking, risk their lives, or sacrifice their lives for another, even a stranger. Isn't a mother sacrificing herself for her child more of an instinct rather than a conscious act of love? Soldiers sacrifice themselves for their countries, and isn't that more consciously about duty and loyalty than about love? I don't doubt that love is a factor, but I think in those moments of choice, that love isn't the main factor.

So, that's pretty much it for now. I liked the last book, I thought it was well-done. Not my favorite, I think Book 4 is still my favorite. I have a soft-spot for the awkward, coming-of-age Harry, who likes a girl he can barely speak to, competes in the wizarding tournament and acts like a "normal" teenage boy, but who at the end, loses the last of his innocence. Oh, and I love Cedric plus David Tennant is in the movie as Barty Crouch, Jr., which just makes it that much more awesome.

But it's over and done. Sad, but I'm excited for the final two movies, and I think the last movie will really require some impressive acting by the kids (who aren't actually kids anymore). Anyone have any thoughts? Just mark any spoilers if you include them.

Local events

The International Book Project hosts its annual Spring Book Sale on Fri July 20 and Sat July 21 from 9 am to 6 pm. The sale will be held at the IBP warehouse, 1440 Delaware Ave., Lexington. The sale will feature thousands of books, covering a variety of fiction and nonfiction genres. All books will be half off already low prices. For over forty years, the International Book Project has distributed books across the developing world and in underserved communities at home. In 2006, the not-for-profit organization shipped over 200,000 volumes to 63 countries. Proceeds from the book sale support IBP’s advocacy of global literacy, educational opportunity, and intercultural understanding. For more information about the sale, call the International Book Project at 859-254-6771.

Next book -- Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

In 1910, England's Stephen Wraysford, a junior executive in a textile firm, is sent by his company to northern France. There he falls for Isabelle Azaire, a young and beautiful matron who abandons her abusive husband and sticks by Stephen long enough to conceive a child. Six years later, Stephen is back in France, as a British officer fighting in the trenches. Facing death, embittered by isolation, he steels himself against thoughts of love. But despite rampant disease, harrowing tunnel explosions and desperate attacks on highly fortified German positions, he manages to survive, and to meet with Isabelle again. The emotions roiled up by this meeting, however, threaten to ruin him as a soldier. Everything about this novel, which was a bestseller in England, is outsized, from its epic, if occasionally ramshackle, narrative to its gruesome and utterly convincing descriptions of battlefield horrors. Faulks (A Fool's Alphabet) proves himself a grand storyteller here. Enlivened with considerable historical detail related through accomplished prose, his narrative flows with a pleasingly appropriate recklessness that brings his characters to dynamic life.

Meeting will be held at my house on Sunday, July 29, 2007 at 2:00 pm.

Book Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Christopher Boone, the autistic 15-year-old narrator of this revelatory novel, relaxes by groaning and doing math problems in his head, eats red-but not yellow or brown-foods and screams when he is touched. Strange as he may seem, other people are far more of a conundrum to him, for he lacks the intuitive "theory of mind" by which most of us sense what's going on in other people's heads. When his neighbor's poodle is killed and Christopher is falsely accused of the crime, he decides that he will take a page from Sherlock Holmes (one of his favorite characters) and track down the killer. As the mystery leads him to the secrets of his parents' broken marriage and then into an odyssey to find his place in the world, he must fall back on deductive logic to navigate the emotional complexities of a social world that remains a closed book to him. In the hands of first-time novelist Haddon, Christopher is a fascinating case study and, above all, a sympathetic boy: not closed off, as the stereotype would have it, but too open-overwhelmed by sensations, bereft of the filters through which normal people screen their surroundings. Christopher can only make sense of the chaos of stimuli by imposing arbitrary patterns ("4 yellow cars in a row made it a Black Day, which is a day when I don't speak to anyone and sit on my own reading books and don't eat my lunch and Take No Risks"). His literal-minded observations make for a kind of poetic sensibility and a poignant evocation of character. Though Christopher insists, "This will not be a funny book. I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them," the novel brims with touching, ironic humor. The result is an eye-opening work in a unique and compelling literary voice.

