Notes from January and February Not Fiction Book Discussions

Henry David Thoreau says of his time at Walden Pond, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear, nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion."

Chris McCandless, the subject of Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, conducted a similar experiment when he left home and family completely behind, ultimately dying, perhaps needlessly, of starvation in Alaska. In a pre-publication review of Into the Wild that appeared in Library Journal, the reviewer suggests that Krakauer "never satisfactorily answers the question of whether McCandless was a noble, if misguided, idealist or a reckless narcissist who brought pain to his family." Most people in our discussion group agreed that Krakauer's portrait of McCandless was complex, leaving McCandless an enigma, but they did not expect Krakauer to solve the puzzle. They recognized that McCandless' story derives its interest from the fact that life "proved to be mean" for him, that his story shares many of the elements of classical tragedy. Yet in their own evaluation of McCandless, most discussion members decided that he was not "noble," that he was a "reckless narcissist who brought pain to his family." Therefore, it was inconceivable to many in the discussion group that McCandless has become a cult figure for hundreds of people, mostly young men, many of whom have made a pilgrimmage to the abandoned bus where McCandless lived during the months of his Alaska adventure and where he died. What are these pilgrims looking for? Perhaps a way to "live deliberately"? What do they see in McCandless? And what does it say about our culture that they are looking and that McCandless is the example of what they are looking for? These are questions we never satisfactorily answered in our discussion.

However, after reading Laurence Gonzales' Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why, we were able to analyze McCandless' actions according to "The Rules of Adventure" Gonzales has distilled from his lifetime of personal interest in and study of survival. For example, some discussion members pointed out that McCandless was not informed about or prepared for the environment he entered, leading him to make any number of mistakes. He did not understand the dynamics of snow melt and the way it swelled the river he needed to cross to return to civilization, and he did not carry a map or compass that might have helped him find a new way across or discover some nearby cabins that might have provided food and shelter. Other discussion members pointed out that McCandless' lack of knowledge and preparation was indicative of his lack of humility--he did not know what he did not know or respect the power of the natural world. Regarding our own ability to have a successful adventure or to survive an adventure gone wrong, many discussion members could see that they had experienced some of the qualities of survivors Gonzales describes in moments of "meanness" in their own lives or could benefit from some of the suggestions he makes in future challenging situations. Yet many readers did not find Gonzales' book to be effectively, consistently written. Some found his tendency to take on a swaggering tone and to name-drop annoying, while others thought he might have better organized his points and the anecdotes that illustrate them.

Gonzales echoes Thoreau's wish that, when he "came to die," he not "discover that [he] had not lived" when he describes his daughter's "Gutter Theory of Life": "You don't want to be lying in the gutter, having been run down by a bus, the last bit of your life ebbing away, and be thinking, 'I should have taken that rafting trip . . . ' or 'I should have learned to surf . . . ' or 'I should have flown upside down--with smoke!'" What do you think? What does it mean to "live deliberately"? What does it mean to "survive"?

March Not Fiction Book Discussion

Miss the March discussion of Mildred Armstrong Kalish's memoir Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm Duing the Great Depression? Not on your tintype! You can join us Tuesday, March 3 at 7:00 p.m. in Meeting Room A of the Main Library, Thursday, March 19 at 11:00 a.m. at the West Ashley Branch Library, or here on the blog to share your response to Kalish's story of "a time, a place, and a family" that was named one of the Ten Best Books of the Year by The New York Times. In addition to sharing stories, recipes, home remedies, and how-tos, Kalish also offers a unique perspective on one of the most difficult periods in the history of the United States. Who knows? You just might walk away from the discussion with more than an idea of how to treat a boil with a beet, how to do a week's worth of laundry without a washing machine and dryer, or how to make marshmallows from scratch. You might come to appreciate what Kalish calls "the sheer joy and excitement of it all."

A new Maira Kalman blog!!!

Ahem . . . I mean . . . A new Maira Kalman ILLUSTRATED COLUMN, as Ms. Kalman would prefer to call it, And the Pursuit of Happiness about American democracy, will appear on the last Friday of each month in the New York Times' online edition. Those of you who enjoyed reading and discussing The Principles of Uncertainty, which began as a bl . . . illustrated column will be happy to know that the first installment about Barack Obama's inauguration includes some lovely hats and tassels!
Here is the link: http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/
Enjoy!

