DECEMBER 2023 BOOKERS MINUTES & MUSINGS, The Measure, Nikki Erlick

 

There are no universal ways to access the quality of one’s life except how you measure it.

24 festively clad Bookers arrived at the home of Bonnie Magee to celebrate the holiday season with a delicious Christmas brunch. This time of year brings with it an opportunity to journey within as we celebrate the tenderness of the past, the courage of the present, and the hope for the future. Many thanks to those who provided the food and beverage for our annual event and to Bonnie for once again coordinating this and opening her home for our gathering.

We welcomed our new member, Debby Stein, and hope she will be able to join us again and it was wonderful to see Patty Evans back!

My gratefulness to each and every one of you is stored in my heart. You fuel my passion and I thank you for the opportunity you give me to share these precious moments with you. Your Merry Ho-Ho-Ho card with the gift of love inside is much appreciated. Rest assured I’ll find a way to stimulate the economy!

Pinnacle Sunshine has sadly been overworked lately with many residents facing uncertainty and challenges. Bookers’ members are among those dealing with health issues and our only power is to offer our prayers, love, and support in any way possible. We cannot direct the volatility of the wind, but we can walk against it together and adjust the sails until smoother seas return.

A holiday recommendation from our Alabama counterpart, MN, – as she said – and I obeyed – drop everything and read this book! It is a very short children’s novel written in 1971 but packs a poignant adult message. The Best (Worst) Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson tells the story of six misfit children who volunteer to star in their own town’s Sunday school Christmas pageant and end up teaching the town the true meaning of Christmas.

About the Author:

She has always been drawn to big questions…how much control do we have in our lives? How much power do we have over our destinies? Stories and books have helped her make sense of the world and navigate its complexities. She wondered how to craft a story as complex a topic as fate turning to the ancient Greeks in the Three Fates, who wielded an immense power to spin the strings of life on their spindle and measure out the amount of time each of us would receive. This developed into the what ifs…if we were able to see the strings, how could that impact our world and what would we do with this knowledge? The strings coming in a box allowed the characters to have a choice. Another famous Greek myth of Pandora’s box which was the ultimate test of willpower, posed another dilemma – is it possible to resist the temptation to look?

The novel was first imagined as a love story between a short and long stringer but evolved into more complex scenarios. She wanted readers to come away with the message that we can all measure our lives in our own way – there’s no one-size-fits-all answer – and hope to add a little more empathy to our world. When asked if she would open her box, she admitted the answer varied every day, but decided she would probably hide it somewhere in case she changed her mind. 

Erlick, a graduate of Harvard & Columbia, is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in many well-known publications. The Measure is her debut novel. The details are not available yet, but it has been optioned by a production company, so stay tuned.

Synopsis:

Most read and finished this month’s selection. Some loved, some liked with many saying it was difficult to get into but got better with the turn of the page…some reported it was not their cup of tea. The result of mixed reviews generally results in a lot of discussion and this one did not disappoint.

As I was reading the book, I kept humming Tim McGraw’s lyrics. “I went skydiving, I went Rocky Mountain climbing, went 2.7 on a bull named Fu Man Chu…I loved deeper and spoke sweeter.” The author used the climate of today’s world in the story – a correlation to the deep divide in our political climate, global implications, and challenges to basic religious beliefs, trust and/or mistrust in the established rules, government intervention in the everyday aspects of our lives – to frame a fictional story that was structurally broken down into the four seasons, beginning and ending with Spring.

The Measure begins on a seemingly normal day in March where the world’s population over the age of twenty-one awakes to find a small wooden box inscribed with their name and this message, “The measure of your life lies within” and inside an indestructible string determines how long you will live. These boxes are not like any other box – say a shoe box, or a festively wrapped Christmas present, a ring box, or a box sealed and labeled for a moving van. We know what these boxes represent, but the “measure” boxes are different – they ask the recipients to pause, to contemplate the next move – one that could not be undone.

