Litsy

The Elephant Whisperer: Learning About Life, Loyalty and Freedom From a Remarkable Herd of Elephants | Anthony Lawrence, Graham Spence, Lawrence Anthony

#Wildlife. #Falling

@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Eggs Sounds good 👌🏼 6d

40 likes1 comment

Bookwomble

The Late Bourgeois World | Nadine Gordimer

"I opened the telegram and said, "He's dead -" and as I looked up into Graham Mill's gaze I saw that he knew who, before I could say."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

33 likes

Bookwomble

The Late Bourgeois World | Nadine Gordimer

"Time is change: we measure its passing by how much things alter. Within this particular latitude of space, which is timeless, one meridian of the sun identical with another, we changed our evil innocence for what was coming to us."

"Some men live successfully in the world as it is, but don't have the courage to even fail at trying to change it."

AnnCrystal This qoute you shared here:

“Some men live successfully in the world as it is, but don't have the courage to even fail at trying to change it.“

Wow! Powerful 👏🏼😎👍🏼💫. 2w

Bookwomble @AnnCrystal It's a powerful book so far. I'm making slow progress as I keep stopping to look up historical details about apartheid South Africa. 2w

AnnCrystal @Bookwomble that's a good way to read, verifying and learning extra bits as you read 👏🏼😎👍🏼📚💫. 2w

33 likes1 stack add3 comments

Bookwomble

The Late Bourgeois World | Nadine Gordimer

Wikipedia tells me that Gordimer was a white South African of Jewish heritage who was a tireless anti-apartheid campaigner, political activist and HIV/AIDS advocate. She was an ANC member who advised Nelson Mandela on his 1964 defence speech, and was one of the first people NM asked to see upon his release from prison. No suprise, then, that this was one of the #BannedBooks under the apartheid regime.

Bookwomble And she's a Nobel Literature Prize winner, so I can reasonably expect a good read 🤞🏻 2w

36 likes2 stack adds1 comment

BarbaraJean

Story of an African Farm | Olive Schreiner

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - African Farm discussion 5/5:

LMM references this book several times in her journals:
Vol. 1—Oct. 7, 1897, p. 38
Vol. 2—March 6, 1901, p. 9
Vol. 4—Jan. 31, 1920, pp. 240-41
Vol. 5—Oct. 29, 1925, p. 420

What do you think LMM appreciated about this book? Where do you see influences on her writing?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean I‘ve thought several of our adjacent reads were a bust—but not this one. I‘m so glad we included this even though there was a lot about it that was frustrating. I could see LMM being influenced by the spiritual and religious views here—so many of the ideas reflect her views as articulated in her journals. And I noticed so many passages that echoed her writing. A couple quotes below ⬇ (edited) 1mo

BarbaraJean “I once heard an old man say, that he never saw intellect help a woman so much as a pretty ankle; and it was the truth.”
—Lyndall in African Farm (Part 2, Chapter 4 “Lyndall“)

“Emily, you remember that. You have brains—hide them. Your ankles will do more for you than your brains ever will.”
—Aunt Nancy Priest in Emily of New Moon (Chapter 25) 1mo

BarbaraJean This sounds SO like Anne:
“I will tell you... where I could pray. If there were a wall of rock on the edge of a world, and one rock stretched out far, far into space, and I stood alone upon it, alone, with stars above me, and stars below me—I would not say anything; but the feeling would be prayer.“
—Waldo, in African Farm (Part 2, Ch. 6 “A Boer-Wedding“) 1mo

BarbaraJean Last one…there are SO many! @TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder This is almost EXACTLY what we were musing about re: EoNM a few weeks ago—the soul/brain/body forms of love. In LMM‘s journal on Jan. 31, 1920, she quotes a passage from African Farm: “who knows whether there is no love that holds all—friendship, passion, worship?” Then she discusses different forms of love:
“Yes, I think there must be a love which embraces them all but it is rarer ⬇ 1mo

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) …than a blue diamond. Most of us have to content ourselves with far less. I have loved different men in vastly different ways but I have never loved any man with the whole force of my nature—with passion and friendship and worship. They have all been present repeatedly but never altogether in any of my loves. Perhaps it is as well, for such a love, in spite of its rapture and wonder and happiness, would make a woman an absolute slave…” 1mo

26 likes5 comments

BarbaraJean

Story of an African Farm | Olive Schreiner

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - African Farm discussion 4/5:

How did this work for you as a story, with so many philosophical or religious digressions? Would you have preferred the book to be one or the other—philosophy or story? Or did it work for you as is?

