Wednesday, August 08, 2007

More Books

Our book club conversation about Snow Flower and the Secret Fan was really interesting. We realized that many of the books we have read, and will be reading this fall, have themes that go back to mothers, and mother/child relationships. Not all our books are set in contemporary settings, so we can look at mother/child and husband/wife relationships across many centuries and cultures. Cultural traditions (foot binding, for example) and "the times" change, and I'm not sure we can always put ourselves back into the time in question. For instance, in 19th century China, the subordination of a wife to her husband was commonplace. Yet in our discussion Monday, many of us had a hard time imagining that role - would we have been able to stand it? would it have seemed the "natural order" of things? how do you fight what you know is somehow wrong, when all of your culture is acquiescing? Hmm.

Our next book is The Memory Keeper's Daughter. An interesting study in moral issues, husband/wife relationships, and human dynamics. I can't wait!

No comments: