bark bark BARK

Book Club was kind of a blur, but I remember talking about The Ponder Heart and discussing the clever way Welty writes right into the southern drawl language without a missing a beat. We all agreed that it was a hard step at first, but it didn't take long to pick it up and get into the story.

...then Guido put on Ruby's dog collar and started barking (ZAP) and the night went downhill from there. Never a dull moment wit my homies!

Our next proposed selection is Devil in the White City: Murder, Mayhem and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. Give it a yay or a nay and we'll go from there.

Meanwhile Back on the Ranch

Since we've been in a summer hiatus I picked up another read: Trinity by Leon Uris. I haven't read any of his other works, but I'm a die-hard fan now. As a fifth-generation Irish American I found the history particularly fascinating, as well as the threads of culture, politics and personalities. Ironically the area he writes about in the beginning of the story is the part of Ireland where my maternal side is from: Ulster/Antrim County.

I haven't read a complicated novel as this (since college days sitting in Olson's class I'm afraid) and there are many levels to pick apart: catholic/protestant/english/labor/class/family heirarchy/female/sons and daughters. The oppression of Irish Catholics IMO was two fold: from the English via protestants and then also from the Catholic heirarchy itself. I don't think Uris put it in a very good light, and I'm not sure what his point was other than there were many issues keeping the Catholics down, including their own faith that was used against them whenever convenient for the British.

I appreciated the multiple narrators and points of view. The only first point of view the story came from was Seamus, then Uris flipped and wrote from another perspective for the rest of the characters when Seamus wasn't in the story line. Very smooth.

I'd read it again for another book club!