The Cat’s Table – June CC Book Club Selection

Parent Cafe
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<p>We were talking about maybe reading another classic, since the discussion of Bridge of San Luis Rey was such a good one. But which classic?</p>

<p>Recently on another thread, there was a discussion of Time Magazine’s 100 best novels, which are works written in English between 1923 and when they made the list in 2005. </p>

<p>[TIME’S</a> List of the 100 Best Novels | Best Books of ALL TIME | Entertainment | TIME.com](<a href=“TIME'S List of the 100 Best Novels | All-TIME 100 Novels | TIME.com”>TIME'S List of the 100 Best Novels | All-TIME 100 Novels | TIME.com)</p>

<p>I was embarrassed to realize that I had read only about 24 of them!</p>

<p>Here are some books from that list that I would like to read and that I think might appeal to members of this book club:</p>

<p>“Housekeeping” by Marilynne Robinson.</p>

<p>“The Blind Assassin” by Margaret Atwood.</p>

<p>“The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” by Muriel Spark.</p>

<p>“Wide Sargasso Sea” by Jean Rhys. This one sounds the most appealing to me. Two pluses are that it is short, and it has a really cool title. :)</p>

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<p>^ Readers feeling more ambitious could combine Wide Sargasso Sea with Jane Eyre. If we read the first, I know I would plan to re-read the second because of all the connections.</p>

<p>ignatius, that sounds like a good idea re Cloud Atlas!</p>

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<p>I’m in - whatever is decided !</p>

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<p>And an NC-17 movie to go along with it. ;)</p>

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<p>I like the idea of Wide Sargasso Sea followed by Jane Eyre. I’d be happy with The Blind Assassin. I’ll throw in Red Harvest for good measure.</p>

<p>And to muddy the waters:</p>

<p>I’m still interested in a Sherlock Holmes duo - Hound of the Baskervilles with House of Silk.</p>

<p>Or The Song of Achilles combined with The Iliad</p>

<p>Or The Map of Time combined with The Time Machine.</p>

<p>Less ambitious but on my list:</p>

<p>In Zanesville</p>

<p>The Lion Is In</p>

<p>and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen hangs in there yet.</p>

<p>In other words, it’s summer with extra time to read outside by the pool. Life is good … all my chicks settled for the time being. (Though eldest chick and I have just started planning her wedding. It boggles my mind the number of details now required in wedding planning. Why oh why can’t she just marry at Disney World … Mickey Mouse even attends … :))</p>

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<p>LOL I didn’t know about the Wide Sargasso Sea movie. </p>

<p>Seems like if we read Sargasso we’d have to read Jane Eyre at the same time. I wouldn’t mind that, but maybe it would strike some people as too much.</p>

<p>Of the other choices Ignatius mentioned, the ones that appeal to me the most are Blind Assassin and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. The latter was one of our finalists last time, as I recall.</p>

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<p>I think Jane Eyre could remain an option as follow-up to Wide Sargasso Sea for those who wanted rather than required book discussion reading.</p>

<p>The Submission is another title I’ve seen touted and my librarian recommends The Dovekeepers. I’m full of titles this morning, aren’t I? I haven’t had much time to settle in and read the last couple of months. I’m done now, I promise.</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t mind a good mystery or thriller for the dog days of summer, but I don’t have any titles to suggest…</p>

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<p>We considered The Expats last time … it can appear on the list again. I’m reading Sister right now and really like it.</p>

<p>I like this excerpt:</p>

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<p>Good book - definitely mystery thriller with discussion potential.</p>

<p>Now look, I said I’d stop and here I go again. (Rolling my eyes at me.)</p>

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<p>Ignatius you, and others, provide great suggestions. Keep 'em coming-congrats on your daughter’s wedding! Exciting times ahead- we haven’t hit that next phase yet!</p>

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<p>“Sister” does sound good, Ignatius. </p>

<p><a href=“Book Review - Sister - By Rosamund Lupton - The New York Times”>Book Review - Sister - By Rosamund Lupton - The New York Times;

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<p>Can I add a few more thoughts on the book?</p>