I just finished this book the other night, and have to say that I was pretty impressed that I enjoyed it. (It has been compared to Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, and I bloody hate Faulkner.) This book is really interesting and insightful, although there are entire sections of the book that go into detail on math problems, and I skipped those, because I wouldn't understand it anyway. It's an interesting trip inside the mind of an autistic teenage boy, and to observe the world around him through his perspective. If anyone wants to borrow it, they're welcome to do so. (It won't be my pick for book club though, I have another one in mind.)

New date

Please take note of the newly rescheduled date for book club, June 21.

If anyone would like to host next month, and you have a book in mind, please let me know! I have a couple books in mind if I don't hear from anyone.

Hope to see you next Thursday! If not, feel free to leave your thoughts on the book here.

Half of a Yellow Sun

I saw this article this morning and thought I would pass it along as a possible book club selection. I have not read the book, but winning Britain's Orange Prize seems like a pretty good endorsement.

Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes

If you liked the other Marian Keyes book that we read for book club, you'll like this one too!

Bestselling author Marian Keyes has delighted readers with the lives, loves, and foibles of the irrepressible Walsh sisters and their eccentric mammy. In this Life in the Big Apple is perfect for Anna. She has the best job in the world, a lovely apartment, and great friends. Then one morning, she wakes up in her mammy's house in Dublin with stitches in her face, a dislocated knee, hands smashed up, and no memory at all of what happened. As soon as she's able, Anna's flying back to Manhattan, mystified but determined to find out how her life turned upside down. As her past slowly begins coming back to her, she sets out on an outrageous quest—involving lilies, psychics, mediums, and anyone who can point her in the right direction.

Marrying life's darker bits with wild humor and tender wit, Anybody Out There? is a strange and wonderfully charming look at love here and ever after.

In The Company Of The Courtesan

I finished this book, also by Sarah Dunant yesterday. What I really like about this book, (and The Birth Of Venus) is that it is based around historical figures, places, and events. It isn't 100% accurate, but it's close.



What attracted me to the book in the first place was the cover. It is a portion of the Venus of Urbino, by Titian which was painted in 1538, one of my favorite renaissance painting.



"My lady, Fiammetta Bianchini, was plucking her eyebrows and biting color into her lips when the unthinkable happened and the Holy Roman Emperor’s army blew a hole in the wall of God’s eternal city, letting in a flood of half-starved, half-crazed troops bent on pillage and punishment."

Thus begins In the Company of the Courtesan, Sarah Dunant’s epic novel of life in Renaissance Italy. Escaping the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her dwarf companion, Bucino, head for Venice, the shimmering city born out of water to become a miracle of east-west trade: rich and rancid, pious and profitable, beautiful and squalid.

With a mix of courage and cunning they infiltrate Venetian society. Together they make the perfect partnership: the sharp-tongued, sharp-witted dwarf, and his vibrant mistress, trained from birth to charm, entertain, and satisfy men who have the money to support her.

Yet as their fortunes rise, this perfect partnership comes under threat, from the searing passion of a lover who wants more than his allotted nights to the attentions of an admiring Turk in search of human novelties for his sultan’s court. But Fiammetta and Bucino’s greatest challenge comes from a young crippled woman, a blind healer who insinuates herself into their lives and hearts with devastating consequences for them all.

A story of desire and deception, sin and religion, loyalty and friendship, In the Company of the Courtesan paints a portrait of one of the world’s greatest cities at its most potent moment in history: It is a picture that remains vivid long after the final page.

Book Club Cancelled

We can't seem to get this finalized. We're going to try again for a later date.

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

I really enjoyed this book so I thought that I would share it with everyone. If anyone wants to borrow it they are certainly welcome or you can get it very cheap on Amazon. com. Hope everyone is well!




"Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young painter back from northern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family's Florentine palazzo. A child of the Renaissance, with a precocious mind and a talent for drawing, Alessandra is intoxicated by the painter's abilities." But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra's parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola's reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra's married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art."

Update

Book club date is May 20, at 2pm.

