Fab 5 Book Club: The Glass Castle

Tonight the Fab 5 had yet another intense, esoteric book discussion. I actually had to look up esoteric just now to make sure it meant what I wanted to say, which, once you read the definition is rather ironic. I’ll let you get your own dictionary if you need to.

Anyway. The Fab 5 tackled The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This memoir recounts Walls’s childhood as part of a family that was one part comedy, one part lunacy and one part tragedy. Walls and her three siblings lived a nomadic life with their parents. Mom was an artist, a trained teacher, and always looking for the new bright horizon just waiting to be discovered. Dad was an alcoholic charmer, a highly intelligent man who was more comfortable hustling pool than working steadily at an actual job. He had big dreams, or delusions, depending on your perspective.

The children learned to read early and well, they learned about living frugally and simply, and they moved frequently in search of the next adventure. They lived all over the desert southwest, a vast playground and habitat study for the children, and they eventually moved to the town in West Virginia where their father grew up.  Dad was always on the verge of a new, spectacular invention. One of his plans was to built the Glass Castle, a scientifically designed house made of glass and tailored especially for their family.

 The kids were also often neglected severely, especially as alcohol claimed more and more prominence in their father’s life. Early on there were periods of time where food ran short, memorably a time when young Jeannette was hungry enough to eat the only thing left in the fridge—a stick of margarine. One move saw the children locked into the back of a U-Haul truck for what might be a 14 hour drive, with no way to communicate with their parents. As they got older, they went through periods of time where everyone in the family fended for themselves for food—scavenging the remains of classmates discarded lunch bags, finding ways to get invited to dinner at other people’s houses.

We wondered how these young people remained hopeful, kept their goals in sight, and seemed to feel loved, for the most part. This is an interesting point, after a Bible study discussion I took part in today. We talked about Job, and how he felt right before God, even though everything pointed to God's dismissal of him. We each thought a bit about how and when we have felt "approved of"--and how so often it feels to a child that their parents don't really approve. In this book, the children seem to feel their parents' approval as far as that goes, which serves them well as they push at the boundaries of their isolated lives.

Walls is a great writer, and she manages to tell incredibly sad stories with beauty and wit. That almost goes without saying, since this dark family tale turned out to be one of our favorite reads in a long time. Somehow she makes readers a tiny bit jealous at certain points that we didn’t grow up with such footloose and adventurous parents, even when it was obviously not something to be envied!

Eventually, though, we proved our incapacity for such an unplanned and uncertain lifestyle. Host Nancy produced two miniature boxes of chocolates—one Whitman sampler, and one Russell Stover. Neither box had a little chart telling us the filling of each candy. Rather than throwing caution to the wind and each claiming two unknown pieces of chocolate, Nancy carefully cut each chocolate in half so we could see what kind we were getting. No one got an unexpected coconut or maple filling, and everyone was happy. I kind of don’t think we would make it with the Walls family.

Jeannette Walls has also written a book called Half Broke Horses, about her tough-as-nails grandmother. Nancy and Sonya have both read it and recommend it. I’m hoping to read it soon!

Friday Noon Movie Club: The Hunger Games

There’s no way you’ve missed it, the movie version of The Hunger Games has arrived! The Friday Noon Movie Club was a fun gathering of 6 women, while my rather jealous teens toiled away at school. And I have to say, there was none of the humiliation that exists when a 40-something woman enters a theater to see a movie based on adolescent literature, like when said woman might show up at a Twilight screening. Not that I would know anything about that. Ahem.

As the mother of two young fans, I’ve been nervous for a while about how this movie would come out, wondering how the violent nature of the books would come across on film. And even more so wondering how I would deal with a disappointed daughter if it was more than I was willing to allow her to watch. But I had hope, because Suzanne Collins, the author of the trilogy, was one of the screenwriters, and I hoped that her sensibilities would continue onto the screen.

My faith in her was rewarded. The movie stayed true to the books, showing violence in a way that does not glorify it. Indeed, it does the opposite, showing the sacredness to human life, and the fact that everyone involved in violence is changed by it. The Hunger Games is a horrific tale of societal oppression and mob mentality, with elements of Roman gladiators, Shirley Jackson’s story “The Lottery,” and Lord of the Flies, among many others.