<ol>
<li><p>SouthJerseyChessMom: Did you see that in the “Literary Canon” thread, somebody proposed adding R K Narayan to it?</p></li>
<li><p>After watching the Wallenda crossing of Niagara Falls, I found myself thinking that maybe Niemeyer and Asuntha made it after all!</p></li>
<li><p>Does anyone have an opinion on the reason why Miss Lasqueti would keep the mannequin/bodhisattva with a recently-drawn “scar on the alabaster belly” in her cabin? Why would she keep such a reminder? I found myself wondering if she had been pregnant when she suffered that wound in her argument with Horace.</p></li>
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<p>I agree with all of the reasons ignatius (congratulations on the wedding!) and BUandBC82 give for liking this book group. And I’ll add another–everyone reads the book! Or at least they don’t monopolize the conversation if they don’t (my biggest issue with book groups).</p>

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<p>buenavista- I will check out that “Literary Canon” thread-.</p>

<p>I have spent many hours watching Campbell’s Mythos series, and am now reading one of his books.
So I’d like to take a stab at your two questions above. </p>

<p>Miss Lasqueti, called Michael to her room to “save him, guide him” away from the evil forces of the Baron. As she later recalled in her letter, she mistakenly thought Michael was the one who needed saving.
So she positioned the Bodhisattva where he would see it. The Bodhisattva, is the “wisdom being”-

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<p>Remember Miss Lasqueti was a self proclaimed “expert in masks and personas”. She knew what she was doing by placing the statue in front of the boy, even though he did not know who it was at the time.</p>

<p>On the first reading, I thought the mannequin/ Bodhisattva was scarred, but I believe she showed Michael her own scars, saying to him " see you can get over this , you’ll learn to alter your life". </p>

<p>It was also, during that meeting, that she revealed her real first name, something she mentioned was a way that undercover agents bond with those around them.</p>

<p>Would Michael have become a delinquent without her guidance, a substitute parent, the only adult on the ship who truly looked after him? Perhaps, he would have, especially when he thought about telling the Baron about Aunt Prins jewelry!! </p>

<p>Bueanvista, I also, wondered if she might have been pregnant. Or was she just “cutting” Horrace out of her life? Giving rebirth to herself? </p>

<p>Who didn’t think of Man on Wire when you saw or heard about Wallenda last night? </p>

<p>Regarding my resolution of the Asuntha / Niemeyer issue.
I am viewing this as a mythic interpretation- the retelling of Persephone.
Apparently, being the sacrificed being, was an act of honor, a sacred thing, so on the “mythic” level, I think that scene was symbolic of Michael overcoming the dark, fearful, corners of his journey, of facing death, of living life. </p>

<p>So , in order to find the “light” ( to reconcile these conflicts)- we have the return of Persephone, of spring, of life continuing, she has to be taken to the darkness. It’s how it has to be. </p>

<p>Michael, is living a “placid” life, on the plains, watching the thunderstorms of life roll over him, with his beloved hound by his side, and his family members peacefully sleeping. </p>

<p>I have (finally) come to terms with this book ,which HAUNTED me, just as others have stated!</p>

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<p>Buenavista- You are right there was a scar drawn on the statue. But, later when it is mentioned the second time, I believe it was the real scar. IMHO.</p>

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<p>SJCM, I am glad that you have come to terms with the book, with the help of Joseph Campbell!</p>

<p>With regard to being haunted by “The Cat’s Table,” I must say that I was so much taken with the book the first time I read it that I very much wanted to read it again with the possibility of discussing it with others.</p>

<p>Seeing names like “Lasqueti” and “Mazappa” and “Massi,” etc, suddenly begin appearing in posts here was thrilling to me when the thread started…almost as if other people had been magically given a window into my dreams (please excuse this dream reference, you dream-shy individuals :)).</p>

<p>I must admit that I feel a little bit the same way about “Cloud Atlas,” though in that case I convinced my son to read it, and we talked about it, which helped. In any event, Cloud Atlas is a different kind of book, with certain segments that are more entertaining and others that are quite haunting.</p>

<p>Regarding the mysterious statue in Lasqueti’s cabin, whether or not it was a bodhisattva, I assume someone gave it to her because the face somewhat resembled hers. If the drawn-on scar was recent, she probably drew it on just so that she could show it to Michael and say what she said to him.</p>

<p>SJCM, were you saying in post 194 that you thought L showed M her real scar??</p>

<p>I disagree that Michael might have gone astray in his life, without her. These were basically well brought up kids (the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and all that). In the comment section of a webpage about the book that someone provided a link for upthread, several people commented that they had been on similar sea voyages as children with a similar lack of supervision.</p>

<p>I must admit that the fact that Daniels let the boys slip away on their own in Aden shocked me, though…almost more than anything else in the book.</p>