Next meeting -- May 6, 2007

(My apologies for dropping the ball on this, and not getting this scheduled sooner. I suck, I know.) Next book is Marley & Me by John Grogan. Heather will be our hostess, for May 6. Time TBA.

Book synopsis as follows:

John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wriggly yellow furball of a puppy. Life would never be the same.

Marley quickly grew into a barreling, ninety-seven-pound streamroller of a Labrador retriever. He crashed through screen doors, gouged through drywall, and stole women's undergarments. Obedience school did no good -- Marley was expelled.

And yet his heart was pure. Just as Marley joyfully refused any limits on his behavior, his love and loyalty were boundless, too. A dog like no other, Marley remained steadfast, a model of devotion, even when his family was at its wit's end. Unconditional love, they would learn, comes in many forms.

Next book?

Since I suck and didn't make it to last book club (the in-laws came to town that afternoon for Nick's birthday), have there been any new book suggestions? If we choose one soon, we could probably shoot for April 1 as the next date.

Heather mentioned Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog, which I'm definitely all for, as it's been sitting on my shelf since I bought it, and it's about love for rotten labradors (I'm an expert on that topic). I also have a book a friend suggested. I was able to pick it up used, it's an bit older. (But I'd like to wait until after finals to host.)

Anyone else got suggestions? Comment here!

Kite festival controversial in Pakistan

FYI -- This article was posted today about the controversy of the Basant festival. It's an interesting aspect of the struggles Pakistan faces between Islamists and moderates/secularists. Worth a look.

The Last Unicorn: 25th Anniversary Edition

Just this past week a 25th Anniversary Edition of The Last Unicorn was released. This makes me feel old, as I remember watching the movie when it came out in 1982! I am going to show the movie at the next book club so if you haven't seen the movie you'll get your chance.



I have also heard rumors of a live-action version of the movie being made starring some of the original people who played the voices in the cartoon such as Angela Lansbury, Christopher Lee, and Mia Farrow. I think it could be great with all of the new special effects used now, I just hope they don't ruin it!

Book Review: Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, begins as a story of a friendship between two boys in Afghanistan in the early 1970's and how history, family, and social obligations binds them together for ever, destroys them, and finally provides redemption. You can read the Amazon.com review for more details.

I loved this book. Someone had recommended this years before to me, but it never caught my interest until I was "forced" to read it through the club. ;-)

I was moved by the story of the friendship, and especially the relationship of the boy and his father, and his family, and was impressed by the author's ability to make me (i don't know about you) connect to the experience of the boy Amir through universal themes of love, family and honor, and whose life is otherwise foreign to me.

At my job, I work with immigrants and refugees on a daily basis from around the world. Afghanistan is one of the countries from which refugees have arrived in the US (arriving late 1980's, early 1990's due to Soviet occupation, and subsequent government breakdown).

Blame it on charitable burn-out, but there are times when I really take for granted the richness of the cultures and populations that I meet with everyday. On my worst days, I don't even check into the history and politics that led them to my office in the first place; and at the end of the day, I just lump together every tired, poor, wretched member of the huddled masses into a box of professional stress that I shut out at the end of the day. This book was professionally cathartic for me.

For me, after reading this book, whenever I meet another Afghani - or any other ethnic group member - I think of the characters in the book. I think of Baba and Amir in the US and all the Hassan's and Ali's that were left behind in home country. If you haven't read this one yet, definitely worth reading and purchasing for your own collection.

Now...for book club discussion questions. I just picked out one (since I've been a little verbose so far):

18. When Amir and Baba move to the States their relationship changes, and Amir begins to view his father as a more complex man. Discuss the changes in their relationship. Do you see the changes in Baba as tragic or positive?

In the end, I think the changes in Baba were positive. To get to that positive end was humiliating and humbling, but ultimately it led to Amir and Baba having the relationship with each other they had always longed for: Baba had the son he was proud of, who did his duty to his father until the end. Amir had a father who supported him in his relationships and life choices.

I see Baba as a survivor. Unlike the true tragic character of the (what's his name) former Afghan government official who was living off public welfare in hopes that he would work in the Afghan government one day, Baba made the most of the circumstances. Baba couldn't stay in Afghanistan and survive with his son, and he was ultimately offered the opportunity to go to the US. Baba kept his pride and made a life of dignity for himself - though not easily - and died in dignity.

