Meeting on The Year of the Flood

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood - 2009 Dec

Meeting:
We met at the Natural Start Bakery near Mission/Hamilton. Really good location, and you can reserve the top floor for things like...a book group! I got there 15 minutes late as a result of driving directly from Seattle post-Christmas celebration, but they were kind enough to wait. Despite the fact that we had picked these dates 2 months ago, only two other girls (Megan and Jessica) showed up, and nobody else let us know they weren't coming...weird. Holiday bustle, I guess. So I didn't get the green tea I was craving, but next time I WILL! We had a lot to talk about for this book. It presented much more tangible topics than The Devil in the White City. One thing I remember was strong disagreements surfacing regarding the male characters. After reading this book, I assumed that the male characters were mistakenly one-dimensional, or left mysteriously unfinished in an attempt to shift focus to our two "heroines". But both Megan and Jessica have read Atwood before and know that she is a bit of a feminist, and that this specific inattention to detail is likely deliberate and a usual pattern for her. I wonder how my second reading of this literature, especially in regards to males, would feel in comparison. But that wasn't the big debate...I found no sympathy with the males. I found them careless and hypocritical, wheras another member found a few to be likable (Zeb in particular because he seemed "protective"). These are the reasons why I love meeting with these girls. It's so wonderful to hash out some new perspectives and change your opinion (like I did about one-dimensional guys in this lit...I think I get it now and am excited for more Atwood!). Another topic was the organization. I'm not sure the other two enjoyed Adam One's sermons as much as I did. Megan did look up all of the saints mentioned and came up with some interesting results via Google. I didn't even think of it (not like me at all). I find if I want to look things up online it's because I'm bored out of my mind at a book, or so enthralled by it I don't have time to put it down at all. The Year of the Flood fell into the latter category. Jessica had great topics of discussion. We talked for awhile about the environmental aspects and whether or not it should affect our lives. We also wondered aloud at the state of the world and whether or not we would get to this point (in our lifetimes or past them). We didn't talk as much as I had anticipated about the ending. There, again, we disagreed a bit. It was found to be unfinished in one's eyes, and in another's a satisfying and hopeful conclusion. But we all agreed on one thing: we are fascinated by the blue people and hope that they are a substantial part of Oryx and Crake.

Final:
I refused to go first, but I had decided to give this book an 8 out of 10 before anyone else spoke. We had another 8 and a 9.5. On this we all agreed: a GREAT book!

Next:
Well...we don't exactly know. Since there were only three of us (and one won't even live in the states for the next meeting) we felt uncomfortable picking the next book for all. We have three on the list that I will post separately. I'll keep them on the TO READ list until we've checked them off!