I took this opportunity to read The Stranger in the original French. It was still very strange. Maybe it was all my English Lit classes in high school, but I kept asking myself "who is the stranger?" Does it refer to the Arab killed on the beach? Or does it refer to M. Mersault? If it does refer to Mersault, who is he a stranger to? To the court, to society, or to himself? I think he is a stranger to himself. The only opinion or attitude that he clings to is that he has no regret for killing. How many times throughout the book did he say "ca m'est egal?", or "I don't care." Do you want to get married? I don't care. Do you want to write this letter for me? I don't care. I was SOOOO frustrated with his attitude of "I don't care." Coupled with "I don't care" was his desire to make others happy or understand him. He had no part in what his friend, Raymond, was doing, but Mersault states several times that he did things to make Raymond happy.
I was surprised to read that "[a]lthough he is often associated with existentialism, Camus preferred to be known as a man and a thinker, rather than as a member of a school or ideology. He preferred persons over ideas. In an interview in 1945, Camus rejected any ideological associations: “No, I am not an existentialist.. Sartre and I are always surprised to see our names linked....”
The writing the "L'etranger" seemed very choppy: (I'm translating) "I ate fast and had coffee. Then I went home and slept a little bit...I wanted to smoke. It was late." Just factual statements, emphasizing the lack of emotion.
How odd is his line after killing the Arab (again, translating): "I understood that I had destroyed the balance of the day." Just weird. I did mark several pages that either had beautiful writing, or just strange occurrences.
I like how Camus described the friend or Mersault's mom at the beginning - who was crying but his face was so wrinkled, tears couldn't flow down. Or, at that fatal beach how the sun breaks into shards when hitting the sand. Just fascinating.
There's a whole paragraph that I found interesting, when Mersault is in prison: "I didn't understand why I was deprived of [smoking]. Later I understood that this was part of punishment. But at this moment I was used to not smoking, so this punishment no longer was punishment for me."
I didn't feel sorry for the protagonist - I was just confused that he couldn't understand what was going on around him. I'm all for being a non-conformist, being yourself, being original, but never to the extent that morals and laws no longer pertain to me.
My review is probably as fractured as the book. I can't say I liked it, but I'm glad Danielle chose it. Thanks!!
Tuesday, July 24
Thursday, July 19
Amorality?
I felt like The Stranger exemplifies a prevailing snobbery in academia. It is an attitude that nothing in this life matters and those that try to believe in any higher order or in the case of Camus any order at all are fools. At first I wasn't sure if Camus was being sarcastic or if he truly believed that nothing matters in life. So I looked it up on Sparknotes and he was being serious.
I think his book contradicts itself. According to Camus, to quote sparknotes, "Though The Stranger is a work of fiction, it contains a strong resonance of Camus’s philosophical notion of absurdity. In his essays, Camus asserts that individual lives and human existence in general have no rational meaning or order. However, because people have difficulty accepting this notion, they constantly attempt to identify or create rational structure and meaning in their lives. The term “absurdity” describes humanity’s futile attempt to find rational order where none exists." Meursault is irrational and amoral. The world around him however is not. As far as I can see the world around him, except for his friends, acted rationally and morally in response to his actions. Everyone is appropriately shocked at his lack of feeling. Contrary to Camus, I do not believe that their shock comes from the fact that they are less enlightened than Meursault. I believe that they are more enlightened than him. They understand the importance of connections and feelings. I related to the shock of the magistrate at his lack of an explanation for his actions. I was annoyed with Meursault for never choosing his actions. He claims to be amoral but I don't believe in amorality. I believe in choice and accountability of actions. Meursault is a wimp. He lets life happen to him and then is surprised (however briefly- he did not expect to be convicted) about the outcome. I can respect him having the belief that nothing really matters but I prefer it Hemingway style where you make up your own code of behavior because people still matter. This quote of his drove me nuts (it is Meursault reflecting on talking with his lawyer about his crime): "He left looking angry. I wished I could have made him stay, to explain that I wanted things between us to be good, not so that he could defend me better but, if I can put it this way, good in a natural way. Mostly, I could tell, I made him uncomfortable. He didn't understand me, and he was sort of holding it against me. I felt the urge to reassure him that I was like everybody else, just like everybody else. But really there wasn't much point, and I gave up the idea out of laziness. " To me it sums up Meursault. He just wants to feel good ("I explained to him that my nature was such that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings") and he is too lazy to do anything. He also thinks that he is normal and perhaps better than normal for his enlightenment. I think the book proves that he is not like everyone else as he is trying to claim. Very few people understand him. I feel sorry for him.