Each of the book’s eight characters grapple with whether to open the box or not, others toss it in the trash adopting the Que Sera Sera – what will be will be – attitude. There is a political plotline spearheaded by a presidential hopeful who capitalizes on the public’s fear by pushing for a controversial legislation demanding government and military officials to reveal the lengths of their strings offering a compelling commentary on discrimination and societal control, pitting the short-stringers against the long-stringers; another dimension to the narrative was the switching of strings to subvert the system reflecting the lengths individuals might go for their own aspirations and friendships; relationships either never began or suffered; some people pushing to enjoy every single minute of the time they have, while others make life-altering decisions in the wake of the presence of the boxes. In the background the legend of Pandora’s box filled with all the evils of the world loomed to many uncertain souls. The old saying “curiosity killed the cat” was prevalent when Pandora opened the box only to hastily close the container leaving only one item inside – hope.

Toward the end of the novel, a young woman’s viral video promoting togetherness and unity birthed the #Strung Together movement which changed the cultural mood and inspired new found solidarity between dissimilar individuals. Society’s perceptions, especially of the short-stringers changed as the world returned to a calmer, more accepting place to live.

One lesson we gained from reading this novel was that even if the beginning and end of our lives had been determined, the middle remains open. We cherish and celebrate the big moments – weddings, babies, a new house, or a dream job, but our “real moments” are marked in a small and simple narrative as we show immense gratitude for the beautiful little moments.

Discussion:

Before the meeting I asked Bookers to put yourself in the shoes of one of the characters and evaluate their choices versus the ones you might make if faced with their situation. Jean Alexander led us off with a discussion of how we would have been seen if the “strings” were part of our world and the discrimination that would accompany it. If in Jack and/or Javier’s shoes with both in the military, the consequences of switching strings would have led to a dishonorable discharge and maybe a court-martial. Jack with his long string would have been activated into a war he was neither physically nor mentally equipped for. His best friend and roommate was built for combat, but his short string would have resulted in a desk job. As their story evolved Jack showed courage he didn’t think he was capable of and Javi died a hero, saving the lives of others. Jane Shaw identified with the sisters, Nina and Aime, taking a page from her own relationship with her older sister. How can they have come from the same family background and not able to agree on anything? Jane would have mirrored Nina’s attitude, wanting to find out everything about these mysterious boxes, picking it to death until she had all the available information. One of her favorite passages was when Nina and girlfriend, Maura, were visiting Verona, Italy. They came across a post-it-note behind the statue of Juliet and Nina asked her to translate the message, “Se il per sempre non eviste lo inventeremo noi” … “If forever doesn’t exist, we’ll invent it ourselves.” Barbara Kincaid offered these points, if you have a short string, you are fearless as Javier’s character was portrayed. Hank was his own person and reacted like an E.R. Doctor when he jumped in front of the bullet meant for Presidential candidate, Anthony Rollins. She reflected on a conversation she and her husband had with an estate planner discussing retirement, asking how much is enough, etc…when he asked, “How long are you going to live?” The characters in The Measure knew. They could make their plan of giving…they could plan their life according to how much time they had left. The question lingered …where did these boxes come from? – it had to be divine intervention, although the author did not point us directly to that assumption. Aliens or as one of us heard (Canadians)? We all have choices – live life to the fullest. Bonnie was surprised that so many in the book bought into the boxes without question. Her favorite characters were Ben and Aime who were killed in a car accident, obviously with the same length of strings. Would she have married and had children if she had known her fate? Marcie found it boring in the beginning, but it worked on your brain asking questions that might not be easy to answer. If you had a long string that only meant you would be alive but could be wounded or crippled. Jane asked if we knew the exact moment we were leaving the earth would we do things differently? If I knew, it would be a comfort – I would want to make sure I was the best person I could be for as long as I have. Barbara Creach loved Hank as his mission was to help people. Amy didn’t like the first quarter of the book as it was too reminiscent of COVID and all the rules we endured in light of this but got more into the storylines for the rest of the novel. Patsy was “turned off” at first but said it had a redeeming value and the different points of view were interesting. Biblically she offered that God doesn’t want us to know when our time is up. Live for today as tomorrow has its own worries. A positive outcome was outlined in the novel as stated, “the arrival of the strings sparked a resurgence in faith for many with some non-believers turning to faith for comfort of having something greater than themselves to rely on.” The fantasy world of the novel mirrored today’s world in many ways with the characters experiencing, racism, discrimination, deception, adoption guidelines, Internet scams, fake news, gun laws, lobbyists in bed with politicians, organ donations, surrogate programs, active shooter drills, the young South African girl’s speech patterned after twenty-year-old U.S. Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman’s inauguration unity and justice speech, and the birth of #Strung Together movement similar to #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, and Presidential integrity. (That’s a lot of territory!) We even talked about Life of Pi by Yann Martel released in 2001…in the continuing fascination with the book and its characters and the ultimate question, was the 800-pound Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, that Pi spent 227 days on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with real or imagined…it’s not as easy as it sounds…the debate continues.

