Difficu
American Karma: Twilight of the Marijuana Gods by Doug Shear
A friend gave me this book, and I only read it for that reason. I owe my friend because otherwise, I wouldn’t have read it. I thank my friend because there is something about this book, something special. I wondered if it was just me, but I suggested it to a fellow writer because I thought she could learn techniques from the author. I was a little nervous about it because she is very different from me, much more conservative, and sees things differently. I asked her what she thought of it and waited. The words she used were the same as I would have used. This book had us seeing things similarly, the same for the first time.
This memoir/novel is the story of a 17-year-old boy trying to find his way in the early 1970s amid drugs and the promise of a phantom hippy Goddess, Mary. He sets out from Miami with his secretly gay best friend to seek her, thinking he will find her. They make every mistake there is to make. The humor and pathos had me rooting for this kid as no other boy’s coming-of-age story has. I have read these stories from the myth of Perseus to the Catcher in the Rye, and they all left me cold. This true story could have been another in that millennia long tradition, but it isn’t. That is exactly how the conservative writer described it.
He gave up on finding Mary after obtaining many physical and emotional bruises and returned home to frustrated parents, but not for long. At the time, the notorious pyramid scheme conman Glenn Turner (a hybrid between Bernie Madoff and Donald Trump) was running out of money, about to be prosecuted, and willing to ‘hire’ anyone. He promised a glorious future if Doug cut his hair and donned a suit. Here is an insider’s account of the fall of a once-successful con. The book is worth reading for the historical content alone.
It was the 1970s, so our young hero also had run-ins at Disney World and with various other savory and not-so-savory characters.
From the Amazon description, bearing the stamp of Doug Shear, “The Marijuana Gods is difficult to believe, but proof exists in the form of letters, objects, and historical evidence. Besides, nobody could make this up.”
I’m not a fan of boy quest stories for many reasons, but partly because they end up self-serving at best. This book is the exception in my experience. It is easy to root for this kid like no other. 17-year-olds are self-involved, but this one also had a true heart. When my writer friend came up with the same description almost to the word, I knew that this was a book with universal appeal.
It is well-written and has a unique touch. The honesty shows what it is like inside a very young man, in a palatable way. He’s trying to do his best, sometimes comically, often sadly. You will be happy to know that our hero got through it all and became a responsible citizen, mostly. I most highly recommend this one.
The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free. by Paula Bren
I came across The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free by Paula Bren accidentally while reading a discussion on Facebook. What a treat. My mother who had never been east of the Mississippi (if you don’t count Moline, Illinois) until she was 54, knew about the Barbizon. It came up somewhere when I was a kid, and I asked her if she knew about it. She was also married at 18, and she never wanted to be free, but she knew about this hotel. This hotel is a part of history. Whether your interest is in women’s history, the 20th century, feminist history, or the history of Manhattan this is of interest.
Women fought for the vote for decades before they got it in 1920. Women’s hotels were popping up throughout the country, certainly in Manhattan, but the Barbozon was the last and the star. They accommodated the women who had been clambering to get out on their own before settling down to marriage. Many parents would only allow this if their daughters were going to be safe, with restrictions.
In the 1920s and decades after young women graduated college, even the prestigious Seven Sisters had to have secretarial skills if they ever wanted to get a job. Thus the famous Gibbs Secretarial School had two floors at the Barbizon dedicated to college grads who wanted a job before marriage. The Powers Modeling agency had a floor.
The residents were upper-class and white and had to supply several references before they were admitted. The Barbizon had standards. The rooms were Spartan; however, to the women on their own for the first time, even the rules felt like a freedom they had never dreamed of. There was luxury Outside the individual rooms, but no men were above the first-floor lobby.
The author did meticulous research about the invisible women who came and went (some never leaving) and a bevy of the famous including Grace Kelly and others you will know.
Sylvia Plath lived there while a Mademoiselle magazine college editor winner in June 1953, as did all the other winners throughout the history of this program. The Bell Jar, Plath’s only novel, begins at this hotel, which she calls the Amazon. Joan Didion wrote there.
It was a dream come true and a place for exploration. However, Bren also takes us to the downside. Just as college grads had to go to secretarial school, there was the knowledge that all would get married and desperation among those who were getting too old. Suicides were relatively common, although they were generally hidden.