I first began to question Meursault as a narrator when he didn't notice that the nurse with his mother's coffin was missing her nose. That's when I thought that maybe Camus was being sarcastic. I was sad when I realized he wasn't. But I think his book still works as proof that his theories on life are unworkable in real life. Order does exist in this world. Truthfully it is much more ordered than we realize. Humans are unpredictable and volatile and often irrational but the whole universe is not such.
I think his book contradicts itself. According to Camus, to quote sparknotes, "Though The Stranger is a work of fiction, it contains a strong resonance of Camus’s philosophical notion of absurdity. In his essays, Camus asserts that individual lives and human existence in general have no rational meaning or order. However, because people have difficulty accepting this notion, they constantly attempt to identify or create rational structure and meaning in their lives. The term “absurdity” describes humanity’s futile attempt to find rational order where none exists." Meursault is irrational and amoral. The world around him however is not. As far as I can see the world around him, except for his friends, acted rationally and morally in response to his actions. Everyone is appropriately shocked at his lack of feeling. Contrary to Camus, I do not believe that their shock comes from the fact that they are less enlightened than Meursault. I believe that they are more enlightened than him. They understand the importance of connections and feelings. I related to the shock of the magistrate at his lack of an explanation for his actions. I was annoyed with Meursault for never choosing his actions. He claims to be amoral but I don't believe in amorality. I believe in choice and accountability of actions. Meursault is a wimp. He lets life happen to him and then is surprised (however briefly- he did not expect to be convicted) about the outcome. I can respect him having the belief that nothing really matters but I prefer it Hemingway style where you make up your own code of behavior because people still matter. This quote of his drove me nuts (it is Meursault reflecting on talking with his lawyer about his crime): "He left looking angry. I wished I could have made him stay, to explain that I wanted things between us to be good, not so that he could defend me better but, if I can put it this way, good in a natural way. Mostly, I could tell, I made him uncomfortable. He didn't understand me, and he was sort of holding it against me. I felt the urge to reassure him that I was like everybody else, just like everybody else. But really there wasn't much point, and I gave up the idea out of laziness. " To me it sums up Meursault. He just wants to feel good ("I explained to him that my nature was such that my physical needs often got in the way of my feelings") and he is too lazy to do anything. He also thinks that he is normal and perhaps better than normal for his enlightenment. I think the book proves that he is not like everyone else as he is trying to claim. Very few people understand him. I feel sorry for him.
I first began to question Meursault as a narrator when he didn't notice that the nurse with his mother's coffin was missing her nose. That's when I thought that maybe Camus was being sarcastic. I was sad when I realized he wasn't. But I think his book still works as proof that his theories on life are unworkable in real life. Order does exist in this world. Truthfully it is much more ordered than we realize. Humans are unpredictable and volatile and often irrational but the whole universe is not such.
The Stranger...
Hello ladies:
I have to say that I have not read this months book...my apologies, but I am very interested to read all that you have to say about it.
I did go and listen to the bit on Diane Rehm's show and it sounded interesting. I was trying to understand better exestential (sp.) literature, and I really wasn't getting it. I guess my brain is too caught up in the lighter fair...ie, Harry Potter or something similar. What to do, what to do?
I do love reading your opinions...thanks for sharing!
Michelle
I have to say that I have not read this months book...my apologies, but I am very interested to read all that you have to say about it.
I did go and listen to the bit on Diane Rehm's show and it sounded interesting. I was trying to understand better exestential (sp.) literature, and I really wasn't getting it. I guess my brain is too caught up in the lighter fair...ie, Harry Potter or something similar. What to do, what to do?
I do love reading your opinions...thanks for sharing!
Michelle
'Strange' Days
Hello ladies. If you made it through The Stranger, I would like to thank you. I know it was very different from the last book we read, and I for one had expectations that were not met.