I think the biggest challenge for the average person - reader or people who connect with this situation - is to understand that misfortune can fall on the greatest of us at any time, so success in life must be measured by something bigger than material or political gains. The second challenge is understanding that when you enter the US as a refugee, that even with government assistance, we as Americans can not underestimate how hard it can be to be successful when you literally begin in the US with absolutely nothing, and just how difficult it can be - even amongst the most learned of refugees (and there are quite a number) to overcome language and cultural barriers and simply American prejudice against foreigners in society and the workplace.

To end (I know it took so-o-o-o long - sorry), I want to leave a couple contacts to those of us who would like to provide assistance to refugees today - latest group coming from Myanmar (formerly Burma). I only have links for Kentucky, but there is at least one equivalent government designated Migration Refugee Service Organization in each state. Financial assistance and clothing/furniture donations always needed, but volunteers are always invaluable when it comes to english education, cultural orientation, tutoring children, "adopting a family", etcetera.

USCCB/Catholic Charities
Mr. Darko Mihajlovic
2911 South 4th Street
Louisville, KY 40208
502/636-9263
Fax: 502/637-9780
dmihajlovic@archlou.org

Western Kentucky Refugee Mutual Asst.
Gordana Hasanagic
806 Kenton Street
Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101
270/781-8336
270/781-8136
gordana@wkrmaa.org

Kentucky Refugee Ministries, Inc. (Sub Office of Louisville, KY)
Barbara Kleine
201 E. Maxwell Street
Lexington, KY 40508
859-226-5661
Fax: 859-226-9631
Kyrm@bellsouth.net

Kentucky Refugee Ministries, Inc.
Carol Young
969B Cherokee Road
Louisville, KY 40204
502-581-8541
Fax: 502-581-8552
Cyoung@kyrm.org

Jewish Family & Vocational Services
Judith Tiell
3587 Dutchmans Lane
Louisville, KY 40205
502/452-6341

Volunteers?

If you are in the Lexington area, perhaps you would like to contribute some time (or even just some books) to the Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning. I figure that would be right up the alley of book club gals.

Next Book

The next book is The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. This was Laurie's choice, and will be held at her house on February 25. Short book for a short month!

Last Unicorn synopsis as follows:

The Unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone... Thirty years ago, Peter S. Beagle entered the delicate heart and mind of a unicorn who learns one day that "I am the only unicorn there is." Readers young and old were utterly enchanted by The Last Unicorn, and, with each generation, Beagle's beloved novel grew in popularity and stature to become one of the world's all-time fantasy classics. Here, then, is the enduring tale of the last unicorn's quest for life and love... of the bumbling magician and indomitable woman who shared her dream... and of the special magic that burns deep within every heart.

Also, thanks to Dana for hosting us for The Kite Runner. Please feel free to contribute your thoughts on that book here in blog form.

Book Club -- This Sunday!

Remember, Book Club is this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. for The Kite Runner. It's at Dana's house, so if you need directions, please let me know.

As Anne mentioned, if you cannot make it to the meeting, but have read the book, please contribute your thoughts on the blog.

Hope to see you Sunday!

A Brilliant Addition!

Hello Ladies...

I wanted to take an opportunity to thank Andrea for setting up the Book Club Blog. I think this is a fantastic idea for an expansion on our original club idea...even allowing us to discuss BOOKS! We all know that sometimes book club ends up being more of a social meeting and we almost completely forget to discuss the books themselves.

Since Gerrit and I moved to Columbus, my reading has increased exponentially. Apparently I am replacing you guys with books. Smart enough, I have replaced Joseph Beth with the Columbus Public Library. It is actually a fantastic library system, even winning awards. They have this cool function where you can log-on to their computer system, put together a list of books you want to borrow, and they will pull them from the shelves and have them ready for you to pick up when you get there. Now, I haven't actually done that for an entire list of books, but plenty of people do. Typically I only use the service to pick up my book club books, otherwise I browse to find something new and interesting.

