The Memory Keeper's Daughter
by Kim Edwards
by Kim Edwards
We met on Tuesday April 24 at Marci's House and enjoyed some delicious Papa Murphy's pizza... pepperoni and, a book club favorite, gourmet vegetarian. We enjoyed warm cheesy herb bread, fresh veggies, wine, Amber Bock beer, and Pepperidge Farms coconut cake for dessert.
Larry, Judy, Christine, Kristi, Marci, Pam, and I were all there and the discussion was immediate. Though no one seemed to "love" the book, it seemed everyone had something to say. I was at a disadvantage having only read the first few chapters; however, I'll have a chance to read it since next month is "catch up" month.
Some of our discussion centered around our discontent with certain aspects of the novel. It was mentioned that Kim Edwards was a short story writer before and we questioned if THAT was why her work seemed to have issues with concluding and how it could almost be a short story within a larger work from time to time. We agreed that parts were moving, but I also think that one claim was "the ending sucked" and another commenter felt it was "wimpy and sad." We talked about the grief of miscarriage or that of the loss of a child or a father. We also discussed the roles of husbands and wives in that historical time period and what life would be life for someone with mental disabilities in that era as compared to today. We questioned if things could have been different for Nora and David, if he'd been truthful. For a book we didn't love we actually had a pretty good conversation.
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Larry, Judy, Christine, Kristi, Marci, Pam, and I were all there and the discussion was immediate. Though no one seemed to "love" the book, it seemed everyone had something to say. I was at a disadvantage having only read the first few chapters; however, I'll have a chance to read it since next month is "catch up" month.
Some of our discussion centered around our discontent with certain aspects of the novel. It was mentioned that Kim Edwards was a short story writer before and we questioned if THAT was why her work seemed to have issues with concluding and how it could almost be a short story within a larger work from time to time. We agreed that parts were moving, but I also think that one claim was "the ending sucked" and another commenter felt it was "wimpy and sad." We talked about the grief of miscarriage or that of the loss of a child or a father. We also discussed the roles of husbands and wives in that historical time period and what life would be life for someone with mental disabilities in that era as compared to today. We questioned if things could have been different for Nora and David, if he'd been truthful. For a book we didn't love we actually had a pretty good conversation.
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"But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad,
Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill."
--from Hamlet, Shakespeare
Our discussion time moved on to a more playful conversation including some Latin, a explanation of chiasmus, discussion of sonnets and what iambic meter sounds like, and some wonderfully cheesy jokes by Kristi involving a duck and his bill!Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill."
--from Hamlet, Shakespeare
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