Writing in the Age of Silence

I didn’t expect to like this book.  It’s a memoir.  Not that I don’t like memoirs.  It’s just that recently I’ve been reading lighter, escape-type novels and I prefer to stick with that.  And besides… I didn’t even know this Sarah Paretsky (the author)!  But the book, Writing in the Age of Silence, was recommended by a friend and it was short.  I wouldn’t have to suffer for long.

            Obviously, millions of other readers know Paretsky.  She was recently named the 2011 Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America and is the best-selling author of a series of crime novels starring detective V I Warshawski.  And I didn’t suffer at all; I enjoyed every word of Paretsky’s thoughtful reflections on her dysfunctional family and her rural Kansas upbringing, her literary and political growth, and the development of her female detective.  Most importantly, she talks about how these things affected her as a writer and how she and other authors continue to struggle to find their voice. She writes “Every writer’s difficult journey is a movement from silence to speech.  We must be intensely private and interior in order to find a voice and a vision—and we must bring our work to an outside world where the market, or public outrage, or even government censorship can destroy our voice.”  She goes on, in the last chapter, to elaborate on each of these forces that work against the modern day writer.

            In another chapter she talks of the American spirit of individualism and how the stereotypical P. I. was the embodiment of this trait. Paretsky credits authors Chandler, Daly, and Hammett for influencing her as she created Warshawski.  V I Warshawski, operating in Paretsky’s beloved Chicago, is not only individualistic, she is a woman detective operating in the male-dominated world of crime fighting.  There is no possible way that Paretsky’s feminism and some of her persona isn’t present in the DNA of Warshawski. 

            This is certainly good reading material for anyone who is an author, whether aspiring or accomplished.  Warshawski fans, as well as fans of biographies and memoirs, and simply anyone who enjoys a soul-searching look into the times we Americans are living in, will appreciate this book.  As for me, I’ve just downloaded Body Works, Paretsky’s latest crime novel, which the N Y Times has named one of the Top Mysteries of 2010.

            Dr. Karen Boyle, Professor of English at Kent State University at East Liverpool will lead the discussion of Writing in the Age of Silence at the MUSE Group.  The meeting is April 12^th, in the Main Classroom building at 6:30 pm and all are welcome to attend.

Past MUSE Selections

The fall season of MUSE group featured these books:

• Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
• Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
• Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

To find out more about these novels, check out the reading guide.

MUSE Group Recipes

The last 2 meetings of the MUSE group have included some tasty dishes accompanied by wine or soft drinks. Here, by your request, are recipes for two of the favorites:

CLAM CHOWDER (or shall we call it Kitteridge Chowder?)
2 cans New England clam chowder
1 can cream of of potato soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 pint whipping cream ( or half and half, not quite as rich)
1 can diced clams
Mix all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 4 hours.  May need to turn to high for the last half hour.

REUBEN DIP (Millennium Dip?)
8 oz. deli corned beef, finely chopped
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
1 can (8 oz) sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Combine ingredients in min-slow cooker.  Cover and cook for 2 hours or until cheese is melted. Stir.  Serve warm with rye bread (cut into 2 inch squares) or rye crackers.  

The New York Public Library

For my birthday, my daughter surprised me with a flight to New York, along with two nights stay in a hotel, and tickets to see "Jersey Boys."  We spent three days in total self-indulgence: eating, shopping, and sight-seeing.  It was a wonderful trip and the quality time with my busy daughter (mother of two) was the best part of it all.  But one of the real thrills for me as a librarian was seeing the New York Public Library.  If you know libraries at all, your mind has already conjured up the image of two lions guarding the steps of the Stephen A. Schwarzman building.  Stepping into the library, it was suddenly 1911 again, the opening year of the library. We walked along the mosaic floors through halls of heavy carved paneling.  There were beautiful murals on ceilings and old wooden tables with individual lamps.  Although I love the library I work in, with its computer workstations and trendy patterned carpeting and furnishings, the NYPL is the library of my dreams. Leather bound books, people reading newspapers on sticks (I didn't really see the sticks but I bet they were there!), and the warmth and comfort of being around readers.  It was Library Heaven.  

I flew to London Ontario last week on business. On the plane I selected "Room," a novel I had downloaded to my IPad quite a while back. I can honestly say this was one time that I wished for a longer flight.

The writing seemed a little odd and confusing at first because the narrator is a 5 year old named Jack. As the pages turned, or in my case, scrolled, I realized that Jack and his mother were being held captive by "Old Nick" in an 11 by 11 foot room. I won't reveal any more about this truly mesmerizing story only to say that this is a work of amazing intelligence and creativity. Read this and you will have Jack in your head for weeks. There is a lot of "feel good" in this book as well as tragedy, love, and surprise. And there was an additional surprise for me; author Emma Donoghue lives in London and is a personal friend of the collegues that I met with there. Perhaps these connections will be of benefit for MUSE members further down our literary road.

Olive Kitteridge

Olive Kitteridge is the common denominator in Elizabeth’s Stroud’s collection of 13 short stories.  Sometimes Olive is the lead character, other times she’s simply a supporting actress waiting in the wings in the salty seaside village of Crosby, Maine.   

Stroud goes against convention and presents us with a lead character that is, by all accounts, unlikable.  Descriptors would include abrasive, insensitive, large in physique and presence, outspoken, flawed yet fascinating.  Despite the hard shell, each of the stories unpeels another layer of Olive.  The reader witnesses Olive’s growing understanding of herself, her family and the small-town life around her.

The novel Olive Kitteridge won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2009 and was listed as “Best Book of the Year” by numerous publishers including The Washington Post, The Plain Dealer, and Library Journal.  The acclaim, in my opinion, is deserved.  In these powerful stories we find ordinary people trying to grapple with what life has dealt them; anorexia, cheating spouses, suicide, and even less serious daily irritations or delights.  Through love and acceptance they find relief.   

Reading these stories is like wearing an invisible shroud and slipping into the homes of our neighbors, i.e. people we claim to know but really don’t.  And how about those neighbors that you can’t tolerate?  Perhaps they are like Olive, unlikable, at least until you slip into their lives and view the world through the lens of their experiences.  Maybe they too become more endearing…just as Olive does in the last story. 

Kent State University’s MUSE Group will discuss this novel on March 1, at 6:30 in the Main Classroom Building, 400 Fourth Street, East Liverpool.  MUSE is free and open to the public.  Refreshments will be served.  Call 330-382-7421 for additional information

MUSE Group, Blair Memorial Library, Kent State, East Liverpool

All seats were taken around the large conference table for last night’s MUSE group.  About half the participants were there to discuss Stieg Larsson’s triliogy, the other half were there to learn about the books for future reading.  These are books that provide lots of material for discussion and the readers eagerly expressed their strong opinions, especially about the main characters.  Without exception, they loved Lisbeth Salander, noting her spunk, her sense of fairness (or shall I say revenge), her ability to compensate for inadequacies such as her size, her unique appearance, and her lack of concern for public opinion.  Remember that MUSE is free and open to all.  The next gathering is March 1 and the discussion is on Olive Kitteridge.