I'm still reading Pope Joan, which is to say that I mistakenly picked up another book before finishing the last three chapters of Joan. The book I'm reading isn't even that good, but I keep finding myself passing up Joan, which is weird because I liked it so much better than the new book. I really enjoy Joan's character and her passion for learning and independence. Not being Catholic, or even Christian, I have to say that the controversy of a female Pope doesn't really do much for me. However, the idea of a woman having to hide her true self in order to pursue education was an incredible story for me. Even today, women are trying to have it all and having problems figuring out how to do it.

The other book I am currently reading is Better than Chocolate by Susan Waggoner. I need to get Anne to teach me how to enter pictures and stuff into the blog, but I can post the synopsis from Amazon.com:

Be careful what you wish for. . .
Food writer Annie Wilkins is on an express elevator to fame and fortune, thanks to research scientist/husband Tom's remarkable invention: fat-free, carb-free, calorie-free chocolate that tastes better than the real thing! Once reduced to writing walleye-on-a-stick articles for Minnesota Menus, now she's living large in showcase houses and hobnobbing with the hoi polloi. Annie and "America's Sexiest Scientist" Tom happily accept their new status as the nation's most happening Fabulous Couple.
But as a high-profile spokesperson, Annie's got a corporate responsibility to change her hair, her style, and lose twenty-five pounds. Her kids are becoming too worldly too fast -- and Tom's in demand for a lot more than just his candy. If this is the American Dream, Annie needs to wake up -- because all of a sudden her marriage and her sanity are in jeopardy. . . and she's about to bottom out on top!

Ironically some of the same concepts of "wanting it all" are found here. I think it is logical from this synopsis to guess that the main character gets over involved in her "new life" to turn around and realize she has lost control of the things most special to her. To be honest, I'm finding the book overly predictable and a little too "ordinary" to really find it special. I don't think I'd suggest it for anything save a beach read, but why read rubbish when you could read something fantastic, even at the beach!


That being said, I'm really excited for everyone to read The Kite Runner. I read it in early 2005 and absolutely loved it. The story is spectacular, and while it doesn't revolve around the kites too heavily, it reminded me so much of our trip to that part of the world.


When I was in Pakistan in 2000/2001 I was told about the national past time of kite flying. At first, I kind skeptical that it was a "sport" or even that enjoyable. I mean, it is really kite flying!!! We in the States do it once in a blue moon, enjoy and afternoon and move on! But nearly every day I was there, we would go up on the roof to look around and you could the kites flying in the distance. There is a festival for kites held in Lahorem, Pakistan every year called Basant. The festival is in celebration of the new spring, and thousands of kites are put up into the air, There are competitions that involve battles of kites with crushed glass glued to their strings. They are able to maneuver the kites in such a way that they cut one another free and the last man standing wins. The painting below was a card that I bought which honors Basant. It reminded me of the home where we stayed and a fantasy of what being at the festival would be like. Hopefully it will give you a good mental image while you're reading!

book review: memory keeper's daughter by kim edwards

memory keeper's daughter, by kim edwards is about a physician in the 1960's who delivers twins by his wife during a snowstorm by themselves with a single nurse, who is all at once assistant, witness, and accomplice. one twin is a healthy boy; and one twin is a daughter with downs' syndrome. unbeknownst to his wife, he gives up the baby to an institution, and the nurse then runs away to another state to raise the child on her own. After this dramatic start the story builds on how this moment becomes a turning point in all their lives, haunting and magnifying their lives in ways they as participants cannot realize: the father with the secret sin, the mother with a sense of loss that never leaves, a distant son, and a foster mother and daughter whose love never makes anyone question their relationship.

what i like: an unexpected bonus to the story is that a good bulk of it takes place in lexington, kentucky and some parts in louisville - both places near n' dear to my heart i appreciated the author's trueness in her sense of history, taking into account politics, music, and society; one could step into the environment of this world she was creating. her attempt at following the parallel strands of life was well done as well (really difficult to do, i would think).

final thoughts: the story was good, but didn't grab me. worth borrowing at the library, not to buy. it was a good holiday read - er...for some. again, i loved the local-yokel connections.

