Year of Wonders--Extra credit read Nov 09

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BCCJillster	Year of Wonders--Extra credit read Nov 09		Lead	[-]
11/19/09 10:31 AM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE Administrator	Tags : year of wonders, geraldine brooks, plague, history of great britain Three of us have read YEAR OF WONDERS by Geraldine Brooks and Sandra and Rema are joining in. Anyone else? Here's the conversation from the What I'm Reading Now thread. Jill I'm about halfway through Year of Wonders by G. Brooks and it's stunning. Although in theory it should feel very like Last Town on Earth because they're both about town besieged by killing diseases, but they are so different. The Brooks is set in a very small mining town in England in 1666 as the plague takes over with a young woman as the main character. The language is amazingly well done to my untutored ear and some of the happenings are shocking and revealing. The tension is quite different so far from that in Last Town. I'm eager to keep reading. Jill Finished Year of Wonders and HIGHLY recommend it. I didn't realize it but it's based on a real town and what it went through, and one of the main characters is also based on the real rector who was so important to the happenings there. Brooks hands out no pat answers or trite solutions as the story twists and turns. Beautiful blending of period language and readability. pioneerbee wrote: Re: year of Wonders.... Karen and Jill, did you find the ending 'unbelievable"? I didn't but a lot of people I know did. Karen replied: Yes, Deb, when I first read it I did. But I have since read other things that made me understand that the part I thought unbelievable at the time wasn't at all. And it wasn't the travel I had a problem with. Jill posted: I'll put this in a spoiler, just in case: Spoiler [-] Do you mean her fleeing to the Arab country? Or her choosing independence? I found it quite believable given what she'd learned and was inspired to by Elinor. I loved that Brooks didn't go for the easy answer of switching her dependency from one man to another and I think the case was carefully laid by the women she dealt with in the town, the mother and daughter herbalists, Elinor, and someone else, I forget who now. She had the means and I don't think she appreciated the limitations most women outside her town had to deal with because she was so inexperienced. Ignorance is bliss and makes for bravery. It was a bit surprising she didn't stay with the Rector, but then again...it made so much sense given the other events at the end. Karen's post: Well, for me... Spoiler [-] It was not travel per se but choosing an Arab country and the life she was able to lead there that I found surprising. I tend to think of all cultures as 'advancing' (recognizing that word means different things to different people) and it wasn't until a few years after I read the book that I learned that the Arab world has actually been regressing for the last however many centuries. PBee: Jill and Karen, I agree with you both... Spoiler [-] I was glad she did not end up with the rector, at the end I didn't like him much and I do believe a woman who had been through her experience would choose a completely different life style. Humans were traveling a lot at that time and I think the idea of being sheltered would have been somewhat of a release after having had the burden of caring that she had. Jill replied to Karen: Good point Karen about how we think about the world changing. Spoiler [-] It is interesting that they were so advanced medically in the 1600s. That was why she chose to seek him out and Brooks even provided a reason for him to accept her--her knowledge and willingness to help and his need to have the women treated. I really don't know anything about that area at the time, but it might be interesting to follow up. Currently reading: Year of Wonder by G Brooks Just Finished: Information Officer by Mark Mills
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pioneerbee		#1	[url]	[-]
11/19/09 11:22 AM	This is a good idea, Jill. Nothing on Earth so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night. Steve Almond
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sthurner		#2	[url]	[-]
11/19/09 01:02 PM	I read Year of Wonders a while back, enjoyed it, but don't remember it well enough to contribute. Enjoy! Sherry, in Wisconsin Currently reading Winter Study, High Wind in Jamaica, Riders of the Purple Sage
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wernoclue		#3	[url]	[-]
11/19/09 04:16 PM BCC ZEN Bookie MASTER	And I read it a long time ago, too, so the only thing I remember spefically is my reaction to the end. Maybe I'll pull it off the shelf and have a quick refresher... but how often do I say that and how often do I do it? Karen Finished The Night Counter by Alia Yunis, cast aside Candlemoth by Roger Jon Ellory and am whizzing through The Ghost Writer by John Harwood
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bayjoens		#4	[url]	[-]
11/21/09 12:05 PM	I am about a third of the way through and liking it, although I dread what is coming.
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BCCJillster		#5	[url]	[-]
