Wally Lamb
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb is the final book we'll be reading in our series. We began with a book that confronts the question of evil and we'll end by expanding that discussion. We also have read three books that make us wonder what it means to "enjoy" literature. Did you "enjoy" Say You're one of Them? How do we define "enjoyment?" How about Antigone? Was that an "enjoyable" read? The same may be true with this book. Let's discuss what emotions encompass engagement when we read a book. Does engagement include enjoyment?
Wally Lamb's other books include
She's Come Undone (1992)
I Know This Much Is True (1998)
Couldn't Keep it to Myself: Testimonies from Our Imprisoned Sisters (2002)
I'll Fly Away: Further Testimonies from the Women of York Prison (2007)
Wishin' and Hopin': A Christmas Story (2009)
The movie I've selected to accompany this book is Bowing for Columbine, a film by Michael Moore.
Let's see if we can get some discussion going about this novel.
ReplyDeleteFirst --I noticed right away that Lamb has created a motif -- the maze motif. Note in the first few chapters his references to mazes. As you continuing reading the novel, make note of any other references to mazes.
I viewed Bowling for Columbine this week and will read The Hour I First Believed soon. I realize Michael Moore is doing a political statement but he raises a good question. Why do we in USA have ll,000 plus gun killings while Canada had 65 in a year? I liked K Marts response but I didn't like his handling of Charleton Heston who seemed like an elderly confused man.
ReplyDeleteBlair -- I have very mixed feelings about Michael Moore's films. They bring up some good points that are worth discussing. But they are not balanced at all. And I agree with you that the way he treated Charleton Heston was disrespectful, even cruel. But that's the code of much American journalism today. Moore could claim that, if he had told Heston the purpose of the interview, Heston would have refused. And Heston is a public figure. But I have problems with this kind of journalism. I find it unethical. But it sells. It's sensational. And that's what journalism is about these days -- the ratings.
ReplyDeleteI have now finished the Hour I first Believed. I disliked the book for the first l00 pages and then got interested. By the last three hundred I was hooked. I tell you that so that if you haven't gotten far along, it gets better. I think Caelum's whole life was a maze. It would be interesting to read a Readers Digest Version of it to see how much essential there is and how much corn shucks.
ReplyDeleteThe maze theme runs through the whole book and is tied into chaos theory and the praying mantis. How about the title of the book -- The Hour I First Believed? It comes from the last line of the second verse of Amazing Grace.
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