I chose this book because I'd heard about it through one of my favorite radio shows on NPR, the Diane Rehm show. The discussion on the show, lead by the highly respected host, piqued my curiosity. Though I do not regret taking the time to read it, I wish I could say I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The main player, Meursault, was hard -- if not impossible -- to warm up to. He didn't seem to have the "normal" human emotions that I -- as a woman -- like to recognize in others. I was reminded of those old movies from the '40s, where the men drink martinis and the women wear hourglass outfits and say the exact right thing all the time. So prescribed and robotic -- everyone filling his to role to a T and showing no great emotion.
Contributing to this robotic life-view was the fact that Meursault was friends with that girlfriend-beater. This friendship, coupled with the fact that he actually wrote that letter for him, just stunned me. Why would he be friends with such a man? Was he supposed to be this all-accepting, nonjudmental, emotionless sort of superhuman?
On the other hand, I found myself feeling sorry for our hero, especially when he was in the courtroom. All the spectators looked at him like he was a monster, when he merely viewed life differently from them. I relate him to an autistic person, who just hasn't the capacity to express feelings in the same manner the "rest of us" do.
The climactic scene at the end was almost a relief, as it brought this rush of feeling and sheer humanity to the book. I guess the author meant us to feel the difference. Like water tastes better when we are thirsty.
After finishing the book, I listened again to the radio show, which reminded me this was an second-generation existentialist book. According to a guest on the show, existentialism has three major questions:
1. Can we trust reason?
2. What are we responsible for, if anything, as humans?
3. Is there a meaning that transcends history?
For someone who seeks meaning in everything, I found it hard to attach meaning to practically anything in this book because the storytelling was disjointed and dry. I think this prevented me from connecting it to anything real. If that is the point of the book, then it worked on me.
This book did not lead me to study existentialism to any great degree. One thought on religion/faith, though. The priest came all the time to talk with him in his cell. Meursault refused to see him. I have to say I see some sort of valour or honor in Meursault's sticking with his own beliefs (or lack thereof). As I read once somewhere: Faith is a process, not an event. Had Meursault converted "on his death bed," so to speak, it might take some of the "meaning" out of the act. (I've always wondered if people who give their lives to God on their death beds are just acting on fear rather than a conscious decision. I see faith as something that helps me through this life, not the next.)
I chose this book because I'd heard about it through one of my favorite radio shows on NPR, the Diane Rehm show. The discussion on the show, lead by the highly respected host, piqued my curiosity. Though I do not regret taking the time to read it, I wish I could say I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The main player, Meursault, was hard -- if not impossible -- to warm up to. He didn't seem to have the "normal" human emotions that I -- as a woman -- like to recognize in others. I was reminded of those old movies from the '40s, where the men drink martinis and the women wear hourglass outfits and say the exact right thing all the time. So prescribed and robotic -- everyone filling his to role to a T and showing no great emotion.
Contributing to this robotic life-view was the fact that Meursault was friends with that girlfriend-beater. This friendship, coupled with the fact that he actually wrote that letter for him, just stunned me. Why would he be friends with such a man? Was he supposed to be this all-accepting, nonjudmental, emotionless sort of superhuman?
On the other hand, I found myself feeling sorry for our hero, especially when he was in the courtroom. All the spectators looked at him like he was a monster, when he merely viewed life differently from them. I relate him to an autistic person, who just hasn't the capacity to express feelings in the same manner the "rest of us" do.
The climactic scene at the end was almost a relief, as it brought this rush of feeling and sheer humanity to the book. I guess the author meant us to feel the difference. Like water tastes better when we are thirsty.
After finishing the book, I listened again to the radio show, which reminded me this was an second-generation existentialist book. According to a guest on the show, existentialism has three major questions:
1. Can we trust reason?
2. What are we responsible for, if anything, as humans?
3. Is there a meaning that transcends history?
For someone who seeks meaning in everything, I found it hard to attach meaning to practically anything in this book because the storytelling was disjointed and dry. I think this prevented me from connecting it to anything real. If that is the point of the book, then it worked on me.
This book did not lead me to study existentialism to any great degree. One thought on religion/faith, though. The priest came all the time to talk with him in his cell. Meursault refused to see him. I have to say I see some sort of valour or honor in Meursault's sticking with his own beliefs (or lack thereof). As I read once somewhere: Faith is a process, not an event. Had Meursault converted "on his death bed," so to speak, it might take some of the "meaning" out of the act. (I've always wondered if people who give their lives to God on their death beds are just acting on fear rather than a conscious decision. I see faith as something that helps me through this life, not the next.)
