My Den (don't I just wish!)
I was at my book club today. I love my book club. I think I've mentioned it before. To add to it now, my oldest friend in the whole wide world has hers on the 3rd Monday of each month also. She's in Dublin. We exchange daily emails and have for years and years. And of course talk books with each other. So she feels even closer.
Anyways, today, over our lunch, we were discussing "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant" which was our book for last month and all these stories start to pop out of us about sibling rivalries (which was one of the book's themes) and even passive aggressive behaviours we've exhibited, and sad, unhappy mothers, and the biggest theme of all in the book: sibling memories which can differ so greatly from each other.
And someone nudged me and said, I think you should be jotting all of this stuff down, these real-life stories are so bloody interesting. And they are. And maybe I should. Or is it an overdone theme?
I would like to write a novel about a book club, I know it's been done before. BUT.
I love that you exchange emails with your friend every day. Right now, my best friend does not have time for me, and it makes me sad.
ReplyDeleteThere was a big difference in age between my sisters and me and I think we each experienced our parents as different people. We had our own interpretations depending on our own characters and abilities to try to understand. We read the emotions and the resulting actions differently. In our memories different versions of the same occurence turned out to exist. It all had to do with ourselves. It is best to basically stick to your own version of the story because it will not be the same one your sibling has. The only thing that will be helpful is to check some basic facts.
ReplyDeleteBut no one has written one from your unique point of view.....sign me up for an advance copy!
ReplyDeleteOh Mel:
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry. I know how we treasure friendships and how difficult it is to let go. One of mine dissolved and it broke my heart.
I hope you can find your way to renewing it, if that's possible.
XO
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Irene:
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. My siblings and I would disagree on many events. But it is always interesting.
Age at the event has a lot to do with it.
XO
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Molly:
ReplyDeleteI am happy there's a cheerleader in my corner!!
XO
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My whole life has been a book club in one way or another. Lucky me.
ReplyDeletexo
Orla:
ReplyDeleteWe could both say that, I think....
XO
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We all see life through our own personal lens and no two snapshots are the same.
ReplyDeleteNow as somebody said to me earlier... "Back to the kitchen with ya!", make that 'office' and start the buke!
The comments spoke volumes to me.
ReplyDeleteEach of my children see their childhood differently and probably their mom also and like Grannymar's. Yes, sad when a good friendship stops - have experienced this.
Wonderful that you have a book club and love reading all you share.
The novel - do it :)
I've only belnged to a book club once, but none of the other women in it would ever read the assigned books! We ended up morphing into a walking. skiing, dining out club. WHich was lovely, but not what I was looking for. After my son is off to college, I think I may investigate joining or starting a new one.
ReplyDeleteGM:
ReplyDeleteso true, for some reason your comment brought to mind my favourite movie of all time "The Dead" which is a lens on Dublin in the early 20th century.
Yes, ma'am.
XO
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SAW:
ReplyDeleteGo for a really long term one, best chances they will actually honour and talk about the books!!
XO
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I wasn't aware of a novel about a book club,WWW. I think you should give it a try.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just sibling memories that differ but everybody's. My sister has very different recollections from me, but so does my mother. Sometimes I wonder if we were actually at the same event.
ReplyDeleteGFB:
ReplyDeleteWell there was one recently about this man whose mother was dying called The End of Your Life Bookclub and he wrote about it. He and his mother had their own bookclub, wonderful idea.
I will explore further, thanks for the support.
XO
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Nick:
ReplyDeleteI think it is all coloured through the lens of our needs and emotions during the event. What would be important to them would not be to you and vice versa. And age is also important.
One of my brothers had to come to me for some of his more horrific memories to have me validate them as he thought they might be remembered nightmares.
XO
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Because I have no siblings I don't understand sibling rivalries, so a book on such a theme would likely go right over my old head. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've never belonged to a book club - other than a library which I guess is a kind of book club.
Whatever the topic, your special WWW spin would make it interesting to us all, whatever our backgrounds and experiences, or lack of 'em - I'm certain of it.
OWJ:
ReplyDeleteYes my children would agree also!!
Thanks for your kind words!
XO
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T:
ReplyDeleteAh my dear you flatter me!
XO
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We have a readers' group here the 3rd Monday in the month. We each contribute a different book, plus a notebook for our reviews. Every month the books get passed on and on the 10th Month we read out all the reviews and score the best book.
ReplyDeleteThe group was started when books in English were hard to get hold of and there were some awful offerings (to my mind). I found too, like another commentator, it has become an an excuse to socialise and gossip, which isn't my scene. I think I'll have to revolt and start a breakaway group.
Go for it!
ReplyDeleteYou can do it. Just make it different from the others. Which you would, of course.
ReplyDeletePamela:
ReplyDeleteThat is too bad. Our facilitator does a bit of this, she is very loud and tries to sidetrack but we get back on course.
I do hope you sort yours out and it sounds amazing, I love the concept!!
XO
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Ah Hattie - thanks for the enthusiasm!!
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RJA:
ReplyDeleteMy initial thought was to throw a pre-planned murder at it. LOL.
XO
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Sign me up for an autographed first print copy.
ReplyDeleteGo ahead and write the book, and then maybe edit and publish all the emails. with permission of course. The main thing is to keep reading, keep writing and keep on being. Thanks for being an inspiration. Every Blessin
ReplyDeleteGo for the book club book - I'd love to read it! I can so imagine you doing the 'story within a story' to perfection :-)
ReplyDeleteI've never belonged to a book club - my husband is part of one, which isn't so much reading and discussing one book (they tried that, but found that they all read at such different paces that the discussions got very disjointed), but they get together once a month to "sell" the books that they've read to each other - they review them, and if another likes the review, they borrow the book, and then have to review it the next time.