We learn about the history of the Mademoiselle program. Those who grew up reading this magazine and wanting to be part of it will learn what it was like. We learn about the women who never left, who became a problem in the decades to come. I enjoyed that when the building was gutted and revamped into condos in the 21st century there were still women there, protected by the New York rent control laws, whose rent could not be raised, could not be moved out, and still had to be provided with complimentary maid service. These women beat the system.
The book did leave me with a few questions. We were told often that the only men who ever got above the first floor were doctors, and not just doctors, but gynecologists. I thought that the only reason women of that age would need that would be abortion, but it wasn’t stated. Later, she did mention that several women had abortions, but never tied the two together or even discussed it.
There was a chapter titled McCarthyism and Its Female Prey which really piqued my interest. It seems that those who were obsessed with Communists in our midst also believed that anything that would allow women any freedom was suspect. I was disappointed with this chapter as it seemed a little shallow.
However, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a well-written history of women in the 20th century, the women’s movement, and New York.
Book Club Questions:
These questions are generally for book clubs; however, they can also be used for contemplation or talking to a friend. Spoiler Alert: These questions are designed for people who have read the entire book. If surprises matter, do not read these now.
- Did the structure of the Barbizon speed up or ultimately hinder the freedom of women during those decades?
- Do you see the links between McCarthyism and feminism, certainly of the time?
- Would staying at the Barbizon or a similar residence have helped or hindered you?
- Is there a need for a women’s residence today? Perhaps with fewer rules and restrictions?
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
For decades I assumed that I had read The Bell Jar. It turns out that I hadn’t. However, the book is so widely written about that I thought I had. I had read someone talking about the scene where she goes to a hospital with her medical student boyfriend and watches a birth with the woman in ‘twilight sleep’. That was seared into my memory. I decided to reread it when Plath was featured in the book The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free. Just as Plath did in real life, the protagonist was awarded the guest editorship of a young women’s magazine. Like in real life it was glamorous but not as glamorous as young girls would think.
At the end of the month, Esther Greenwood began to have a mental breakdown, but the signs were ignored. The book is so biographical that Plath originally published it under a pseudonym and only in England to spare the feelings of people she loved who might be upset.
After returning home Esther was able to appear normal, if somewhat worrying, while planning her suicide. Just as Plath in real life, there was a nationally famous hunt for her after she attempted it until she was found almost dead in her mother’s basement.
I have worked in mental health for more than 40 years, at times with people suffering as she did. Her portrayal of the inner life was a stunningly intimate portrayal of mental illness and life in the 50s. Esther was first put in a state facility, after a horrible experience with electroshock. Thanks to a wealthy benefactor she was then placed in an exclusive private hospital where she recovered. In addition to the inner workings, we learn a lot about the classist nature of our medical system.
If, like me, you think you have read it because you have read so much about it, it’s time to get the book in your hands. You might want to re-read it regardless, as it is a book that will be important and instructive as you go through ages and changes in your life.
Study Questions
These questions are generally for book clubs; however, they can also be used for contemplation or talking to a friend. Spoiler Alert: These questions are designed for people who have read the entire book. If surprises matter, do not read these now. I have given the entire story of this book because Plath’s life is so well known, and it is her writing that is the reason for reading the book.
- What did you learn about suicide?
- What part of women’s place in society has to do with her breakdown?
- Did the portrayal of her boyfriend seem accurate for male-female relationships of the time?
- How did her mother participate in the problem? Was she too involved or not enough?
- Plath seemed to draw a link between the electrocution of the Rosenbergs and her own and Esther’s electroshock therapy. Besides the obvious, what links do you see?
The Change by Kirsten Miller
I discovered this book after a friend recommended it. Thank you, Lori! That is the best way to find great books, isn’t it?
I bought it and had it for a while before reading it, then couldn’t put it down. Just before I read it, I found Unlikeable Female Characters by Anna Bogutskaya. It was a perfect follow-up that helped me put the women in The Change into real context. From “Unlikeable,” “It’s not about relatability; it’s about permission to fail and be flawed.”
These women are flawed, and I don’t know if I liked them very much, but Anna Bogutskaya helped me see that I don’t have to like them to cheer them and know that everything they did wrong was right. I don’t have to want to be friends with them to really appreciate their story.
According to the back cover, Nessa is the Seeker, who has inherited the ability to see ghosts and must help them. Harriet is the Punisher, who has stopped caring about what anyone thinks, and Jo is the Protector, mad as hell and isn’t taking it anymore. All are a bit over the top, and I don’t want to be friends with any of them, but I cheered them on throughout the book.