Monday, July 9
Hi Ladies! (for some reason, Blogger wouldn't let me post a title...hmmmm)
I've tried not to read any posts/remarks, so sorry if this sounds repetitive. :)
First, I have to say that I'd read "Zippy" right before bed, so I'd often fall asleep with that memoir-like narrative voice in my head, which was pretty surreal, let me tell you. It also made me haul out my own journal and write a few entries (I think I last wrote in it a year ago!!! egads!), so if for nothing else, I really appreciate reading "Zippy" for that reason alone!
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I was INCREDIBLY moved by the story in the second chapter, I think, where she found a letter her mother had written in her baby book, concerning her illness when Zippy was 5 months old and the friends drove down from Gary, IN, so that her mother could sleep, and that they took her to the doctor and there were only 26 antibiotics (!!!!! Thinking about this now, after this past week when all three of my kids came down with strep throat and I just feel so blessed!) and the resident randomly picked the right one and Zippy survived the night after her mother turned the whole thing over to the Lord. And then I busted out laughing when she noted that after Zippy started talking, her mother wrote that all she had to say was "Please God, give that child some hair," or something like that. CRACKED me up.
I also laughed about her siblings telling her that she was adopted, because (true confession time) I remember telling my younger brother (with my older brother validating it, of course) that poor Herman was adopted because he didn't have to wear glasses and had light brown hair instead of dark brown. And the poor kid believed it, until he went to my mom who told us that, no, she was there, he definitely was NOT adopted. lol. (my mom had all of us via natural childbirth).
My biggest bugaboo was also part of the charm of the book...she recalled her childhood as we all do: in vignettes. I think I wanted more chronological order to her stories, whereas she kind of jumped around (which wasn't so bad until she started reintroducing secondary characters, like that neighbor boy who kidnapped her cat, and that got me a bit confused). However, isn't that how we all remember when telling people of our past? We have a story that leads to another and then another, and then when topics change, we go back in our past to find experiences that relate to the new topic.
I think it's interesting how she touched upon her mother's depression and her father, also like we remember our childhood memories. My own mother suffered from severe and debilitating postpartum depression (back in the day when it wasn't labeled as such) during the same generation and I know that the things that were just normal for me and my siblings were kinda weird for other people and definitely not acceptable for an Air Force Officer's wife. Of course, I know this now. Back in the day, that's just how it was.
I really enjoyed Zippy. As I'm raising my own kids, I wonder what they'll remember of their childhood. Hopefully they'll look back on it with such a kind and compassionate eye. Thanks for suggesting it!!!
I've tried not to read any posts/remarks, so sorry if this sounds repetitive. :)
First, I have to say that I'd read "Zippy" right before bed, so I'd often fall asleep with that memoir-like narrative voice in my head, which was pretty surreal, let me tell you. It also made me haul out my own journal and write a few entries (I think I last wrote in it a year ago!!! egads!), so if for nothing else, I really appreciate reading "Zippy" for that reason alone!
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I was INCREDIBLY moved by the story in the second chapter, I think, where she found a letter her mother had written in her baby book, concerning her illness when Zippy was 5 months old and the friends drove down from Gary, IN, so that her mother could sleep, and that they took her to the doctor and there were only 26 antibiotics (!!!!! Thinking about this now, after this past week when all three of my kids came down with strep throat and I just feel so blessed!) and the resident randomly picked the right one and Zippy survived the night after her mother turned the whole thing over to the Lord. And then I busted out laughing when she noted that after Zippy started talking, her mother wrote that all she had to say was "Please God, give that child some hair," or something like that. CRACKED me up.
I also laughed about her siblings telling her that she was adopted, because (true confession time) I remember telling my younger brother (with my older brother validating it, of course) that poor Herman was adopted because he didn't have to wear glasses and had light brown hair instead of dark brown. And the poor kid believed it, until he went to my mom who told us that, no, she was there, he definitely was NOT adopted. lol. (my mom had all of us via natural childbirth).
My biggest bugaboo was also part of the charm of the book...she recalled her childhood as we all do: in vignettes. I think I wanted more chronological order to her stories, whereas she kind of jumped around (which wasn't so bad until she started reintroducing secondary characters, like that neighbor boy who kidnapped her cat, and that got me a bit confused). However, isn't that how we all remember when telling people of our past? We have a story that leads to another and then another, and then when topics change, we go back in our past to find experiences that relate to the new topic.