<p>Haha, could the Aden journey be like Persephone’s, too…except that Persephone smuggled back the dog Cerberus with her this time?!</p>

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<p>Unlike SouthJerseyChessMom, I don’t think that Miss Lasqueti showed Michael her actual scar–-although SJCM’s comment did send me back to the passage and I do think it’s odd that Michael used the word “flesh” for what he saw. Still, the fact that he writes, “she brought me over to what had preoccupied me,” indicates (to me) that it is the mannequin he is looking at. To have shown him, an 11 year old boy, her bare flesh–her scarred stomach–would have been too shocking.</p>

<p>Although it is extreme, I think Miss Lasqueti did deliberately choose to keep the reminder of her injury before her at all times. When the chemist providing salve for her wound asks her, “How serious?” She responds, “Deep.” About as deep as it gets. She is wounded on a physical/emotional/psychological level and never really heals. I think she displays the scar on the mannequin because the event was a major turning point in her life:</p>

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<p>Is keeping a scarred mannequin of yourself a bit obsessive? I’d say so. But then so is sending a letter the length of a short story that you’ve held onto for twenty years. That was just her nature. As SJCM pointed out earlier, there is a little bit of Dickens’ Miss Havisham in her in the way she creates and hangs on to the alabaster statue in her image, with the scar capturing a moment in time when she was terribly hurt.</p>

<p>In my kindle dictionary, bodhisattva is defined as “a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion in order to save suffering beings.” Maybe not letting go of her past hurts, not moving on, is a form of self-sacrifice. Perhaps she believes that she needs to share her always-raw wound for the benefit of people like Emily and Michael.</p>

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<p>LOL, we already have 15 suggestions in play for August:</p>

<p>Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson</p>

<p>The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood</p>

<p>The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark</p>

<p>Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett</p>

<p>In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard</p>

<p>The Lion is In by Delia Ephron</p>

<p>Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday</p>

<p>The Submission by Amy Waldman </p>

<p>The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman</p>

<p>The Expats by Chris Pavone </p>

<p>Sister by Rosamund Lupton</p>

<p>Duets:</p>

<p>Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, with Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte as an optional companion piece.</p>

<p>House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz and Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle </p>

<p>The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and The Iliad by Homer</p>

<p>The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma and The Time Machine by H.G. Wells</p>

<p>The list needs to be culled and I find it works best if those with strong opinions step forward first (don’t be shy, you know who you are ;)) and tell me which books they prefer not be on the list. I’ll start: I would remove The Lion is In because although it sounds like a fun read, I think the other choices above have more “meat” for discussion. Also…would I lose all my literary street cred if I said I didn’t want to read The Iliad? Having painful high school flashbacks…</p>

<p>But I’m game for any of the other duets, as July is a good reading month for me. And I’m open to all the other choices as well.</p>

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<p>I have read negative things about The Dovekeepers, although I’m sure there must be good reasons why Ignatius’ librarian likes it so much. </p>

<p>Although I have definitely read Alice Hoffman books that I have liked in the past, reportedly this is far from her best work…</p>

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It was my impression after reading the “letter” that the statue was given to her by Horace the art collector, but maybe I got carried away?</p>

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<p>Re: the statue, wouldn’t someone who professes to be “an expert in masks and personas” be a collector of such objects ? </p>

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<p>I assumed Miss Lasqueti, a person self identified with “symbolic” images, would have an icon meaningful to her. And, that she would have scarred it would be symbolic of her journey. </p>

<p>Wasn’t Miss Laqueti, also a guide for Cassius- she shared her art with him, acting as a mentor. Attended his art show ?</p>

<p>And, another situation when Miss Lasqueti acted as a “wise woman” was when she “placed her hand on Mr Mazappa’s at the table,” before he would soon be leaving. I don’t think it was a “sexual” gesture at all, as the young lads assumed, but a loving gesture, of one trying to connect with a misquided man. </p>

<p>Miss Lasqueti, was the guiding spirit of this book- Hekate, I think. </p>

<p>LOL- for those Dream shy folks, </p>

<p>Read this in NY Time Magazine, and have to share.
Perfect for CC site. </p>

<p>In little section called </p>

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<p>LOL----- :)</p>

<p>OK, back to big task of next book selection. Haven’t read any of those books, so not weighing in now. Perhaps, others more familiar with those selections should be heard.</p>

<p>**Mary13 **, thank you, thank you thank you for excluding The Illiad. Street cred - confirmed!</p>