Well it's good to see that Scout is reading my blog. She left a comment on the "Happy Easter" entry. I think she still has trouble with the typing though.
In my last entry I talked about The Secret Life of Bees. Cari, a high school English teacher and my good friend from Girl Scout Camp, has read the book and left the following comment, "I loved this book. I have told people to go out and buy it.:) Something about it really touched me. And I learned so much about bees. HA!" Since we've both read the book, I thought I'd do a little 2 person book club discussion (unless Cari doesn't respond, then it's just me talking to myself) :).
If you're interested in my analysis of the book, keep reading...
I think the appeal of the book is its portrayal of mothering. Lily, the main character, lost her mother at age 4 and after she runs away from home, finds 4 "mothers" in the black women who take her in (plus the nanny who ran away with her). I think that we all would like to have a mother like August (the main surrogate mother) who defines the phrase unconditional love. That's where I think it pulls on your heartstrings is in that shared desire to have a mother or mother figure like August.
My problem is that August is too perfect. The book tries to tackle some racial issues, but fails on some major points like the stereotyped black nannies who love you more than your fallible mother. Lily is, of course, lily white (subtle? Not.) and has a predictible crush on Zach, a black teenager (oh, the taboo!). The Zach-Lily relationship is so underdeveloped it slips into a "love at first sight" cliche'.
Excellently done is the character May, the sister who "feels too much" and is crushed by the weight of it all. Lily herself is fleshed out nicely and, except for the relationship, is a nicely complex character. The too perfect August is still very appealing, and Rosaleen, the nanny who runs away with Lily, is well rounded.
Overall I *did* like the book. It took me about a day to read and is a good lightweight, heartwarming story. If you are a fan of the Oprah books (and not to rag on Oprah because I liked a lot of those books) you'll like this one too.
Posted by Shelby at April 21, 2003 10:06 PMI'm in..give me some time to come up with a thoughful analysis. It's been about 2 months since I read the book. I need to prove my literary skills!!
Posted by: Cari at April 22, 2003 07:49 AMThis is my favorite book. One reason was because of the nanny. I am a Black nanny. I really started feeling bad when I was almost finished with the book because I had fell in love with the characters and their island. Sort of speaking, I didn't want to go home, I wanted to stay on the island with the family. I also enjoyed the beautiful words and Kidd's way of introducting us to the bee community. I really never cared, but she makes you feel that this is vital information that you had been missing out on. She is great and I would love to read something else by her. I can't image it being any better than the Secret of the Bees.
A fan in Georgia,
Rosemary
I'm trying to remember the author's name... please email me if you know it thnx. I LOVED this book
Posted by: Christiana at August 18, 2004 04:14 PM