Popping in again after being away for the weekend …
I agree with the post about historical fiction sometimes being frustrating. One book that comes to mind is “American Wife: A Novel” by Curtis Sitenfeld – we read it for this CC Book Club, right? Several years ago, as I recall. Anyway, I ended up frustrated at not knowing how much of the book was true to the life of Laura Bush and how much was made up.
I, too, am glad to have so many of you providing links to information and photos about the Sutton Hoo dig and finds. Those gold pyramids are just stunning – and not at all what you usually think of when talking about “The Dark Ages.” The book gave the impression that although treasures were found, there weren’t all that many. The reality is quite different. I was also surprised that anyone, of any size and weight, was able to stand on the hull of the ship without damaging anything – which wasn’t really the hull, but rather a sand mold of it.
In a couple of my archaeology courses we had assignments about imagining what “diggers” far in the future would find when they excavated remains of today’s civilization. Archaeology is about so much more than simply digging up artifacts – it’s about reconstructing how people lived and their societies. Fun stuff indeed!
I also liked the link to the photo of the portrait of Robert as a boy – that’s the one talked about in the book, right?
This group didn’t read that book during the years I’ve been a member. I did skim parts of the book, though, out of curiosity. The one detail that has stuck with me was Laura’s seeing a “gag” photo of the Bush brothers on display in their parents’ home. The photo was in such horribly bad taste (I’d be embarrassed even to try to provide a description!) that I don’t think the author would have dared mention it if it weren’t real.
I have thought about American Wife often through the years – basically, every time the Bush family is in the news (most recently, with the story about how Laura Bush may vote for Hillary – perhaps nonsense, but it mirrors the actions of the character in American Wife).
I have no doubt that Curtis Sittenfeld made up plenty of details in American Wife because it’s a novel and not really historical fiction. Sure, it’s based on George and Laura Bush, but the names are all changed, along with many other factual details. It is an imaginative work; Sittenfeld wasn’t trying to create a Paula McLain sort of book.
OK, I just did a search here on CC – this Book Club read “American Wife” in 2009. (I had to make sure I wasn’t getting incredibly forgetful!)
I see your point that “AW” isn’t truly historical fiction, @Mary13.I guess I was just searching my memory for a book I found frustrating for not knowing how much was true. That one stuck in my mind for that reason.
@CBBBlinker, I also remember wondering at the time how much was true. It was impossible to know where Sittenfeld’s research ended and her imagination began. But since she was writing a novel about “Charlie and Alice” and not “George and Laura,” I think that made her free to take quite a few liberties.
I’m trying to think of other novels that walk this same line…Hmmm, maybe something like All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren. The novel is inspired by the life of Huey P. Long, but since the protagonist’s name is Willie Stark, sticking to the facts of Long’s real-life story is not a requirement.
I’m reading a book entitled " Georgia: a novel of Georgia O’keefe" by Dawn Tripp and doubt much of what I’m reading. The author seems to have an agenda, but I’m enjoying it anyway
Peggy Piggott sums up the answer to this one on p. 158:
Preston seems to emphasize the Circle of Death rather than the Circle of Life, continually connecting the ancient burial site with the violence of war. By day, Peggy digs at the site; by night, she dreams of a black sky, “with planes obliterating what was left of Sutton Hoo, and probably us as well.” Basil Brown carefully cuts trenches through the mounds at Sutton Hoo at the same time that local citizens dig trenches in Hyde Park to prepare for war (p. 50). Mr. Phillips describes the shield and helmet found at the site, telling the coroner that the dead man “would be expected to fight on behalf of his people in the next world” (p. 233), while local residents endure air raid drills and the warden drives around the streets, “throwing out different-colored tennis balls from his car” to denote gas, high explosives and incendiary bombs.
Then there is the final irony that all the treasures unearthed at Sutton Hoo must go underground again:
The carefully excavated mounds are used for target practice, and Sherman tanks leave “deep tracks all over the site” (p. 252). It left me with a melancholy feeling, a sense that we are still terribly primitive. What’s that famous quote? “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” An apt description of Sutton Hoo, circa 1939.
I can’t believe they didn’t put ropes around those mounds and make them off limits! But of course England is practically one huge archeological dig. I have a potential client who briefly owned an abandoned castle in Scotland. Before they could renovate inside they were required to get the archeologists to make sure there was nothing important in the area. They found all sorts of interesting Viking remains. (Though not apparently too important to cause trouble.)
All of these are sort of longshots, but I’ll throw them out there:
Something by Elizabeth Strout. I recently read *My Name is Lucy Barton*, really liked it, and would be happy to read it again and discuss it. I thought the writing was exquisite, and the book had enough dramatic momentum that I could not put it down and finished it in two days! (It's another short book.) Or maybe another title by Strout? She did win the Pulitzer for *Olive Kitteridge*, and of course there's a miniseries with the wonderful Frances McDormand based on Olive.
*The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts*. This is an absolutely fascinating nonfiction book. I just finished it, and Ignatius mentioned on another thread that she wanted to read it.
*Barkskins* by Annie Proulx. A brand new long novel that sounds really interesting, but it's not being released until June 14.
@NJTheatreMOM - You just made me laugh. I looked up Barkskins on NoveList - and got the descriptor “Sweeping” - one of your avoidance words or close to it, if I remember correctly.
Perfect for a summer read … we read the father, let’s read the son. (I read - and loved - Hill’s NOS4A2)
The Invisible Library - Genevieve Cogman
Fantasy fiction
May I point out we haven’t gone there yet? (Probably too quick a read for our summer book choice. We need sprawling and messy. Maybe I’ll throw this title out next time instead.)
The Thorn Birds - Colleen McCullough
One I’ve wanted to reread (Descriptor - “Sweeping” but if NJTM can, I can too.)
Fates and Furies - Lauren Groff
I’m still interested, though I think we ought to choose something “funner” for summer.
Paradise Sky - Joe Lansdale
Western
Please note that my reading slump is easing. Look at me suggest titles rather than go the whatever route.
I also read and enjoyed “My Name is Lucy Barton.” I read “The Thorn Birds” years ago – so many that I remember only the very basics of the story. We read “Fates and Furies” for one of my “real life” Book Clubs – I really liked it; much to discuss.
That said, I’m open to almost anything suggested here – my exception would be science fiction.
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