I've finally decided on Secret Life of Bees for the July book. Sorry it took me so long to decide. I've not read it and I don't know anything about it.
K
Hadestown; Live Theatre and the Audience Exchange
5 months ago
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Here's a link with some info about the book in Wikipedia -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Bees
- sounds interesting. And intense. A girl who works in the ticket office with me read it an recommended it... and we'll all be able to go see the movie in October!
Okay, so I finished the book this morning - I really liked it. I was afraid it was going to be all scary and psychological and graphic, and I was so glad it wasn't! Those were some intense situations, but it almost felt like the author was writing a YA book for grownups, you know? I liked that the writing was relatively simple - beautiful and flow-y and descriptive while still keeping the story moving... SMK is an excellent writer, IMO!
The thing that I keep thinking about today is the way the story deals with guilt. I find it so interesting that Lily only feels guilty over things she consciously chooses to do - lying, putting off talking to August, etc - rather than the things she is made aware of as problems but didn't actually decide - like her realization that she had always thought she WAS superior because she was white, or the thought that she shouldn't be attracted to Zach because he was black. I liked watching how once she SAW a misperception or a mistake she immediately changed it and moved on, and didn't get hung up on guilt at large.
I think that's the way the Gospel is supposed to work - we hear so much about LDS women feeling so much guilt all the time, and I'm sure that's not what the Lord intended. We can't walk around feeling guilty about racism - we can choose to treat everyone equally well. We can't sit and be upset about missed opportunities to serve or regret the things we should have said - we can get up and do and say the right things the next time. We CAN feel badly about things that we chose to say or do that were hurtful or wrong, but only until we apologize, attempt to make it right, and then do better next time. Guilt's not supposed to be a constant companion, it's supposed to be a thumbtack on the chair. You fix the problem, and move the thumbtack!
Anyway, I loved so many other aspects of the book - I thought the beekeeping info was fascinating, and really liked seeing a glimmer of the tension of the race issues from the perspective of a white minority. I enjoyed, too, the ideas of a group of women reveling in and celebrating their womanhood, motherhood, and sisterhood, always caring for each other. The "religious rituals" were a bit odd, perhaps, but I loved the storytelling and found the intent to be just lovely.
I think I have to try more of SMK's books!
Definitely an interesting story! It captivated me and held my attention much more than I thought it would after reading the Wikipedia synopsis. It was fascinating (and a little weird) to read about their obsession with the Black Mary and I must confess I raised my eyebrows on more than one occasion at their odd religious "ceremonies" (such as massaging honey into the statue) but it made me stop and wonder if that's what people think about OUR religion. I'm certain some of the things we do could seem very strange when taken out of context and without the benefit of the Spirit.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the references to beekeeping and the many uses of honey. While I'm not overly fond of the buzzing, stinging little creatures, the author makes them sound so beautiful and peaceful and I found myself wanting to start slurping down a spoonful of honey each morning just to see if my hair would start shining and my skin would start to glow. I also love the sound of those crazy hats and wish I could get one made for myself! :-)
Still, as much as I loved the story line and the overall writing, I'm afraid that I won't be reading another of Kidd's novels due to her frequent use of foul language. I actually almost stopped reading this one after the first chapter but I felt so bad for never reading Brit's book (Sorry!) that I decided to plunge ahead and just barrel through. Still, it's difficult to get those words out of my mind once I see them. I'm not saying this in a "Holier than Thou" way and I hope it's not coming across as such, but I'm embarrassed to admit that swearing is probably one of my biggest faults and one of the hardest sins for me to overcome. I pray daily for Heavenly Father to keep bad words out of my thoughts and, most especially, from coming out of my mouth. I can think of nothing worse than my sweet boys hearing me say something awful and having them repeat it. But for some reason when I get overly angry or hurt or finally just lose that last ounce of patience, bad language is the first thing that pops into my mind (one word in particular seems to be a favorite, but I'll refrain from sharing it with you all). It's nearly impossible to get away from swearing -- it's on TV & in movies and I hear it when I go to the store or even just taking the kids to the park, but somehow reading it is SO much worse for me. When I see those words on the page they get seared into my mind and just sort of get stuck there and it's terribly difficult to get them out. So, that being said, I just want to let you all know that I won't be reading anymore books that have swear words in them. I realize if you choose a book you've never read before it's difficult to know if there's foul language or not, and I'm certainly not trying to change your minds about the books you choose. I'm sure for the rest of you it's no big deal to just skip over those words and move on, but I just can't give Satan any more ammunition to use against me. I already feel like I'm fighting an uphill battle as it is.
Ps. Sorry if you've ever caught me during one of my "weak" moments and heard something you really didn't want to hear (although if you have you may already know what that favorite word of mine is...) :-)
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