February 2022 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,

Luncheon on the patio, Omicron not invited, made us smile and appreciate the power of in-person chat. Discussion of Qian Julie Wang's "Beautiful Country", on the agenda, quickly dissolved as everything under the 85 degree sun pressed upon us. Wang's account of her challenging childhood in Mei Guo revealed a world of sweat shops and under-the-radar life of the undocumented. Wondering how the leap from hours in the toilet transformed into a Yale educated civil rights lawyer, we sense a sequel. Not a favorite read as Wang's detailed descriptions fell outside the reality of a young child's ability to accurately recollect, we wondered about the disconnect. The story is powerful but oh, how I would have loved to edit and craft it into a more fluid telling, perhaps a novel based on Wang's life.

edition from the U.K.

https://www.offtherecorduk.com/review-beautiful-country-qian-julie-wang/

Please enjoy the above review from the U.K.'s "Off the Record" Imogen Marshall, who offers a different take on our distaste:

"She offers a mature adult perspective, whilst still living within her childhood perspective and innocence in some respects."

Marshall's review reminded me to put aside the irritant of the perspective-voice and appreciate the tenacity Wang displayed, teaching herself English while living in poverty, riddled with fear of being discovered as undocumented.

美国

Mei Guo, the Chinese reference to the United States,  translates into "beautiful country". Evidently, the official name seems more bewildering:  美利坚合众国 (meilijian hezhongguo), or “The United States of Beauty, Advantage and Endurance.” That's also our secret Olympic motto. Here is more than you can imagine on that history:

https://medium.com/@ttfcui/why-do-chinese-translate-america-as-the-beautiful-country-2cbabf2fef1a

 

Qian Julie Wang & Marc Gottlieb

 

An impressive August 31, 2019 New York Times article describes the then-upcoming marriage of Wang to Gottlieb and includes blurbs about her parents.... very interesting:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/31/fashion/weddings/she-said-yes-every-time-he-asked.html
 

Together, their law firm, Gottlieb and Wang LLP, advocates for education and disability rights:

https://www.gottliebfirm.com/about-1

Again, impressive and a testament to Qian Julie's convictions to help others who have suffered as she understands.

 

My suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Better to Have Gone ....Love, Death The Quest for Utopia in Auroville" Akash Apur *chosen

"Say Nothing" Patrick Radden Keefe

"The Habit of Hidden Genius" Craig Wright

 Up next:

Happy reading,

LK

January 2022 Bookclub News

 

 

We Flattened the Curve!!

 

Dear Bookclub,

The latest Covid case count, courtesy of the New York Times, January 15, 2022, explains the decision to meet, once again, à la Zoom. Discussion of Janice Nimura's "The  Doctors Blackwell" began Greek chorus-like, as we recited stories of our family's experiences with Covid and other illness in recent weeks. Deja vu: this too shall pass.

 

An illustration shows medical student Elizabeth Blackwell at Geneva Medical College (later Hobart College) in upstate NewYork,

Bettmann/Getty Images

 

 

 

 

Nimura's account gave an eye-opening understanding of the evolution of medicine evoking appreciation  for advances technically, socially and scientifically and planting hope for a continued trajectory in all aspects as we realize how much more can be achieved. As the previous sentence demonstrates: dry. Spoiled by zestier nonfiction books in our past year of reading, ("Empire of Pain", "Hidden Valley Road"), this nonfiction work didn't work for us. The content important and gratefully consumed, yet an absorbing, enthralling hook (or scalpel) should have been ordered.

Sisters, Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, rejecting feminism, surprised, driven to forge their way into medicine in a male-only era. Finding this concept counter intuitive, Dave Davies of NPR's 'Fresh Air' interviews Janice Nimura and illuminates:

Today, both women are regarded as feminist trailblazers, but Nimura notes that they were also "complicated, prickly, sometimes self-contradictory people." Elizabeth, for instance, regarded the women of her day as trifling gossips and took a dim view of the women's suffrage movement.

"To me, that taught me that it's really important in this moment to kind of relearn how to admire women," Nimura says. "To understand that a heroine doesn't always have to be a Disney princess, but can be a woman with all sorts of rough edges and complications and that we can admire them profoundly anyway."

Please enjoy this 35 minute listen:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/19/958319302/doctors-blackwell-tells-the-story-of-2-pioneering-sisters-who-changed-medicine

Here's a zesty suggestion to heighten understanding of medicine's journey in the last century or so:

 

dated promo poster - please check your favorite platforms for viewing info

 

Trudy's suggestions for an upcoming selection:

"The Promise" Damon Galgut

"The Night Watchman" Louise Erdrich *chosen

"Apples Never Fall" Lianne Moriarty

 

 

Up next:

Happy reading,

LK