December's Book

Hi All,

Due to Ashlee's request, here is December's book, chosen by the Ashter herself:

Three cups of tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Hope this extra week or so helps to get ahold of the book, and looking forward to discussion on Guernsey Literary and P.P.P. Society!

S

Request

Hello! So I am totally excited to read this months book... but I haven't got it yet! I had to put a request in at the library and I am still about 17 people away from getting it in my hands. I have a feeling that this could happen again... so my request today is that we could start choosing the books a little more in advance? What do you think? I don't want to be a bother, but I really want to start participating again :) -- ASHLEE

Review

The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands received the rating of

3.8 out of 5 from our book club members

Wives and Daughters

Hello? Are we all still out there?

It has been a long time, my friends, but we are getting to the end of October. For those of you who have finished Wives and Daughters, feel free to start discussing. If any of you haven't finished yet (like myself)... read on!

I found these questions online for Book Club discussions on Wives and Daughters and I thought they might spark some discussion. Feel free to comment on any of these that speak to you, or, as always, feel free to start your own discussion if these don't float your boat! Enjoy!

Discussion Questions

Wives and Daughters
by Elizabeth Gaskell (1866)

1. The women in Wives and Daughters lead daily lives that conform to 19th-century gender roles for women of their class: they manage the household, arrange flowers, do needlework, and take direction from their husbands, brothers, and fathers. Does the novel offer any critique of Victorian male authority? From a 21st-century perspective, was Elizabeth Gaskell a feminist?
   
   
2. Elizabeth Gaskell lived during a period when the traditional social and political structure of English society was changing. Does Wives and Daughters challenge traditional ideas of social class? List the characters in descending order by their social class. Then list the characters in descending order for quality of mind and/or strength of character. How closely do the two lists match up? What do you think Gaskell believed about how society should be ordered?
   
   
3. Friendship is a prominent theme in the novel. Select three sets of friends. What does each show about the nature of friendship? Which friendships are unexpected or surprising? Which friendships are strongest, and why?
   
   
4. Wives and Daughters has been praised for the three-dimensional quality of its characters, even those who are less appealing, such as Mrs. Kirkpatrick. How does Gaskell help us understand and sympathize with the novel's less likeable characters? How does she reveal the flaws of the more sympathetic characters, like Molly? Is there a character in her novel who is too good to be true? Too bad to be believable?
   
   
5. Anthony Howell, who plays Roger in the film, describes his character as "an unheroic hero." How does Roger differ from a typical hero? From the other men in the novel? From his brother Osborne? Why is it significant that Roger is a scientist and an explorer? What does this rising star at Cambridge need to learn from Molly?
   
   
6. The parent/child relationships in the Gibson household and at Hamley Hall are at the emotional center of the novel. What universal stories does the novel tell about parents and their children? Which relationships did you find most compelling or believable? What are the barriers that keep parents and their children from understanding each other more completely? Do similar barriers still arise today within families?
   
   
7. Wives and Daughters begins like many fairy tales: a single father with a daughter remarries, bringing a stepmother with children of her own into the household. How is Gaskell's story similar to and different from stepmother fairy tales you recall? Why do you think so many writers and storytellers have used the stepmother plot?
   
   
8. Gaskell died before she finished Wives and Daughters. The manuscript ends after Roger leaves again for Africa without telling Molly how he feels. Gaskell's notes indicate that she intended to write a love scene and a happy ending for Molly and Roger upon Roger's return. How did screenwriter Andrew Davies choose to script the final scenes? What do you think of his ending? Is the film's imagined ending consistent with the rest of the novel and the period in which it was written? How do you think Elizabeth Gaskell would react if she had a chance to see the end of the film?
   
   
9. Andrew Davies believes that Wives and Daughters will appeal to today's audiences because it is a story about second families -- common in the 19th-century because of high death rates, common today because of divorce and remarriage. Do you agree? What other themes, conflicts, or ideas in this 1866 novel have relevance for modern readers?
   
   

© WGBH Educational Foundation 2002

September's book

Wow... it's September 7th! Really? I don't know how the first of the month got away from me except I've been busy getting school going again. So I apologize that this was not done sooner!

3 of 4 people voted to read Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell for our next book (which will be September AND October's book so we can make it through the lengthiness (is that a word?)) I hope to have discussion at the end of September on what we've read so far just so we don't go so long without a good discussion (thanks for the idea, Katers!) Happy reading!!

It was a Thinker

I don't love Dr. Laura. She is not my favorite, nor do I worship her and take everything she says as scripture. However...

I really liked this book just because it made me think. It made me think differently about certain issues, about the trends in our society, and about the trends in my household. I liked that she is a traditionalist and that the book gave some secular back-up to what we learn in our religion. Women are the nurturers. End of story. Women are in charge of the household for the most part. And that includes cooking and cleaning and other wifely duties. Even if we do live in an age where women have to work outside the home. And I love that Julie Beck says that we, as LDS women, should do this better than anyone else on the earth because of what we know. But do we?

Having known most of you for awhile, I can safely say that you all are very good examples of this to me. In reading this book, I gave myself a long hard look to see whether I was doing what I was ought to. Yes, I was... but not very consistently. So consistency is the name of the game in our household anymore.

All the talk about the negative impact the feminist movement has had in our society, and how women have been made to believe that people are unisex, having no specific responsibilities or functions in society associated with gender really struck home for me. I see it so much around me, and, in fact, had stopped hanging around a group of women a few months previously because every time we met it turned into a husband bagging party. Since when did that become entertainment? How did we get this way as a society?

The way a husband and wife ought to interact with each other reminded me of something I read in The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. (Which, by the way, was a very good book in that it gets you to think about the godhead in a little bit different way, although it's not necessarily doctrinally founded. I would recommend it though) It is talking about how hierarchy is a human invention. The author (who is speaking to God in the book) challenges that and says, what about how The Father is first, and then next is The Son, and then next comes The Holy Ghost? The answer was that if each individual in the relationship submits their wills to the other person fully and completely, always caring more for the others than for themselves, this takes the hierarchy away and turns it into a cycle of selflessness. The author challenged how this could possibly work, and "God" says that it only works fully when all people in the relationship are really committed to it. Then no one feels like they have to "watch out for their own selves" because the other person is already doing that and that leaves them emotionally free to look out for their interests in return. I'm not explaining it very well, but I thought that related to marriage. It builds strong bonds of love to serve your husband so fully that he has time to serve you and others.

So this was quite lengthy, but the book just gave me a lot of food for thought. What did you guys think?

Follow Ups

I actually really enjoyed The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, but did it bug anyone else that she used so many examples of phone calls and letters of horrible ways wives treated their husbands, but then there was never any follow up to prove that the advice she gave worked for those people. The examples of the advice working always came from separate callers or letters. I guess I just like a little more resolution and the point of all the examples is not resolution (because my bet is that most of those awful examples did not make the marriage last), but to open our eyes and recognize some of the things wives can slip into doing that make for lass harmonious marriage. Sorry, I don't even know if this paragraph makes sense.

One chapter that struck home for me was about not letting yourself go and becoming a frumpy wife. I don't even have a kid as an excuse yet and I find myself never getting ready and putting cute clothes on or doing my hair and make-up anymore unless we are going to go out with someone else. And my husband should be the one I'm getting ready to impress..not other people. So does anyone have any tips on motivation for getting yourself out of a frump slump?