What does a discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic, and the greatest racehorse in American history have in common?
We erred on the side of caution with concern for Pat Faherty’s recent health issues relocating our meeting to the home of Debbie Yarger where 9 Bookers gathered to bid farewell to our 19th year. Pat was really looking forward to welcoming all the Bookers’ Dudettes to the ranch to meet their stable of horses but maybe we can take that road trip another time! Much to our delight and surprise, Pat was able to join us today and share her input on our May selection. I have been formally asked if I would like to continue my Bookers’ role next “session” which I pondered for at least a nano-second before replying, “Of course I would be honored.” So, in September we’ll be soaring into our second decade together. The 20th is referred to as the China Anniversary which represents beauty, elegance, fragility, and purity of affection – all qualities of our members. Our selection committee will present another outstanding slate of books for the upcoming year at that meeting, and we’ll discuss supporting Bookish with our purchases as we’ve done in the past.
In 2007 Bookers reread Little Women by Louisa May Alcott before reading March, a 2006 Pulitzer Prize winning novel based on Alcott’s absent father, an unsung transcendentalist who believed humans were born good, but society and institutions corrupted their souls, who opposed corporal punishment in schools, and favored education through conversation rather than through memorization, and fully supported the suffrage movement. In 2011 we tackled Caleb’s Crossing a historical fictional account of real-life Caleb documenting his crossing from pagan life to Christian culture and how he accomplished being the first native American to graduate from Harvard College in 1665. FYI – I did recheck the date and it is correct – Harvard received its charter in 1650 and Harvard’s Indian College held classes in their first brick building.
Geraldine Brooks is a master of “time travel” as she immerses readers in whatever era she chooses like there is a romance between her and that world. The superhorse, Lexington, has the moniker of GOAT and not the Billy Goat kind as he was the leading sire in the U.S. 16 times, 14 in a row from 1861-1874. No stallion since then has come close. He sired four winners of the Belmont Stakes but never won the Kentucky Derby.
Synopsis:
Horse gives us three distinct storylines, three different timelines, is based on a true story and is a novel about art and science, love and obsession, and our unfinished reckoning with racism. The books epigraphs (quotations at the beginning of the novel outlining the main themes and to set the tone of the work) reflect the significance of Lexington: “After him there were merely other horses.” “He was as far superior to all horses that have gone before him as the vertical blaze of a tropical sun is superior to the faint and scarcely distinguishable glimmer of the most distant star.”
Lexington Kentucky, 1850 – The Meadows, Warfield’s Jarret. It begins with an enslaved groom whose first bed was in a horse stall and his first language, “horse-speak” who bred a high-strung mare with a violent tempered stallion to produce a bay foal with white feet and a white nose originally named Darley. The “horse” renamed Lexington in honor of his birthplace and “black” Jarret formed a bond of understanding that carried the horse to record-setting victories across the South. The author confirms the racing details in the book are accurate – “He covered 960 mares resulting in 575 foals.” When the nation erupted in civil war, an itinerant young artist from the east, Thomas J. Scott, who made his name painting horses, took up arms for the Union. And on a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamor of any racetrack.
New York City, 1954 – Gallery owner, Martha Jackson, celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance which is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Washington, DC, 2019 – Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, searched for the articulated (mounted with various parts connected in such a way to demonstrate normal relations allowing motion between components as in the living body) “horse” skeleton of the greatest racing stallion on American turf. Brooks confirms his skeleton sat neglected for many years in the Smithsonian attic before loaned to International Museum of the Horse in Kentucky. The “love interest,” Theo is a Black Nigerian-American art historian who is writing an article for the Smithsonian magazine and when he recovers a discarded Thomas Scott painting of a horse being led by “black Jarret, his groom,” from a neighbor’s giveaway items on the curb, he and Jess find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse – one studying the stallion’s bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success.
Our selection was timely as the 149th Kentucky Derby was run on Sunday, May 7th celebrating the 50th anniversary of the three-year-old stallion, Secretariat, winning his first leg of the triple crown in front of the largest racing crowd at that time in North American history. It was 1973 in a battered, war-weary nation whose televisions were filled with news of Vietnam and Watergate whose people found an unexpected hero to rally around. At the time he wasn’t “just a horse,” he was a genuine superstar who carried no residual political baggage who did was he was good at – run. He was an uplifting symbol of greatness able to unify when division lurked around every corner. It would be difficult to deny that another Secretariat is needed today. Sadly the 149th run for the roses resulted in the deaths of seven horses, two being euthanized on the day of the race throwing the safety and well-being of horse racing into the spotlight once again.
Horse Love for Dummies:
Since our equine expert was with us today, she fact-checked the following information on these majestic, powerful, and loving social creatures who have had a human connection for thousands of years both as transportation and as long-time companions.
The love between horses is evident when they spot their buddies, they neigh loudly, touch noses, and mutually groom each other. Domesticated horses that have been showered with human kindness will call out to you when they see you approaching, excitedly greet you upon arrival and nudge or gently nibble especially during their grooming. They might rest their head on your shoulder or press their forehead against your chest, even closing their eyes…considered a “horse-hug.” Some follow their people around, which is a sign they view you as a leader and they trust you to take care of them. When a horse relaxes in your presence, they are telling you they feel safe with you – horses are vulnerable when they are lying down and doing so in your presence is quite an honor. When a horse lifts his head and blows gently through his nostrils into your face, this is a huge sign of love, trust, and affection.