February Not Fiction Book Discussions

On Tuesday, February 6 at 7:00 p.m. at the Main Library and again on Thursday, February 19 at 11:00 a.m. at the West Ashley Branch, the Not Fiction Book Discussion groups will continue an exploration of questions inevitably evoked by January's book for discussion, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, with Deep Survival by National Geographic Adventure magazine contributing editor Laurence Gonzales. The subtitle of Gonzales' book neatly sums up the most pressing of these questions: "Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why" in a survival situation, whether it be an unexpected mountaineering accident, a routine yet high-pressure landing by a jet pilot on the deck of a military aircraft carrier, or perhaps some of the more common "survival" situations such as a divorce, the loss of a job, or an economic downturn. Gonzales shares some common traits of survivors and also some rules for adventure. He draws these traits and rules, as well as the harrowing stories he uses to illustrate them, from a variety of personal narratives, analyses of disasters, and scientific studies of how the human brain responds to stressful situations. After reading Gonzales' book, do you feel you are better prepared to survive? Share your thoughts--and survival stories--with us in person at one of our discussions or here on the blog.

New Online Book Clubs at CCPL

Charleston County Public Library has just launched an Online Book Clubs service that delivers books electronically. Each day, Monday through Friday, the library will email subscribers a portion of a book that takes about 5 minutes to read. You'll be able to read two or three chapters from a book during the week. If you like a book, you can check it out of the library. Each week the library will feature new books. With 7 book clubs to choose from, there's something for everyone: Fiction, Nonfiction, Science Fiction, Business, Inspirational, Teen, and Mystery.

Starting today, you can sign up for the service at our web site, http://www.ccpl.org/, and click on the Online Book Clubs logo on the left side of the page.

January Not Fiction Book Discussion

We begin our 2009 discussions with Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer's reflection on the death--and the life--of Chris McCandless, a young man from a well-to-do family who chose to leave the life he was expected to lead to experience life on the road and in the wilderness, ultimately dying of starvation in Alaska.

We should have much to talk about, as McCandless' story has captured readers' interest since his remains were first discovered in 1992. Krakauer published an article about McCandless' death in Outside, but he felt compelled to explore his life in more detail in a book. More than ten years later, Sean Penn created a film based on the book, reviving interest in McCandless' story, although Krakauer's book had already become a classic of sorts. We will compare the difference in narrative approach of the book and the film; we will no doubt debate the wisdom of McCandless' decisions; we will ponder the many ironies of his death; we will consider the American Romantic fascination with The Road, The West, The Wild. But we may find that we cannot resolve McCandless' story in any ultimately satisfying way--the word that most often appears in reviews of both the book and the film is "haunting."

We hope you will join one of our discussions: Tuesday, January 6 at 7:00 p.m. at Main Library in Meeting Room A; Thursday, January 22 at 11:00 a.m. at West Ashley Branch; or here on the blog.

Notes from December's Not Fiction Book Discussion

We ended our 2008 discussions with Maira Kalman's The Principles of Uncertainty, an illustrated journal of a year of her life originally published as a monthly blog for the New York Times. Many of us were surprised that such a whimsically illustrated book could address existential questions. Kalman asks, "How are we all so brave as to take step after step? Day after day? How are we so optimistic, so careful not to trip, and then do trip, and then get up and say O.K." Even more boldly, she asks, "What is the point?" We agreed that her affectionate portraits of the people and things she encountered during that year are her answer to her questions--she finds meaning in the variety of life around her and in the very act of observing and recording that life. A few readers found Kalman's observation of people and things to verge on compulsive collecting. And a few also felt that this collecting and describing took the place of the meaningful personal detail usually found in a memoir. However, other readers appreciated the quirkiness and variety of her catalogs. They also felt that her reticence about the details of her personal life conveyed much about her experience of loss and grief over the death of her husband, Tibor Kalman, and mother, Sara Berman, which she mentions only by insisting that she cannot speak of those losses. The title of Kalman's book asks readers to consider what the principles of uncertainty are for them--the unavoidable facts of change and loss, the possibility of continuing on with hope and humor in spite of these facts. As we face a new year filled with both uncertainty and possibility, we can keep in mind Kalman's closing advice, gleaned from a World War II propaganda poster: "Keep Calm and Carry On."