I think it's interesting how she touched upon her mother's depression and her father, also like we remember our childhood memories. My own mother suffered from severe and debilitating postpartum depression (back in the day when it wasn't labeled as such) during the same generation and I know that the things that were just normal for me and my siblings were kinda weird for other people and definitely not acceptable for an Air Force Officer's wife. Of course, I know this now. Back in the day, that's just how it was.
I really enjoyed Zippy. As I'm raising my own kids, I wonder what they'll remember of their childhood. Hopefully they'll look back on it with such a kind and compassionate eye. Thanks for suggesting it!!!
Sunday, July 8
A Spitfire named Zippy...
Sorry for the late posting, folks. I really wanted to get creative and write a post by just quoting Haven words straight from the book. There were so many quotes throughout the book that cracked. Me. Up. Ends up, I'm not savvy enough to pull that kind of cool post together.
Let me share a few quotes that made me laugh out loud anyway. I can't count how many times Ian just gave me looks like I was crazy each time I'd have an outburst. And to my dismay, he didn't even want to know what the fuss was about... I did share the whole camping story though. How Zippy's dad would pack, repack and take the camper for a spin and check the lights again, etc. HILARIOUS!
The Quotes:
"If I could have gotten my nose close enough, I would have inhaled leaded gasoline until I was retarded."
"...but she had not truly known Chicken Love..."
"On the end-of-the-year report card all she was wrote was 'Is disruptive in class. Colors outside the lines. Talks out of turn.' When I showed it to my parents, they read it out loud to me, and my mom said, 'Good for you, sweetheart.' And my dad gave me a little pat on the back."
"Some people liked to go camping even if their daily lives already resembled camping."
"They're going to a convention." -- "Oh, a convention. Would that be for the Society of Drunken Philanderers?" -- "The SODP, we call it." -- "I see."
"Tiger had just tipped over sideways after chasing her own butt for ten minutes."
"It seemed that controlling her bladder was her one, overwhelming priority, because sometimes a little bit of pee would start to come out and she would look sad and shut it off and stand and stand and stand, and then a few minutes later a little bit more pee would come out..." -- "...which made me worried, because as I understood it, dogs did all their breathing through their tongues." -- "Jiggers, honey, why don't you just let all your pee out and then go lay down in the shade?" -- "I'd get under the porch if I were Jiggers. It's hotter than billy-be-doggone bangtree outside."
"...slicker than snot on a doorknob..."
"I had to tip over a little for laughing at the retarded gypsies, then straightened back up as I realized I was laughing at my own family."
"Plus you were born with a tail." -- "We had it removed so your pants would fit. Also we didn't want you to suffer in school."
"...nasty old bat."
"Well, she for sure knows you are not a Christian because you don't even go and pretend."
"...I'm going to turn you upside down and spit in your butt, are we clear?"
"...even though diamonds are girls, threes are boys." -- "Eights were completely girls, but the black eights were girls who were maybe a little too good at sports." -- "For good measure I put all the boys back in the box with the Joker, where they belonged."
"Mabel Simpkins told me today that the Jesus who died at Easter was the same one who was born at Christmas. Is that true?" -- "I just laughed at Mabel and told her she sure wasn't making a fool of me. I know Easter comes before Christmas."
"It was so pretty, I wanted to break it."
"...let me suggest some nice, fuzzy tights, the kind that don't go all the way to your crotch, but stop just in the middle of your thigh."
I also enjoyed the stories of Julie and how Zippy could read her mind and spoke for Julie... Even when she had to poop, Zippy asked the teacher if she could go.
I absolutely loved the Father's Day story where Zippy gets her dad a new dog from the hippies. It was so touching "it would have made a pirate weep."
Let me share a few quotes that made me laugh out loud anyway. I can't count how many times Ian just gave me looks like I was crazy each time I'd have an outburst. And to my dismay, he didn't even want to know what the fuss was about... I did share the whole camping story though. How Zippy's dad would pack, repack and take the camper for a spin and check the lights again, etc. HILARIOUS!
The Quotes:
"If I could have gotten my nose close enough, I would have inhaled leaded gasoline until I was retarded."
