“You only need one
ray of light to chase all the shadows away.”
Add a self-proclaimed curmudgeon named Ove,
who favors entombing his “love suit” until it merits unveiling, to bottled
spirits, food, 25 friends, an evening Bookers’ meeting, and a member’s birthday,
and you have the makings of a ‘rollicking-good-time’ closing out our eleventh
year at the home of Beverly Dossett. We once again thank Bonnie Magee for
handling the epicurean czarship with
her usual proficiency. We appreciate everyone’s willingness to adjust our
regular May meeting date to fit our schedules. Our birthday girl, Cherry,
appreciates all the cards and well wishes offered in celebration of her special
day!
Because of the evening timeframe, our
working girl, Jean McSpadden, was able to join us and volunteered to review
this month’s selection. Sometimes providence is unescapable as was the case
with Jean and this portrait of quirkiness as “by-the-book” Ove drove a Saab as
did our reviewer back in the day. Saabs are dependable, turbo-charged, safe,
and a classic that enjoys a loyal following. Sound familiar? Thank you for your
insights into Mr. Backman’s debut novel.
Often gaining knowledge into the author’s
background provides a peek into the storyline or motivations for writing a book.
Swedish born Fredrik studied comparative religion but dropped out to drive a
truck instead (most likely a diesel engine Scania). The owner of a free
newspaper, launched in 2006, asked Fredrik to add writing for the paper to his
truck driving duties, launching his career as a blogger and columnist. Upon
discovering there were “people out there willing to pay people to just write
about other people,” he commented, “surely this must be better than working…not
to mention the fact that I can sit down for a living now, which has been great
for my major interest in cheese eating.”
The opening scene of this novel instantly
gives the reader a character profile of the protagonist. The world with
everyone dripping with the latest technology advances has left fifty-nine year
old Ove behind and he’s not happy about the state of things. He’s clearly
suffering from irritable male syndrome
but why. “A time comes when you choose what sort of person you want to be…” Did
he opt to be a crusty ill-tempered man or did the loss of his wife and the
underlying tale of aging and loneliness entice him to the safest place he knew
– the pre-paid gravesite beside the love of his life. His black and white,
wrong was wrong, right was right, fair play, and hard work mindset clashed with
Sonja, the color in his life, who professed to love only three things, her
father, cats, and books before she met Ove. She compared him to the “slightly
disheveled pink flowers” he brought to their first dinner date and felt all
roads led to something you were predetermined to do. He just wanted to “know
what it felt like to be someone (she) looked at,” and for him all roads led to
her. On paper, they were polar opposites, but in their hearts, they
complimented each other’s strengths and weaknesses. She loved books and taught
hundreds of pupils with learning disabilities to read, write, and appreciate
Shakespeare’s collective works. He honored her passion by building her
bookcases. The “real” Ove peeks out with an influx of neighborly interactions
and interferences punctuated by the arrival of Cat Annoyance interrupting his
rigid schedule. Suddenly his world exploded with people and animals and with their
arrival came a sense of significance…they all needed him in some way. In
response, he put aside his outward Clark Kent garb to uncloak his “superman
suit,” albeit with an upside-down smile and a sense of humor.
Overall, our group received this book with
open arms as, although the premise of a grumpster
bent on methodically taking his own life is a bit off-putting, his story held
values, loyalty, love, friendship, and purpose to a high standard. The strength
of the novel is to take such an arduous storyline and successfully make the
reader laugh-out loud and shed a tear in the same sentence. A few Bookers took
exception and didn’t enjoy the book, some expressed it was not their favorite,
and others had difficulty with a fifty-nine year old being labeled “old.” As
always, we recognize and respect that we each have our own “reading cups of
tea.” We shared a lively discussion and meaningful quotes from the book, many
laughs and personal views….Bookers at our best! I was struck with the stark
contrast between two states of mind – grumpiness and happiness – and why, if
there were a choice, would one choose one over the other. There is some
anecdotal evidence that suggests loss of hormones in both sexes, chemical
changes in the brain, or chronic pain reducing our coping abilities all can
lead to depression. It’s simplistic to advocate getting out of a rut, not
fretting about what we cannot change, avoiding criticism of others, and
adopting a child’s perspective – the world is a simple place of wonder – is the
answer to grumpiness, but it’s something to consider. We all might benefit from
removing some of those pits in our bowl of cherries.
