Recently the third Saturday group read She Got up off the Couch by Haven Kimmel. For some reason I cannot stop thinking about this book or maybe it is the book club discussion I can't stop thinking about. Either way, I feel there are things about this book I want to discuss further and my husband, son and dog have no interest in talking about it with me.
The biggest sticking point for me is that I found this book very funny, laugh out loud funny in some parts. However, there was a portion of the members at book club who did not find the book funny at all. I ask myself am I insensitive, did I miss the point, is my sense of humor gone? Zippy is a fun and interesting character. In some parts I thought I was reading my own biography. In other parts I wished I had been as daring and sassy as Zippy.
Another point I want to discuss is how other people related to the book in a less serious way. What I mean is not that many of us are from humble beginnings or challenging families of origin but that most of us grew up at a time when as children we could roam a bit. Personally, I would often leave the house in the mornings and return only for meals. I would wonder in the woods, crash at friends houses, swim in the one above ground swimming pool in the neighborhood, play in the cow pasture, ride my bike everywhere, and come home covered head to toe in dirt. And no one wondered where I was or looked for me. I loved it. I was free.
The other key ingredient to this book was Zippy's relationships in the community. I loved her tales about adventures with friends. I had a childhood friend just like Rose. She was perfect and her family seemed perfect. It never occurred to me to be jealous of her; I only felt love and admiration. It also never occurred to me to ask why my friends's parents always so willingly allowed me to come spend the nights at their house instead of their children coming to mine. I preferred it that way.
I guess the thing I loved about this book was the tone of the book was one of a child experiencing her life with only a small amount of adult perspective. So often it seems memoirs written about difficult childhoods are just depressing (don't get me wrong, I love to read a morose story about a bad childhood). But I appreciate that this story is funny and made me reflect on the happy times of my childhood. And a take away message that where we end up is not completely determined by where we start.
The biggest sticking point for me is that I found this book very funny, laugh out loud funny in some parts. However, there was a portion of the members at book club who did not find the book funny at all. I ask myself am I insensitive, did I miss the point, is my sense of humor gone? Zippy is a fun and interesting character. In some parts I thought I was reading my own biography. In other parts I wished I had been as daring and sassy as Zippy.
Another point I want to discuss is how other people related to the book in a less serious way. What I mean is not that many of us are from humble beginnings or challenging families of origin but that most of us grew up at a time when as children we could roam a bit. Personally, I would often leave the house in the mornings and return only for meals. I would wonder in the woods, crash at friends houses, swim in the one above ground swimming pool in the neighborhood, play in the cow pasture, ride my bike everywhere, and come home covered head to toe in dirt. And no one wondered where I was or looked for me. I loved it. I was free.
The other key ingredient to this book was Zippy's relationships in the community. I loved her tales about adventures with friends. I had a childhood friend just like Rose. She was perfect and her family seemed perfect. It never occurred to me to be jealous of her; I only felt love and admiration. It also never occurred to me to ask why my friends's parents always so willingly allowed me to come spend the nights at their house instead of their children coming to mine. I preferred it that way.
I guess the thing I loved about this book was the tone of the book was one of a child experiencing her life with only a small amount of adult perspective. So often it seems memoirs written about difficult childhoods are just depressing (don't get me wrong, I love to read a morose story about a bad childhood). But I appreciate that this story is funny and made me reflect on the happy times of my childhood. And a take away message that where we end up is not completely determined by where we start.
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