"...but she had not truly known Chicken Love..."
"On the end-of-the-year report card all she was wrote was 'Is disruptive in class. Colors outside the lines. Talks out of turn.' When I showed it to my parents, they read it out loud to me, and my mom said, 'Good for you, sweetheart.' And my dad gave me a little pat on the back."
"Some people liked to go camping even if their daily lives already resembled camping."
"They're going to a convention." -- "Oh, a convention. Would that be for the Society of Drunken Philanderers?" -- "The SODP, we call it." -- "I see."
"Tiger had just tipped over sideways after chasing her own butt for ten minutes."
"It seemed that controlling her bladder was her one, overwhelming priority, because sometimes a little bit of pee would start to come out and she would look sad and shut it off and stand and stand and stand, and then a few minutes later a little bit more pee would come out..." -- "...which made me worried, because as I understood it, dogs did all their breathing through their tongues." -- "Jiggers, honey, why don't you just let all your pee out and then go lay down in the shade?" -- "I'd get under the porch if I were Jiggers. It's hotter than billy-be-doggone bangtree outside."
"...slicker than snot on a doorknob..."
"I had to tip over a little for laughing at the retarded gypsies, then straightened back up as I realized I was laughing at my own family."
"Plus you were born with a tail." -- "We had it removed so your pants would fit. Also we didn't want you to suffer in school."
"...nasty old bat."
"Well, she for sure knows you are not a Christian because you don't even go and pretend."
"...I'm going to turn you upside down and spit in your butt, are we clear?"
"...even though diamonds are girls, threes are boys." -- "Eights were completely girls, but the black eights were girls who were maybe a little too good at sports." -- "For good measure I put all the boys back in the box with the Joker, where they belonged."
"Mabel Simpkins told me today that the Jesus who died at Easter was the same one who was born at Christmas. Is that true?" -- "I just laughed at Mabel and told her she sure wasn't making a fool of me. I know Easter comes before Christmas."
"It was so pretty, I wanted to break it."
"...let me suggest some nice, fuzzy tights, the kind that don't go all the way to your crotch, but stop just in the middle of your thigh."
I also enjoyed the stories of Julie and how Zippy could read her mind and spoke for Julie... Even when she had to poop, Zippy asked the teacher if she could go.
I absolutely loved the Father's Day story where Zippy gets her dad a new dog from the hippies. It was so touching "it would have made a pirate weep."
Zippy
Ladies,
Sorry I am late. I finished the book on time (sort of), but spent the last week in Utah with lots of family, including Katie. I really had a great time, but no spare minutes to post my review. Anyway, here it is:
Having been a teen-ager in a small town (American Fork, UT) during the 60's, I enjoyed this book on one level as a great trip back in time. (I LOVED the photos.) Actually, the setting and many of the events reminded me of my own childhood in the 50's. (Kimmel said Mooreland was a bit behind the times.) I kept writing down my experiences in the margins of the book as Zippy's experiences triggered my memories. My "pixie" haircut. My pair of red patent leather shoes with stacked heels. (I saved my money for weeks to buy them.) The arrival of my very first order of 45 rpm records. (My mother created a treasure hunt through the entire house to heighten my excitement!) I remembered the German shepherd in our neighborhood who killed our neighbor's little dog while I screamed hysterically on the front porch. I remembered when the "Fry Daddy" made its debut. I remembered smells that transport me instantly to some place or event in my past, like the smell of the service station on the corner or the clean chalkboards and floors in my elementary school on the first day. I remembered the Mickie Mouse Club and the blonde Mouseketeer named Karen. I remembered the red and black striped "Suzie longlegs" that my dad brought back from a business trip. I also remembered the "gross" shoes he made me buy when my mom had him take me shopping. I remembered how scary Maleficent was and that Marcus Welby, MD was a TV favorite. I remembered dresses that my Grandma wore, medical breakthroughs like polio vaccines, Avon lipstick, polyester pants, drive-in movies with the big silver sound box that hung over the window, Saturday matinees at the Coral Theater (25 cents), my junior high (the "old" high school) with the detached lunchroom and the candy store adjacent to the school, my mother pin-fitting a jumper to me, and the list goes on. (You can tell this book really took me back!)
