Book Club Recap

“I would not have traded the delights of my suffering for anything in the world.”


We met for book club Saturday at Ingrid's lovely apartment where she made us endless ebelskivers. Basically, if you are not already coming to book club, you should. It is the best group of talented and funny girls and, as Brittany put it so well, "kindred spirits." If you know what kindred spirits means and where it is from, you belong there with us. And if you haven't come yet because you are shy, please just come. We will make sure you feel welcome.


We discussed Memories of My Melancholy Whores. I was skeptical about the book because of the title, but I kind of liked it. I didn't love it, but I did like it.


Here are things we discussed:


 - The Madonna/Whore complex. Why women are labeled as one or the other, and cannot be both. You are either pure as a woman or tainted. We talked about how men idealize virgins, and why they might do that.


- Falling in love at 90 years old. How beautiful that aspect of the story was. Just when you think that nothing will surprise you again, you fall in love for the first time. Such a lovely thing to think about.


- Living alone, and making up your own realities when you have been alone for long enough.


- The fact that he fell in love with the sleeping girl. About maybe why he would love her because she isn't awake to nag him, to tell him to pick up his socks, or to put his own dishes in the dishwasher. 


- Age gaps in relationships. We discussed this pretty thoroughly. I think we all agreed that relationships don't always happen the same for all of us. How a 90 year old can love a 14 year old and she can love him back.


I loved book club last week and am excited for our next meeting.


We are reading The Great Gatsby. All of us discussed it in Junior High, before we actually knew how to discuss books. Also, most of us wanted to re-read it before the movie comes out. (If you haven't seen the trailer yet, watch it here. I can't wait to see it.)


Have you read the book? What did you think? What books should we discuss next? Any favorites out there?