Perfume: The Movie

For those of you who read Perfume: The Story of a Murderer for book club, the movie is now playing at The Kentucky.

Thoughts on Pope Joan

I finished reading Pope Joan last night, and passed it along to Laurie tonight (which is Tootie's copy, by the way). Here are some of my thoughts about the book:

The role of women in society, and education of women. I was most struck by the realization that over 1150 years after this story takes place (which is in the 9th century), the treatment of women hasn't changed much. In many parts of the world, a woman is still mere chattel, bought and sold. Women are refused basic human rights, prevented from being educated, and have no control over their own destinies. They are raped, mutilated, enslaved and trafficked, with no availability of justice. Sadly, this is accomplished under a banner of religious piety. While women of Joan's time were denied basic human rights because they were "daughters of Eve," other religions today twist their own dogma to support the oppression of women.

More subtle discrimination. Even though girls in America are compulsorily educated through grade 12, there are punishments against rape and domestic abuse, and equal rights laws, sexual discrimination in America is still rampant. Ours is really the first generation of women to be raised by our parents and teachers to believe that we can be whatever we want to be, we aren't restricted to certain professions, or even just staying home and birthing babies, but we are still far from being equal members of society.

The legal profession in particular is still struggling with equality for women. I worked at a firm years ago that was very discriminatory towards women, even openly so. The managing partner refused to even consider female applicants for associate positions. Only one woman attorney worked there. The same problems exist in business. Even in places where women are employed in large numbers, even in management positions, they can still be excluded from networking opportunities, which are often male-centric in design. (How would men feel if every business networking opportunity involved trips to the salon for a mani/pedi/facial?) Is it any wonder that even though women make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce, that only two Fortune 500 companies have a woman as a CEO or president? 90 of the 500 companies don't have any women corporate officers. Even still, this is a dramatic improvement from the past, when women weren't represented at all in higher positions in the corporate world. We've never had a woman U.S. president, but we have a record number of women in the 110th Congress (86 total, 16 Senate, 70 House), and we now have a female Speaker of the House (the first ever).

I think though, that this will get better with time, so long as we do not disenfranchise ourselves from our rightful place in society. We have to involve ourselves in politics, in policy-making, and absolutely we must vote. We have to continue to educate ourselves, beyond what degrees we've earned in college, and not back down from expecting to be treated as equals.

(Now stepping back off the feminist soapbox.)

On the historical possibilities. My husband, the self-designated Catholic historian, is of the opinion that the female pope story is as likely to be true as the story about the Loch Ness Monster. There is no direct evidence to support the notion that a female pope exists, or even that there was a Pope John between Leo and Benedict in 853. However, there is about as much evidence pointing to a female pope as there is to support stories of many of the Catholic saints. The difference is that the Church considers the saints' stories to be canon, and the female pope story to be fabrication. Was there a female pope? I think it's a possibility, but not probable. Women certainly have disguised themselves as men, throughout history, and even in modern day, in order to lead lives from which they would otherwise be excluded. Could a woman have hidden her identity for so long, been greatly educated, and won enough support from important people to be elected Pope? I think it's entirely possible. Again, just not likely. (However, more likely than the existence of prehistoric sea monsters.)

On the moral of the story. If the story is indeed only a legend, is the moral of the story that a woman is as good as a man? (To be able to pass as one and ascend to the papacy.) Or is it that if a woman were allowed to be pope, that she'd louse it up by having sex and getting knocked up? (Not that plenty of male popes didn't fornicate and produce illegitimate children. Pope Clement II is even thought to have died due to the treatment of a venereal disease.)

Overall, I liked the book. I thought it was an engaging story, and well-researched regarding details of medieval society, including medicine and the Church. The only criticism I can make is that I think the author went a little overboard on crediting Joan with the advent of modern medicine and engineering, although I do appreciate the references to these ideas that surfaced at the time (including dipping the bread into the wine, rather than drinking from the cup in times of plague outbreak). "Some ideas are dangerous" is certainly true though. So is "thinking women are dangerous." Indeed we are!