And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world. Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear—and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence."
Insights and Opinions
"Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible."
-- Carl Jung
+ The story unfolds quietly, in schoolroom scenes with Artie in front of his class, in Artie's meeting at a local bar with his old friend Flossie, at home with Artie and his wife Evie and the exchange of comments between them when Artie finds he must "let it go." Soon we learn that, despite all outward appearances, Artie is leading what Henry David Thoreau describes as a "life of quiet desperation."
+ To Jocey, this novel captures the secret despair people carry as they go about their lives and the loneliness that grows out of withholding the truth about this internal pain. By page 156, after Artie has learned the truth about his son but told no one and is meeting with his colleague Anne, we read "In a way, Artie was aware for the first time how much people lied to one another. Why had he not realized this before? Because he had not lied to people? He could not, in truth, remember now how much of his life he had been lying."
+ And as Linda pointed out, on page 182: "Because to say anything real was to say things nobody wanted to know. Of if they wanted to know, they would not care in the right way. Or even understand. It was a private thing, to be alive." This passage brought Niall Williams to mind for Shirley and how Williams' characters personify what it means to be alive.
+ Both Faith and Steve noted the inherent power gap in Artie's relationship with his wife Evie and how it shifts before the close of the story. Early in their lives, Artie is happy for the small wedding and agrees with Evie's family's general view that Evie is "marrying down." But Evie also uses this as power over him, which leaks out in unpleasant ways later on, telling Artie in a moment of anger that Evie's father never liked him. Evie has a habit of shutting down conversations with Artie when he tries to bring up something he cares about. And there is a point, Lois noted, when Evie admits she likes Artie better when he's not soft. To Faith, the fact that Artie takes the secret he finally learns to the grave is his final exertion of power over Evie. He now knows something she has always known, but he withholds the fact that he knows.
+ To Steve, Strout's novel is an atypically magnanimous book toward men, who are often not treated kindly in modern literature. Artie's developing relationship with Ken Moynihan, the strong bond that develops between Artie and his son even and especially after they both learn the secret Evie has been keeping, Heather's father showing up at the funeral, Artie's mentoring relationship with his student Danny -- all of these events and story elements are treated gently and with an astute understanding of human need and behavior.
+ The male characters are gently able to extend grace to each other, Lois noted. Artie extends grace to Danny, a troubled student, and then the clothing store owner extends grace to Artie after his failed shoplifting attempt.
+ Liz asked the group for their opinions on the references to the presidential election and whether they thought the references added or subtracted from the story flow. Margy felt that many of these references will be dated very quickly and will be less understood by future readers. Liz thought the references were intrusive and detracted from the flow, that the rest of the story felt like the characters talking to us and the election business felt like the author talking to us. Chris felt the references were unnecessary. Linda, Jocey, and Steve all disagreed. To Linda, the Ken Moynihan character would not have been important without this element, and his relationship with Artie is important. Jocey felt it was necessary because the results of the election have caused great pain. And per Steve: "I thought it was major. It shook me out of this growing false assumption of normalcy. It awakened me to the real danger."
+ Margy admired how Strout is able to cover vast territory with an economy of words. "She deals with class consciousness, suicide, secret love, loneliness, and death. But she manages to do it without being depressing," she said.
+ Two elements in the book left us all a bit stymied. Artie's frequent memory of his sister eating sugar on the sneak and Artie's constant questioning about whether or not free will exists both appear frequently in the pages of this novel. Yet neither is ever expanded upon in a way we fully understood, although we did have our theories. Maybe Strout feels like her message is obvious, but as readers, we didn't quite get it.
+ Linda reread the book and recommended we all do the same. Much of what is surprising at first read is actually revealed in hints and clues along the way, from the very beginning.
+ Margy asked the philosophical question at the heart of this book: Is it better to keep secrets or to share what you know? Chris had the right answer. "I don't think there is a universal answer to that."
+ Challenge question for the group: Did we all say what we really thought? Or did we refrain due to "holding certain views which others find inadmissible?"
Our Next Reads
We were wildly efficient at the close of our session, and locked in on both our titles and hosts for the next three months.
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| The usual suspects |