Published in 1883, this has been called an early feminist classic. What ideas (feminist or otherwise) did you find to be progressive for their time?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean The story felt really uneven to me, partly because of how different Parts 1 & 2 were from each other, but also because the philosophizing felt forced. I wish the author had done more to integrate the ideas into the narrative more naturally, rather than putting in long monologues from Lyndall, Waldo, Waldo's stranger, and others. The ideas in those monologues were integral to those characters, but the way they were presented was awkward. 1mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) That said, Waldo's ideas on religion & personal faith, and Lyndall's ideas (and choices) felt super progressive for the time (probably what LMM refers to when she says the book “made a tremendous sensation“). The fact that any moralizing on those ideas was put into Tant' Sannie's mouth, and clearly presented as wrong-headed, also felt ahead of its time (but it aligned with what we've seen in LMM's journals when she critiques religion). 1mo

julieclair This didn‘t really feel like a story at all to me, but rather as a series of narrative vignettes interspersed with philosophical essays. It was much too disjointed for me. 1mo

See All 6 Comments

julieclair Lyndall‘s feminist attitudes and beliefs were obviously progressive for the time, but so were Tant Sannie‘s, with her multiple husbands. 1mo

lauraisntwilder I never managed to get around to this one. I sort of hate summer for how busy and hectic it is. Maybe I'll read it one day! 🤞 1mo

BarbaraJean @julieclair I felt the same—it was too disjointed. I spent a lot of time wondering how she could have conveyed the same ideas more naturally within the story instead of using long monologues like she did. @lauraisntwilder Someday! 😁 It was such a mixed bag for me—really uneven—but it was fascinating to read it with LMM‘s journals as a backdrop. 1mo

27 likes6 comments

BarbaraJean

Story of an African Farm | Olive Schreiner

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - Story of an African Farm discussion 3/5:

Did you find the ending satisfying?
Do you think it offers resolution for the main characters and the questions they struggle with?
Did it offer resolution for you?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean I was so conflicted about the ending. I had a really hard time with Lyndall's fate. It all felt so bleak and hopeless, then somehow Waldo's reflections at the end made it work for me. For me, it did feel like there was resolution for Waldo and Em, but I don't see a resolution that resolves the questions Lyndall (and her story) raises. 1mo

julieclair The ending just made me sad. I agree that Waldo and Em did find resolution, but still, the overarching feeling was one of sadness, I thought. For Lyndall, I‘m not sure resolution was even possible for her, being so far ahead of her time. I don‘t think that the society she lived in could have supported resolution for her in any way. 1mo

BarbaraJean @julieclair I think you‘re right, that there couldn‘t have been resolution for Lyndall. I really wanted it to work, for her to get out and make her own way in the world (become a successful actress!), but the narrative is far too realistic for that. 1mo

23 likes3 comments

BarbaraJean

Story of an African Farm | Olive Schreiner

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - discussion 2/5:
Part One focuses on Bonaparte‘s sojourn at the farm and Waldo, Lyndall, and Em together as children. Part Two focuses on the three as young adults making their way separate from one another.

How do the children‘s experiences in Part One shape their lives in Part Two?
Do you see other connections between Parts One & Two?
Did the two parts feel like a cohesive narrative to you? Why/why not?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean The two parts felt disjointed at first, but looking back, I think Part 1 lays out the seeds of who the children become in Part 2. It's Bonaparte that made the book NOT feel cohesive to me! The whole Bonaparte thing felt out of place, other than providing some drama against which the children could demonstrate who they were (observant but passive & compliant Em, opinionated Lyndall struggling against constraints, Waldo trying to learn & grow). 1mo

23 likes1 comment

BarbaraJean

Story of an African Farm | Olive Schreiner

This book was not at ALL what I expected! Let‘s discuss!

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - Story of an African Farm discussion 1/5:

What impact does the setting (the African Farm of the title) have on the story? How did you feel about the characterization and treatment of native people throughout the book?

What roles do the adults (Tant‘ Sannie, Otto, Bonaparte) play in the children‘s growth (whether positively or negatively)?

lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

rubyslippersreads I completely missed this one but, depending on the comments, may go back and catch up. 1mo

BarbaraJean @rubyslippersreads Would love to hear your thoughts if you end up going back to read it! 1mo

julieclair Tha characterization of the natives really disturbed me. Even setting aside the outdated language, the whites seemed to regard the natives almost like they would a piece of furniture. There to perform a function and otherwise beneath their notice. 1mo

See All 8 Comments

BarbaraJean I was struck by how little impact the African setting had on the story. It could almost be any remote area with a harsh climate. Other than the fact that the characters are so isolated, the setting didn't seem to have a lot of impact. I thought there would be more overt racism than there is, so I kind of took it in stride that the native characters are kind of just bit players, often referred to with outdated terms that are now seen as racist. ⬇ 1mo

BarbaraJean (Cont'd) I did find Lyndall's progressive feminist views ironic against the backdrop of casual racism and colonialism. When she says: “…if I might but be one of those born in the future; then, perhaps, to be born a woman will not be to be born branded.” (Part 2, Ch. 4)—I doubt she sees the connection between her “branding“ as a woman and the racism & colonialism that “brand,“ repress and confine the native South Africans. 1mo

julieclair The setting on the African farm, with its isolation, served to make every human relationship more intense. And the pastoral setting left lots of time in the day for thinking, dreaming and philosophizing. 1mo

julieclair Otto was a lovely role model of a good, kind, faith-filled man. I can‘t even discuss that despicable Bonaparte. Tant Sante wasn‘t a great influence, either. 1mo

BarbaraJean @julieclair I was expecting more overt racism, so the characterization of native characters hit differently with me. It bothered me, but to some extent it was a relief that active, malicious actions or egregious stereotypes were absent. But as you said, the absence of notice is itself disturbing. I love your comments on the setting. The isolation really does intensify things, and the philosophizing makes more sense when I think of it that way. 1mo

22 likes8 comments

Welcome to Litsy!

Trending Hashtags

Trending Books