Briefly, Nessa, having entered menopause, was seeing ghosts, ghosts of dead girls. She and her partners had to find the bodies and revenge their murders in order for these girls to be free. No small task and one that required radical action, even unlikeable action.
It is fast-paced, even when seemingly breaking up the story to give back story. Occasionally, it was unsettling, but it always worked out. The technique gave a breather to an otherwise intense narrative but was never gratuitous. There was a method for it all.
I wonder how much of her story she got from the Jeffery Epstein story. I won’t say more as it might be a spoiler, and any connections may be in my head. You decide for yourselves.
The characters are well fleshed out, even the relatively insignificant ones whose purpose is to advance the story. And the story pulls no punches. Fiction is a great place for moral ambiguity, especially when it seems so right.
I must add that there are good men in this very feminist revenge book. Guys even get better as the women become more powerful. There are some really likable men!
Study Questions
These questions are generally for book clubs; however, they can be used for contemplation or talking to a friend. Spoiler Alert: These questions are designed for people who have read the entire book. If surprises matter, do not read these now. If you have a question you would like to discuss, put it in the comments. Thanks
- Jo’s anger leads to violence, and Harriett’s anger is displayed much differently. Discuss the difference. Is one more moral than the other? Which would you be more likely to follow?
- The three protagonists are all menopausal. Nessa’s twins are in full childbearing age and Jo’s daughter is still prepubescent. Nessa got her power before her period and was told it would go away until menopause. Why do you think that might have been necessary? If you do.
- There are three daughters in the story. Mothers and daughters represent 3 stages of female fertility. how do they fit in?
- What was the change in Jo’s husband about? Did it seem real to you? Why did it happen when it did?
- If this book were made into a movie (and lets hope it is) Would Nessa, Jo and Harriett be ‘unlikeable women” and if so, what kind?
Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate. by Anna Bogutskaya
I was reading The Change when I passed by a library storefront and saw this book in the window. I haven’t read a book like that in many years. I was hoping they weren’t necessary anymore as things have gotten better. In fact, the preface dealt with just that issue. But alas, it is still relevant.
Anna Bogutskaya is well aware of what has changed. I feared reading the book would make me angry (the angry woman being one of the unlikeables) or maybe just too depressed. Neither happened.
What did happen was that things that still needed work were highlighted, but knowing that the work was worth doing because we did have positive results. I read the book at a time when women’s basketball, pro, and college were outselling the men’s game. People were starting to realize that the women’s game was better, even though teams with 7-foot centers could beat the best women’s team, that didn’t mean it played better basketball. Yea. At the same time, The Supreme Court had destroyed Roe V Wade, putting millions of women’s lives at risk not to mention taking away their bodily autonomy, with worse things on the drawing board.
It’s a perfect time to read this book. Yes, it’s about TV and movies, but we can often learn a lot from popular culture. I recommend this book.
Bogutskaya gives us a comprehensive group of unlikeable female characters that is comprehensive, although you might think of another one. The Bitch, The Mean Girl, The Angry Woman, The Slut, The Trainwreck, The Crazy Woman, The Psycho, The Shrew, The Weirdo. The Change is unusual because all three characters qualify under one category, The Angry Woman. I would love to see her discuss this book
The one that hit me the most was “The Shrew.” Her main example was Skylar White in Breaking Bad. Skylar was married to a chemistry teacher turned Meth dealer/murderer. First, she didn’t know what he was doing but tried to keep the family together. When she found out what he was doing she tried to talk him out of it, and when he wouldn’t stop, she helped him to save her family. From this emerged a virtual cottage industry of “we hate Shylar and she should be killed” groups and memes and everything else. It got so bad that the actor who played the part, Anna Gunn (she won awards for this) began getting her own hate network. In the meantime, her husband, the guy who murdered and sold meth to children, was vaunted as a hero. She was a Shrew and should be punished.
I find this galling, but what makes it more important to me is that this is why Donald Trump was president instead of Hillary Clinton. There are way too many examples in our actual lives from the presidency to the lady boss everyone hates.
Someday, these kinds of books will be unnecessary. But until then, this book does a great job pointing out where we were and what is still problematic.
Book Club and Study Groups
- Which category was the most meaningful to you and why?
- How does this work in your life?
- What other movies or TV shows would you place in this category?
