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| Glowing at Lori's |
Dear Bookclub,
Treating us to delicious Asian dishes, Lori challenged us with chopsticks, and along with forks, we scooped up and enjoyed. Less appealing to Lori (see below), authentic Korean fare was also eagerly sampled.
Plunging into our discussion of Lisa See's "The Island of Sea Women", we quickly moved from topic to topic just as the author had bounced from decade to decade touching upon the many layers built and revealed. Marveling at the Jeju setting and the world of the matrifocal, haenyeo society, the underlying dark tone of the tragic history overshadowed the intense story of a friendship, as was implied in the promising descriptions of the novel. The question of the importance to include the difficult-to-read details arose as that inclusion overshadowed the reader's appreciation of the complicated aspects of friendship, that is the core of the story. Another point made was that perhaps the author was overly ambitious in trying to create too much: an historic novel and a history text. In truth, most readers, this one included, probably knew nothing of this history and despite the weighty aspect the ambitious undertaking created in the book, the knowledge gained at the end result is valued.
Lori's suggestions for an upcoming read:
"The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell" Robert Dugoni
"Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" Gail Honeyman *chosen
"The One in a Million Boy" Monica Wood
Up next:
Happy reading!
LK