11/21/09 12:08 PM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE Administrator	Sandra, my guess is that you're going to admire her for her strength and independence. Let us know. Currently reading: Year of Wonder by G Brooks Just Finished: Information Officer by Mark Mills
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pioneerbee		#6	[url]	[-]
11/21/09 12:54 PM	Sandra, there's nothing to dread, the ending is actually kind of happy. Nothing on Earth so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night. Steve Almond
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bayjoens		#7	[url]	[-]
11/22/09 02:34 PM	Just finished Year of Wonders and liked it a lot, Spoiler [+] although I didn't like the way the rector was written at the end. He had been such a strong and reasoned leader up to that point that I don't think it was necessary to give him a fatal flaw. When you read the Afterward of the book, Brooks tells us that there was such a rector but that she invented his "dark" side. It felt like a cheap shot. I think Anna still could have gone on, taken the child and left on her own, realizing that she had grown too much to stay in the village and be tied to the people there any longer. Think I will add this one to the Christmas box for the dd this year.
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pioneerbee		#8	[url]	[-]
11/22/09 07:16 PM	I think that is one Brooks' weaknesses, she tends to 'plop' things in and not give enough build up or background on so it can come as a surprise. Nothing on Earth so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night. Steve Almond
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riverblue		#9	[url]	[-]
11/23/09 02:14 AM	I read this a long time ago too - I remember loving it but not enough about it to join in your discussion. Like Karen, I could have another lookat it but I iknow I won't, Too many I haven't read piling up. Barb
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beachgal		#10	[url]	[-]
11/25/09 04:56 PM BCC BookieMonster	Overall, I liked it but it started to drag a little near the end. I agree with the posts about the Reverend. Rema PS I can't seem to get the spoiler link, I type CTRL-4 and it is still visible. What am I doing wrong? Last Edited By: beachgal 11/25/09 05:00 PM. Edited 1 time.
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bayjoens		#11	[url]	[-]
11/25/09 06:02 PM	Rema, are you on a PC with Windows? For us, you press CTRL + ALT + S.
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wernoclue		#12	[url]	[-]
11/25/09 07:01 PM BCC ZEN Bookie MASTER	I'm on a PC with Windows using Internet Explorer and I just use CTRL + S. Karen --Finished the first three Fremont Jones novels by Dianne Day and circling my finger over the pile to pick... to be continued!
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bayjoens		#13	[url]	[-]
11/25/09 07:29 PM	Karen, that didn't work for me before but does now. Either CTRL+ALT+S or CTRL+S. Go figure. (I am on Firefox.)
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Cierdwyn		#14	[url]	[-]
12/03/09 12:07 AM	Okay, so I'm totally with the general opinion of Brooks' treatment of the Reverend in the end Spoiler [+] total cheap shot... and unbelievable because I doubt E could have loved someone so much who was so keen on endlessly torturing her for her past sins, which she HAD genuinely repented Btw, GB is going to be in Tulsa on Saturday accepting an award from Tulsa City/County Library..
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jodijoy		#15	[url]	[-]
12/14/09 11:00 AM BCC ZEN Bookie MASTER	Just finished this and I agree with the other reactions. It did feel like she "plopped on the end." I think she did that in People of the Book too. Spoiler [+] The reverend's behavior did seem like a cheap shot. I was a bit surprised that she married a Muslim, after a lifetime of fire and brimstone Christianity, but maybe the different approach was appealing? If things go wrong, don't go with them - Roger Babson
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BCCJillster		#16	[url]	[-]
12/14/09 12:03 PM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE Administrator	Aside from the end, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play? btw, she wasn't fire and brimstone was she? it was those around her if I remember right. Currently reading: The Little Sleep by Tremblay Just Finished: Sleep While I Sing, LR Wright
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jodijoy		#17	[url]	[-]
12/14/09 12:22 PM BCC ZEN Bookie MASTER	I did like the book, though the fire and brimstone was a bit wearing.. all that suffering is good for you stuff -feh! I just started reading the third book in the Rashi's Daughters trilogy, about women and their families during roughly the same time as Year of Wonders, but Jewish and in France. They also use herbs, quote from Talmud, have amulets, etc., but it seems much kinder and gentler. Maybe because their rituals/religion is more familiar. If things go wrong, don't go with them - Roger Babson
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bayjoens		#18	[url]	[-]
12/14/09 02:06 PM	I liked it too. My only beef is Spoiler [+] how Brooks dealt with the minister at the end. Thought it was a cheap shot to release her heroine.
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Year of Wonders--Extra credit read Nov 09

Year of Wonders--Extra credit read Nov 09

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