On the business side:

FYI, the Malakoff bridge will be closed from December 18^th – 20^th.

We’re all set for host homes through March. The upcoming schedule is attached.

In the dawn of a new year, we often settle on new beginnings, but please don’t forget if you’re creating a new you, that there’s a whole lot about the old you that’s worth keeping!

Happy Reading,

JoDee

NOVEMBER 2023 BOOKERS MINUTES & MUSINGS, No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister

“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

15 met at the home of Bonnie Magee to discuss this month’s selection. Many thanks to Barbara Creach for volunteering to review this novel that explores how stories affect each of us in both beautiful and unexpected ways and how we are all more closely connected to one another than we might realize. Each of the nine people highlighted in the novel were changed by words as was the author of Theo.

Welcome back Cathy Hernandez and we hope to see you again soon.

Synopsis:

In this uniquely structured novel, Bauermeister explores the impact one book can have on numerous readers. Alice Wein has always wanted to be a writer but struggles to find the story she’s meant to tell until the loss of her brother while she’s in college. That tragedy prompts her to leave school and begin writing a novel, called Theo, about an abused boy who finds solace in swimming and attempts to escape his father's domineering by faking his death only for his father to die. Theo becomes the backbone of Bauermeister’s novel; structured as loosely intertwined short stories, the book charts the writing, publishing, and reading of Theo from the perspectives of 10 people, including Alice, her publisher, a bookseller who forms a relationship with Alice, and readers the book touched in varying ways. Each reader reacts to Alice’s book in a diverse way, but all find the story they need because of who they are when they read it.

About the author:

I understand Erica Bauermeister‘s name is on this book, but I’m pretty sure she has been wandering through my mind in the middle of the night…eerie how many times I nodded in agreement with her characters and their interpretation of Theo.

She lives in Port Townsend, Washington, a charming village-by-the-sea two hours from metro Seattle on the Olympic Peninsula with her husband and 238 wild deer. The area is steeped in history complete with Victorian architecture and a maritime legacy. It boasts of being the perfect place to leave the ordinary behind. One of her friends suggested that every author writes the same book over and over asking Erica, “What is your book?” She writes about the things we don’t pay attention to – our sense of smell, the food we cook, the houses we live in, the way our filters affect our perceptions of the world…she writes about those quiet spaces between words and all that goes on in them, but most of all about compassion because that is what teaches us to see everything else.

She has always wanted to be an author, but it was reading Tillie Olsen’s short story, “I Stand Here Ironing” in college which explored a mother-daughter relationship where the narrator was a teenage single mom reflecting on her eldest daughter’s life – recalling the hardships and neglect because of their poverty, work, and siblings that sealed Erica’s passion and reinforced her desire to write about the unimportant parts of life and give them beauty and shine light on their meaning. At that time in her life, she knew she wasn’t grown up enough to write that kind of book, so she moved to Seattle, got married, and got a PhD at the University of Washington. She continued to write and, in her words, thankfully, none were published. She taught writing and literature, had children, lived in Italy, moved home, renovated a house, stood by friends and parents as they faced death – and through it all, she wrote and learned her craft.

