The Ann Patchett book club

Back home I am part of two book clubs. I used to think I could participate in several more, such is my love of reading and discussing books, until I coordinated a year-long book club on the politics of food. Three was too much. And then I had a child and keeping up with two became challenging. But my love of books hasn’t abated, of course. I have been dreaming about starting a Spanish language book club when we return; we could read books aimed at the teen or tween reader for an easier time with Spanish.

This summer, I lent one of my favorite books, Bel Canto (by Ann Patchett), to my lovely friend Gabi. Just before we left for Peru, Gabi gave me Patchett’s latest book, State of Wonder, which she had just finished and knew I’d been coveting. Both books are set in South America. Bel Canto is in Lima, although it’s never explicitly stated. But the garúa, the thick, gray fog that blankets the city for most of the year, is practically a character in the book. State of Wonder is mostly in Brazil.

Knowing that Ann Patchett is a spellbinding writer, and that the book would be an escape as well as a transition of sorts (from regular life in Indianapolis, through scary new beginning in Lima, to adjustment to our new normal), I wanted to make it last as long as possible.

I normally race through books as quickly as I can read them. But two other times I’ve forced myself to go slower, both with Barbara Kingsolver books. Right after Simon was born, there were several weeks during which every day, like clockwork, I got depressed at 4 p.m. So Sam suggested that, during that daily window of feeling low, I read Kingsolver’s latest book, The Lacuna. He’d given it to me for Christmas but I had been saving it for a special occasion. He thought that having something special to look forward to every day would help, which it did. And for Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible, I could only read it on the bus ride to and from work every day, to make it last longer.

So instead of reading at my normal pace, I tried to read slooooowly, to savor it. I could only read it in the evenings, after Simon went to bed (and, when we were in Spanish school, after homework was considered, if not completed). I couldn’t read it every night. Moreover, each time I picked it up I reread the section I’d just finished the last time. I was kind of reading it twice before finishing it for the first time.

And what a delight it was. It took me almost six weeks to read it this way, piecemeal. That drove me nuts because I just wanted to know what happened, but deep down I knew I needed to just enjoy the amble towards the end of the book.

Poor Sam: when I was incredulous at various plot developments, I’d try to tell him why such-and-such was incredible or shocking or just not possible. And he’d listen and nod and try to look interested, but he was really thinking about the stock market. (And then he’d try to tell me about the latest developments on the stock market and I’d listen and nod and try to look interested, but I was really thinking about my book.)

Both of these books are similar in that you are lulled into a certain rhythm or pace by the plotline and then in a matter of pages, even paragraphs, that world completely changes. Then you are left dying to compare your elation, sadness, euphoria, not to mention plot points, with someone. At least, I was!

Therefore, when I finished it late one night, I immediately emailed Gabi and asked her when we could Skype.

It took a while for our schedules to align – well, it took a while for a window to open in Gabi’s ultra-busy schedule. But finally, between conference calls, during her son’s nap, and after convincing her daughter to play with markers, we got to talk about these fabulous and surprising books, their skillfully crafted characters and excellent plotlines.

It is so satisfying to me to share the excitement of a book with a fellow book lover. There’s the shared understanding of known characters and their quirks, shared language about plot developments, shared pain at difficult points and losses. It’s a world come alive for the people who have chosen to enter it.

The ending was hard to read, not only because of the plot but also because this story was coming to an end. As Gabi said, you know these characters so well it’s hard to leave them. It was so lovely to compare notes via our virtual book club meeting and filled the book club void of the past few months.

I would share more about State of Wonder but since I abhor knowing details about plots before I read a book, I will just say that I highly recommend it. (Bel Canto, too, of course, although since I’m fresh off of my State of Wonder high, I’m more reverent about it!)

My honeymoon of reading books written in English is now over and I’m slowly working my way through books in Spanish by Isabel Allende and Paulo Coehlo. Slowly, not because I’m trying to savor them… slowly, because I read at a snail’s pace in Spanish. Hopefully I’ll have them finished by the end of next summer when we return. And then we can talk about them!