Being aware that like every living being fear is inherent increasing the chances of survival. Most animals, including humans use the triple F response – fight, fright, or flight. When horses are scared, they respond by bucking, kicking, leaping to their side, leaping forward, striking, bolting, or back-walking. If the horse feels threatened, its ears may flick back and forth, it might tuck its tail under its hindquarters, move away after snorting, or squeal.
Pat offered a testament to the love between humans and horses with a moving story of when hubby Greg returned home after being away and in need of a walker to regain his strength from a recent illness. The couple took a stroll down their driveway and immediately heard a stampede of their horses running to welcome Greg home. They lined up along the fence so he could greet each one of them with a pat on their heads. Pat said, “They knew he had been ill and not just away on vacation.” Renowned trainer, Marijke de Jong, confirms, “We will never have to tell our horse that we are sad, happy, confident, angry, or relaxed. He already knows – long before we do.”
Our discussion:
Brooks said the novel could “not be merely about a racehorse, it would need to also be about race.” Although the book received over 24,000 reviews on Amazon with a 91% positive rating, the critical ones echoed similar sentiments. Jarret continued to speak in “broken-down” black slave vocabulary even after his life turned for the better; Theo, the Black extremely successful man exhibited anger with whites; the political agenda and stereotypical white/black issues and the “woke” mentality of social injustice and discrimination dominated her writing especially when Theo was shot by the D.C. police as he was trying to help a white woman who was injured. Personally, I was absorbed by the parallel between the enslaved and the racehorses…both valued but living by the will of their enslaver, submitting to the whip, and both moving at the command of their owner. I didn’t equate the racism as a statement from the author, merely a sign of the times then and now.
Everyone read, although a couple had not finished the book, and overall, it received the loved or liked rating from the group. The author obviously knew a great deal about horses as her facts and voice were authentic. Some preferred the early timeframe story to the contemporary one. We shared “horse tales” with one Booker confessing her love of horses, “living” every minute possible at the stables even burying her “stable clothes” in the yard to keep the wrath of her mother’s disapproval at bay; another with a camp story of a timid preteen terrified of horses ending up riding in a barrel race and placing third (We’re thinking the next PWC party might be a rodeo…what do you think? LOL); another who spent every minute possible with horses, but did learn a lesson about riding bareback when the animal gets spooked and starts bucking.
We talked about racehorses wearing blinders to only focus on what is in front of them. Pat shared that horses do not look straight ahead, only left or right. Horse masters believe going slow is the key to going fast…horses and their trainers develop relationships…relationships don’t happen overnight. We discussed how the youth of today are so disconnected, isolating themselves with devices to the point they don’t know how to handle one-on-one conversations or disappointments. We talked about the many emotional moments in the novel that tugged at our heartstrings from Clancy lying on top of Theo’s dead body, to Jarret’s heartbreak when they tore him away from Lexington to his statement about not joining the Union army because he loved his life…he was free and why would he want a white man telling him what to do. We spoke of the horses’ strength of body versus the soul as they are fragile animals in the hands of humans for their care, especially the racehorses who are subjected to trainers and owners who have their eyes on the prize and often not on the well-being of the animals in their care. How do you justify seven horses dead during the recent Derby?
Little unknown facts: The U.S. is home to over seven million horses, one of the largest in the world. Horses are part of New York City’s identity as the avenues are the width of four horses and wagons abreast and the streets are the width of two horses and wagons abreast – who knew NYC was a city built for and by horses and there are still drinking fountains for horses scattered all over the city.
We also shared our grief over another senseless killing of innocent people at the Allen Premium Outlet Mall on Saturday. How can we view this as just “another tragedy.” Our retired military Booker shared that they do not use automatic weapons – only three round bursts – as it’s a waste of ammunition. The question lingers…why does anyone “need” these powerful assault weapons? Dolly Parton who is in Frisco cohosting the Academy of Country Music Awards show with Garth Brooks hopes the new release of “World on Fire” from her album Rockstar will help heal the broken souls.
If you need to continue your
love affair with horses, The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans is
an excellent read – also made into a movie starring Robert Redford. I have the
book if you want to borrow it. And to answer Jean’s question – MN and I used
Judy Lee’s notes on The Story of Edgar Sawtelle as she couldn’t
make the March 2009 meeting, but Jean was correct as she also partnered with
Jane Freer on The Art of Racing in the Rain.
On the business side:
From a “sunshine” standpoint we all want those who are going through tough times, please know you are in our thoughts and prayers and trust you will soon again be sharing your light with all of us.
COLOR CODING SYSTEM
WHITE: LIGHT READ
PINK: MODERATELY CHALLENGING
RED: CHALLENGING
Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr
A soaring story about children on the cusp of adulthood in a world of peril who find resilience, hope, and a book.
RED
Home of: Jean Alexander
Discussion Leader: TBD
SEPTEMBER 12, 2023: Beginning Bookers 20th year.
Have a wonderful summer.
Happy reading,
JoDee