The Invisible Hour: by Alice Hoffman
I discovered Alice Hoffman in the 80s and for a while read her voraciously She is best known for Practical Magic, made into a movie with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock. Fun movie, I would recommend it on it’s own, but not as good as the book. Cliche I know, but some movies are ‘as good as the book’. This one was good, not that good.
I don’t remember my first, but I went on a little binge at the time. There was no internet at the time, but I did find out that, like J.D. Salinger, she was shy, maybe a recluse, but unlike him she was much more prolific. I think I stopped because I ran out of books. In researching for this I found a published interview and even a couple of videos. I will get to those soon, I am looking forward to it.
Her work reads easily, like beach novels, almost, except that they aren’t at all. These aren’t just entertaining stories, which they certainly are, they blend the mystical and the practical into novels that are both food for thought and entertainment.
Ivy was an unhappy girl of privilege. Her parents loved her, but she was often alone. They didn’t understand her or see her, according to her. When she got pregnant by a boy who abandoned her, she just needed to get away. She accidentally met a girl in Cambridge, Mass, near her home who was going on a bus to the western part of the state to meet with a group where they understood and loved girls. Why not?
At first, Ivy felt the love of the aggressively male religious cult leader. She also didn’t have a choice but to see it that way. He took her in, kept her safe, and took her daughter, Mia, as his own. After a lifetime of making her own rules, due to parental neglect, she accepted Joel’s strict rules about what women were and what they could do. She also didn’t have a choice. She had no idea that her parents were looking for her and mourning her loss, would take her back. She also had some status being the #1 woman who lived with Joel and as the mother of his daughter.
I read the first page to a patient of mine, a woman in her 70s who never read fiction. She was so taken by it that she asked for my copy to read. In that page, she saw what she had gone through and continues to struggle with. Hoffman’s work is that intuitive and profound.
However, Ivy and Mia developed a special relationship away from the others. Although it was against the rules to have private time with her child, she managed it. Books were also totally forbidden, but Ivy found ways for her daughter to escape to the town library where she began relationships with the librarian and with Natanial Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, a book that saved Mia. Mia stole it from the library. Sarah, the librarian knew, but said nothing. The possession of that book is what enabled Mia to escape into a real life.
After Ivy’s death Sarah and her partner helped Mia escape to eastern Massachusetts where she was able to have a more normal life. Joel was not going to let her go easily, however. Mia graduated college and was a working woman when he found her and came to get her back. The book she had stolen, time travel, an affair with Hawthorn and Mia convincing Hawthorn to write The Scarlet Letter, were what saved her. The exact way she did this all is clever and I will not ruin it for you. Know that the time travel fits seamlessly into the story. This is the magic of Hoffman’s books. She can do this and make it all real in a way few others could.
You will appreciate how Mia put it all together in a plan that freed her from Joel forever. The ultimate message is that Mia was saved by a book that was written 160 years before she was born, yet she had to go back and help Hawthorn write it. This is the essence of Hoffman’s work. We are responsible and can control our own lives, but we must be very creative about how we do it. We must not set limits on where we go to save ourselves, past present, or future.
Study Questions
These questions are generally for book clubs, however, can be used for contemplation or talking to a friend. Spoiler Alert: These questions are designed for people who have read the entire book. If surprises matter, do not read these now.
- Why do you think that Ivy stayed on with Joel’s cult? Was it because of the baby, her perceived rejection by her parents, or something else?
- Was Joel really blind to Mia’s trips to the library or was there some magical/spiritual intervention?
- Have you read The Scarlet Letter? If so, what effect did it have on your life?
- What would have happened if Mia had stayed with Hawthorn?
- Where do you see her life going?
JULIA: A Retelling of George Orwell’s 1984. by Sandra Newman
A novel
I love books that tell well-known stories through the eyes of another character. Wicked, The Red Tent, and Stone Blind (the story of Medusa) to name a few. I was still amazed when I discovered Julia, a Retelling of George Orwell’s 1984. I could barely wait to get my hands on it and was not disappointed.
I read 1984 in the 9th grade, some 60 years ago, and used discipline to reread it before I allowed myself Julia. I also kept wondering what it would have been like if I hadn’t read 1984 first. It’s up to you, reader. The book has become such a reference in our culture that there are probably people who think they read it and haven’t. I knew all the references such as Double Speak and calling things Orwellian, but the only things I remembered on my own were the rats and the iconic moment when a leader gave a Hate Week Speech denouncing Eurasia and in mid-sentence, the enemy was changed to Eastasia (or was it the other way around?) All the posters were removed and replaced. No one noticed.