One day she got an idea for a novel about eight people and their teacher in a cooking school which she wrote for herself having given up on the idea of being a professional author, but The School of Essential Ingredients was published a few months before her 50^th birthday. And the rest is history – she’s the author of five novels.

She wrote this one during the pandemic – her characters kept her company, learning, exploring, feeling, and thinking. Inspiration and research appeared in a variety of places and people – wandering through a bookstore she found One Breath about a diver that went too far. (Tyler) My Stroke of Insight took her inside the brain that was losing itself – (Madeline) Staging Sex for intimacy coordination expertise (Juliet) Two resources shared audiobook narration; Atlas Obscura – leap seconds for Annalisa’s character, a story in the NY Times about a young man stuck in a ghost town during a snowstorm ended up with William’s story – the magic of fiction. I could identify with this form of “inspiration” as in my novel, A Kind of Hush I read a newspaper article stored in my “ideas” box about a family hiking in the Zoar Valley Gorge near Buffalo, New York when they fell off a shale cliff. The parents died but the two young boys survived. In my latest work-in-progress, Dust in the Wind, in that same box, there was a clipping about Locks of Love in Paris and baby havens in Germany inspiring the beginning of the novel.

Discussion:

The group all read and finished the book, and I received emails from four who could not be at the meeting saying they did so as well. 13 in attendance plus 4 liked/loved the book with 2 saying it was not their cup of tea citing the format (short stories) and/or the progression of the plot as reasons. We talked about how people read the same book differently – some read for pleasure, others critically or in search of a deeper meaning, or simply to enjoy the poetry of the language. Often our opinions are formed by where we are in our lives at that time we picked up the book. Rereading your favorites also brings a different perspective. We talked about the opening line, “Wandering is a gift given only to the lost” and what it means to us and the characters – roaming aimlessly until your direction becomes clear or the realization that what you are looking for is where you started from. One Booker liked J.R.R. Tolkein’s version, “Not all those who wander are lost” which speaks to our innate desire to explore, learn, and grow. We discussed our favorite characters – for one it was Tyler, the diver because of his passion; mine was Nola who was lost only to be found – her go-to book characters evolved into strong brave women who figured out a way to survive in the face of despair; William was a man looking for a place that grief would not find him, ignoring the act that grief is a stowaway, always there and up for any journey. He stood by as his dying wife and daughter fed off each other’s sorrow…standing back as not to interfere. We talked about Juliet and whether there was really such a thing as an intimacy coordinator – maybe not in today’s film environment. We spoke of the connections between many of the characters beyond Theo; how the bits and pieces of the story were scattered between the profiles; and what was the meaning when Alice saw Miranda’s creation – Woman in Pieces. There you are. Here’s the door and you’re going in. Was there more to this symbolism than providing the inspiration for her to write again? The ending with Madeline was discussed, one Booker wanting her to live long enough to give Nola her home. She had a choice to live with her debilitating illness or die…as did Abigail…and William without food or water in the middle of nowhere, although he chose life.

In one poignant paragraph we read Abigail’s message to William about guilt being easier to drown in than any ocean…and in the margin she had written W. “Wasn’t that what marriages were, what love was – to see forgiveness in a single letter of the alphabet.”  The author did a masterful job of tying up all the pieces of this puzzle – turning these vignettes into a complex novel. 

On the business side:

Unfortunately, PWC Sunshine has been working overtime. There’s a time for pain and a time for healing. Our hope is to all those dealing with health issues that the healing comes soon, and that comfort and strength return. Please know you are in our prayers! 

Bonnie Magee will be sending out an email regarding our Christmas fare for the December meeting. Please respond directly to her at bonniemagee@embarqmail.com with your choices. We always look forward to toasting the holiday season with our Bookers’ buddies!

The 3^rd annual Cedar Creek Garden Club’s Holiday Tour of Homes is set for December 3^rd 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tickets are available at www.cedarcreekgardenclub.com/tour, during business hours at Tool City Hall, and Dogwood Designs in Caney City.

“A great book is one that you love.”

Happy Reading,

JoDee