On
the business side:
Thanks to everyone who sent their suggestions
to us for possible selections as a Bookers’ book. Having said that, we are
still in the process of reading some of them including Nicholas Sparks latest
novel, See Me, The Forgetting Time by Sharon
Guskin, Ask Him Why by Catherine Ryan Hyde, The Church of Marvels by
Leslie Darby, and are checking out West with the Night by Beryl Markham,
and others. I’m wearing out another pair of reading glasses.
I’ve just returned from a short vacation
at MN & Mike’s home in Dauphin Island, Alabama. We were sitting on the
porch rocking away inhaling the salt air, watching the dolphins romp, and the
pelicans dive bomb for lunch, when she said, let’s plan Bookers’ year. I pouted
and shed a tear because I wanted to just rock. She gave me three minutes before
saying, “OK, how about we do this on September 13th,” and the
planning began. As you know, although she will not be “in house” very much the
upcoming year, she is still the heart and soul of Bookers – so in an attempt to
make my life easier and to add a little fun mix to the upcoming year we’re
offering the following recommendations to start our year – see below:
COLOR CODING SYSTEM
WHITE: LIGHT READ
PINK: MODERATELY
CHALLENGING
RED: CHALLENGING
Summer
Break: June, July, & August
Summer
Read recommended by Bernie Crudden
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott
Fitzgerald
set in the summer of 1922 in the midst
of the Jazz Age, Long Island,
New York.
September
13th: Beginning of Bookers’ 13th
year
The
Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
PINK
Guest
Reviewer: Penny Barshop
Home
of Donna Walter
October 4th: Early date due to Garage Sale
Me Before You, by Jo Jo Moyes
features two people who couldn’t have
less in common until love gave them
everything to lose.
DEEP PINK
At the movies –
Rebecca Robinson’s theater.
November
8th: Everyone
Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave,
author of Little Bee. The setting, the
ever-changing landscape of World War II London, 1939.
PINKISH RED
Reviewer:
Patsy Dehn
Home
of Patsy Dehn
December 7th: WEDNESDAY
NIGHT @ The Pinnacle Club.
We’ll celebrate the holidays in our decorated
clubhouse
with a plated dinner and no Bingo to
compete with. Details will
follow,
but our intent is to begin cocktails
around 5:00 P.M., followed by a
short
business meeting, dinner, book review, and discussion.
Too Bright to
Hear, Too Loud to See, a debut novel
by Juliann Garey follows the missing
ten years
of successful bipolar Hollywood studio executive’s life.
RED
Reviewer: Beverly
Dossett
January 10th: Reviewer: Rebecca
Brisendine – book TBD
Home
of Bonnie Magee
February 14th: Reviewer: Jean
Alexander – book & host home TBD
March 14th: Reviewer: Patty
Evans – book TBD
Home
of Jean Alexander
April 11th: Reviewer:
Barbara Creach- book & host home TBD
May 9th: Tentative date – evening event?
Reviewer:
Pat Faherty – book TBD
Home
of Melanie Prebis
Our Books in Bloom author, Jan Jarboe
Russell of Train to Crystal City fame just awarded best non-fiction of the
year from the Texas Institute of Letters. Well deserved honor!
We’d like to take a moment to reflect on
those within our community of friends whose lives or those of a loved one have
hung in the balance recently. A French Proverb tells us “there are no miracles
for those that have no faith in them” – they are born of a love greater than
our own.
Have a wonderful summer and bring us some
“diamonds in the rough” to read in the upcoming year.
JoDee