I barely remembered Julia at all. She disappeared into 1984 much as Eileen became invisible In Wifedom, Mrs. Orwell’s Invisible Life. The two books shared a lot.
Winston Smith, the male protagonist of the original is miserable. He works in the Ministry of Truth where his job is to rewrite history as enemies change and people disappear. He is obsessed with finding what is real. Towards this end, he begins to take dangerous chances. He also has his eye on Julia, a mechanic at his ministry. She is much younger, attractive, and wears the red sash of the Anti-Sex League. He wants her and hates her. He fantasizes about taking her sexually and smashing in her head as he knows she is unavailable. He sees her as the symbol of all that is wrong in their society. Of course, he only knows her in his imagination.
In Julia, we meet her as she is. In juxtaposition to Winston’s dour serious obsessions, Julia has found a way to live; It’s very difficult but she does it. As a woman she has made the best life she could under the circumstances.
In 1984, Julia suddenly and surreptitiously hands Winston a note. “I love you”. In my reread 1984 I was held up. Why on earth would she do that? Other than the importance of advancing the story, it made no sense. In Orwell’s world what women do didn’t have to make sense, it wasn’t that important. In Julia, we learn much more about that and it becomes plausible. Julia is actually the moving force behind the entire story, just like Eileen. While Winston was off in fantasy about what is real, Julia had them both living a life. He did not bring them to their end. It was her.
In Wifedom, Eileen is what enables Orwell to do what he did. She typed and edited his manuscripts, tended his goats, and fixed his heating system and toilets. It is possible that she was the genius behind Animal Farm. It became clear that Julia was really Eileen. Orwell and his 7 biographers made Eileen invisible in life. Julia was invisible in Winston’s story, but we also see that in both the novel and the reality he had no life without her.
STUDY QUESTIONS
These questions are generally for book clubs, however, can be used for contemplation or talking to a friend. Spoiler Alert: These questions are designed for people who have read the entire book. If surprises matter, do not read these now.
- Why, do you think, that Julia, a woman was able to have a much more colorful life than Winston’s black-and-white misery?
- The movie, 1984 was made in black and white. This was as it should be. Even though Julia was set in the same place and time, I see the movie in color. Do you agree and why or why not?
- Julia saves herself in the end, mostly by not giving up. She finds a hopeful world, but then sees the seeds of more problems, similar to what she left. How do you see her using that? Does she try to prevent it, or just go back to living as best she could?
Related
1984. By George Orwell
As I said I first read 1984 in the 9th grade, however, I remembered very little clearly. Reading it before Julia helped me put that novel into perspective, however, I do not believe it is necessary for the enjoyment or understanding of Julia. Both Julia and 1984
This book is a dystopian work that sheds light on how a population is controlled terrifyingly. Even if you have never heard of the book it is hard to get through a life without references to it, which may be the reason to read it. Orwellian is often a phrase opponents throw at each other, sometimes with justification. Reading it is more about understanding your culture and a lot of what is going on today as our media becomes controlled by a few oligarchs and billionaires. In Orwell’s creation information was controlled and manipulated by the government. Today’s information is being manipulated by corporations. Questions for discussion would be
- What are the differences between governmental and private money control of information?
- And more importantly, what can or must we do about it?
Animal Farm. By George Orwell
Animal Farm is a parody of the Russian Revolution. The Tsarist governments had a firm control of Russian society to the detriment of most of the population. It is difficult for us to conceive that initially there was a lot of hope for the revolution. We cannot understand this because we all know how it ended with as much or more repression as people suffered under the Tsars.
Animal Farm takes place when the animals revolt against the farmer and as the animals quickly become more and more like the humans we see a parody of what happened in Russia
It is almost as much a part of our culture as 1984, with many references to it that we may not even connect to the novel. It is also known that Eileen had a very important part in putting this book together and may have written it herself
The point of discussion would be:
- Is it possible for human beings to have a more equitable society and keep it that way?
- What must we do to make that happen?
Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell’s Invisible Life: by Anna Funder
Biography
Eileen O’Shaughnessy, by all accounts, was an attractive, talented, personable woman who married Eric Blair AKA George Orwell, and then disappeared into a world of editing, advising, goat tending, egg collecting, furnace and toilet fixing, etc, etc Eric Blair, according to all reports had none of Eileen’s attributes, save the talent that wrote 1984 and other masterpieces, and he knew he needed help, His many biographers said that he knew he needed an editor, a typist, a maid, and handyman but couldn’t pay for any of those. He knew he must marry them and get it all for free.