Yet the selling point of both the book and the movie is the strong female lead, Katniss Everdeen, a resourceful young woman who will sacrifice herself for those she loves. And Katniss is ably played by Jennifer Lawrence, who was also wonderful as Katniss’s present-day alter ego in Winter’s Bone, a movie from a couple of years ago.

Other characters are well-played, but not well-developed. The constraints of time appear to have cut much of the back story on many of the characters, which proves frustrating to fans of the novels. For instance, Cinna did not play a big enough part. Being a closet Lenny Kravitz fan, I was sort of amazed at how restrained his performance was. I have no idea how it plays to someone who doesn’t know the books, because, having read them, my memory fills in any missing information.

I “enjoyed” the movie, for lack of a better term. I don’t know what to do with that. Is it inspiring? Not really, because it’s such a sad story, even if Katniss does come through. Is it uplifting? No. But there’s something appealing about it, and it’s not just the excitement of the danger and competition. It has to do with Katniss’s refusal to submit to the expectations placed on her, and her refusal to succumb to the baser nature that shows up in some of her opponents. The on-screen treatment of her relationship with the young girl, Rue, is one of the highlights of the movie.

I felt satisfied, if saddened, after watching, but I do wonder if I can tolerate watching the second and third books turned into movies. But I’m not sure I’ll be able to stay away, either.

One more thing—I downloaded the soundtrack today, which was put together by T Bone Burnett (O Brother Where Art Thou?, Walk the Line, Cold Mountain). On first listen, it appears to be a fabulous combination of music, including songs from Neko Case, the Punch Brothers, the Civil Wars, Taylor Swift, Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, The Carolina Chocolate Drops…an amazing list. Even if you don’t want to watch the movie, check out the music.

Friday Noon Movie Club: Jeff, Who Lives at Home

The Friday Noon Movie Club met last Friday (yes, it’s taken me this long) to see Jeff, Who Lives at Home. I was joined by three adventurous moviegoers who had little idea of what they were seeing and were even up for lunch afterward!

Jeff, Who Lives at Home, is about a lovable, pot-smoking, slacker manchild (Jason Segel) who lives in his mother’s basement. He’s watched M. Night Shyamalan’s movie “Signs” a few too many times and is trying to read the signs in his own life.

At the same time, his older brother, Pat (Ed Helms), has lost track of his own sense of purpose, which is leading to desperate attempts at good times and a failing marriage. At her office, Mom (Susan Sarandon) is lonely and disappointed in the way that her life has turned out. She despairs that Jeff will not even be able to accomplish a small repair job in her absence. Each of them are still grieving the long-ago loss of their father and husband, keeping each other at arm’s length in different ways.

The prevailing theme of this movie is Jeff’s search for his fate, his destiny. At different points, old lines like “things happen for a reason” are dragged out, but only Jeff really seems to believe this. Though he is clueless about the world, he is kind and compassionate to the people around him, believing the best in everyone.

Brother Pat, who for all his problems is living the more “normal” life, is angry and bitter. Jeff patiently tries to help him see what he is missing, even though Jeff seems almost completely unable to make any move for himself. Until this day, when he receives a sign.

There is an interesting use of imagery that seems rather baseless. Everyone gets “dunked,” as one of my fellow moviegoers termed it. One gets baptized through the fire sprinklers, two more end up diving into some water. And Jeff is a 30-something single man who helps people and even has a carpentry job to attend to. Not sure what to do with all of that.

Should you see it? Maybe, maybe not. Offensive language abounds; it’s rated R for a reason. But humor bubbles out of this strange brew of painful family dysfunction and corny sentiment.

The last time my youth group small group met, we talked about how God communicates with us, following the Lenten service about questions we have for God. Talking with them, though I can point to concrete answers to prayer and ways that I’ve felt God’s leading, it was still felt sort of nebulous to explain how. So while I laugh at Jeff’s seeking for supernatural “signs,” I can’t help but think that I can understand how he feels, wishing for something to tell me exactly what to do next. So it seems to me that this movie helped me think through what it means to look for direction in life for those who don’t feel God’s hand leading them through it.