But there are other things that made this book a good read besides nostalgia. First, Kimmel's writing style was so genuine and entertaining that I often laughed out loud! She did a great job of capturing a child's outlook and enthusiasm.
She also deals with some very profound issues. (Any of the 16 questions at the back of the book would be fun to discuss with you all.) Zippy's own religious awakenings (Easter--page 242) and her parents' differing approaches to things spiritual (from her dad's church in the trees to her mom's consistent attendance at church) really raised some important questions. I thought it was interesting that the book ended at Christmas with the comment, "Thank you for not losing faith."
The family dynamics dealt with important issues as well. Zippy matter-of-factly lets the reader in on Dad's gambling/smoking/compulsive behavior and Mom's depression/escape from life/financial problems. I found that the way Zippy's older brother and sister treated her really bothered me. For years, I have wrestled with when teasing becomes plain meanness and this seemed like a lot of meanness to me. (And she STILL looks up to them.)
I appreciated the things that made me think. I didn't appreciate the sick/dark side that Kimmel portrays using the neighbor family that abused animals. I wished it hadn't been part of the book. (Do all books today have to have something sensational in them?) When the rabbit was actually eating Zippy's finger, I was absolutely nauseous.
The carnivorous rabbit notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was fun and thought provoking and I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it.
--Karen Smith
Sorry I am late. I finished the book on time (sort of), but spent the last week in Utah with lots of family, including Katie. I really had a great time, but no spare minutes to post my review. Anyway, here it is:
Having been a teen-ager in a small town (American Fork, UT) during the 60's, I enjoyed this book on one level as a great trip back in time. (I LOVED the photos.) Actually, the setting and many of the events reminded me of my own childhood in the 50's. (Kimmel said Mooreland was a bit behind the times.) I kept writing down my experiences in the margins of the book as Zippy's experiences triggered my memories. My "pixie" haircut. My pair of red patent leather shoes with stacked heels. (I saved my money for weeks to buy them.) The arrival of my very first order of 45 rpm records. (My mother created a treasure hunt through the entire house to heighten my excitement!) I remembered the German shepherd in our neighborhood who killed our neighbor's little dog while I screamed hysterically on the front porch. I remembered when the "Fry Daddy" made its debut. I remembered smells that transport me instantly to some place or event in my past, like the smell of the service station on the corner or the clean chalkboards and floors in my elementary school on the first day. I remembered the Mickie Mouse Club and the blonde Mouseketeer named Karen. I remembered the red and black striped "Suzie longlegs" that my dad brought back from a business trip. I also remembered the "gross" shoes he made me buy when my mom had him take me shopping. I remembered how scary Maleficent was and that Marcus Welby, MD was a TV favorite. I remembered dresses that my Grandma wore, medical breakthroughs like polio vaccines, Avon lipstick, polyester pants, drive-in movies with the big silver sound box that hung over the window, Saturday matinees at the Coral Theater (25 cents), my junior high (the "old" high school) with the detached lunchroom and the candy store adjacent to the school, my mother pin-fitting a jumper to me, and the list goes on. (You can tell this book really took me back!)
But there are other things that made this book a good read besides nostalgia. First, Kimmel's writing style was so genuine and entertaining that I often laughed out loud! She did a great job of capturing a child's outlook and enthusiasm.
She also deals with some very profound issues. (Any of the 16 questions at the back of the book would be fun to discuss with you all.) Zippy's own religious awakenings (Easter--page 242) and her parents' differing approaches to things spiritual (from her dad's church in the trees to her mom's consistent attendance at church) really raised some important questions. I thought it was interesting that the book ended at Christmas with the comment, "Thank you for not losing faith."
The family dynamics dealt with important issues as well. Zippy matter-of-factly lets the reader in on Dad's gambling/smoking/compulsive behavior and Mom's depression/escape from life/financial problems. I found that the way Zippy's older brother and sister treated her really bothered me. For years, I have wrestled with when teasing becomes plain meanness and this seemed like a lot of meanness to me. (And she STILL looks up to them.)
I appreciated the things that made me think. I didn't appreciate the sick/dark side that Kimmel portrays using the neighbor family that abused animals. I wished it hadn't been part of the book. (Do all books today have to have something sensational in them?) When the rabbit was actually eating Zippy's finger, I was absolutely nauseous.
The carnivorous rabbit notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was fun and thought provoking and I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it.
--Karen Smith
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