“Behind every successful man is an invisible woman” would be Anna Funder’s take on an old message. When I was a girl it was meant to give females a bone, some acknowledgment of their contributions. Funder shows us that the cost was invisibility.
Wifedom is a well-researched biography about an interesting woman who might have had the world, even in a time when that was not available to women. How did it come to be that no one has heard of her?
Anna Funder’s book is laced with short essays about the world of invisible women but also about herself. She makes it clear that like most literature, biographies can be as much about the author as the subject. After reading all 7 Orwell biographies, all written by men, all of which collude in Eileen’s invisibility she informs that they erased her by using the passive mode. Things just ‘happened’ in Orwell’s life with no mention of the women who cared for him, literally did his dirty work and perhaps most importantly opened the doors he needed to be opened, Eileen being just one of many, but the most active. The 7 biographers hid his misogyny while talking about other flaws.
This book is not a bashing men or even bashing Orwell, screed. The personal essays are important in this book as Funder illustrates this millennia-old reality while showing that even with the improvements, changing the patriarchal system is so difficult. She acknowledges that she is a woman of privilege, and makes no bones about it. She tells us that she and her husband have worked hard to have their marriage be equal in the house and the raising of their three children, but that it just didn’t work out, certainly not her husband’s fault although he benefits. One poignant vignette was about her only son. At 9 he watched Christine Blasey Ford testify at Brett Cavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination hearings. He looked sad and worried, “How long has this been happening?” Misunderstanding she stated, “a few weeks” “No, how long have men been doing this to women?” She stopped to explain to her wonderful son that he did not have to do this, that his father and most men did not”. However, she tells us that a lot is standing in the way of equality no matter how hard women and men try. Orwell didn’t even try.
I was planning on taking my time reading this. I found Wifedom because I had just read Julia, which is a new take on 1984 with Julia, Winston Smith’s love object, as the protagonist. I had read 1984 in the 9th grade and felt I should reread it 60 years later before indulging in Julia and then found Wifedom. The book is structured so that one could read a few pages and then put it down to contemplate or to clean the kitchen. I planned on doing that. However, I read all 400 pages in a day and a half and still got the kitchen cleaned. It is mesmerizing. It convinced me that while I have read none of the Orwell biographies I learned more about him here than I could have from any of them. While Funder did not say this, I see that George Orwell himself is the prototype for Winston Smith.
I would recommend for those who want more also read Julia. I have long been a fan of books telling well-known stories from the viewpoint of other characters. I first read 1984 in the 9th grade, some 60 years ago. I reread it first and in the process stumbled on Wifedom which explains a lot of what happens the 1984. Here follows a review of Julia, with reference to 1984, for those who want to learn more about the mind and life that created this iconic novel. You will also find other renditions of “invisible women” on this blog. Unfortunately, there are too many of them, however, learning their stories and their courage to overcome is both enlightening and in some way heartening.
This author suggests, with evidence, that Eileen wrote Animal Farm as the format and other important aspects were her ideas and she may have actually written a lot of it. She certainly edited all of his works as she typed them. Thus, you might want to add this important novella to your reading list to more deeply understand the dynamics of the relationship between Eileen and Eric Blair AKA George Orwell.
STUDY QUESTIONS
These questions are generally for book clubs, however, can be used for contemplation or talking to a friend. Spoiler Alert: These questions are designed for people who have read the entire book. If surprises matter, do not read these now.
1. While working separately, 7 different Orwell biographers managed to keep Eileen invisible by using passive tense (things just seem to have happened to Orwell), and by using the term ‘wife’ while never using her name and other methods she was invisible.
- These men did not collude to do this. However, what were the forces that led to this phenomenon?
- Carl Jung often spoke of his concept of “Collective Unconscious”. Is there a “Collective Unconscious of Patriarchy”? If so is it held just by men or by everyone?
2.From the day Eileen met Orwell some friends were concerned without even knowing how it would end. As you read were you thinking of how you might have helped? Do you think her friends did as much as they could or could there have been more
3. We learned a little about her pre-Orwell life. How much of this do you believe was a tragic fatal flaw or was it mostly patriarchal society? How do these things intersect in her life?
4. Do you think that her friends knew the actual danger she was in at the end and felt helpless or just didn’t think it possible?
If you have other questions you want to ask/discuss please share them here with other readers. You can do this under responses