"Foer can place his reader's hand on the heart of human experienc, the transcendent beauty of human connections. Read, you can feel the life beating." --Philadelphia Inquirer

Jonathan Safran Foer's first novel, Everything Is Illuminated, won numerous awards and was made into a really great movie (if anyone wants to check it out). Since I'm struggling to know exactly what to say, I'm copying and pasting something from a different website.

"Meet Oskar Schell, an inventor, Francophile, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, pacifist. He is nine years old. And he is on an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. His mission is to find the lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the attack on the World Trade Center. An inspired creation, Oskar is alternately endearing, exasperating, and hilarious as he careens from Central Park to Coney Island to Harlem on his search. Along the way he is always dreaming up inventions to keep those he loves safe from harm. What about a birdseed shirt to let you fly away? What if you could actually hear everyone's heartbeat? His goal is hopeful, but the past speaks a loud warning in stories of those who've lost loved ones before. As Oskar roams New York, he encounters a motley assortment of characters who are all survivors in their own way. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close boldly approaches history and tragedy with humor, tenderness, and awe."

Just a warning. Foer's style is contemporary post-modernism, which means it might take some getting used to. He employs unusual techniques to amplify the power of his story. If you flip through the pages of the book you'll see blank pages, pictures, uneven spacing, and different type settings that are intended to make the experience of reading the prose more interactive--to immerse the reader entirely. Foer is an incredible writer, so immerse yourselves and enjoy.

Silent Spring Question #1

While this book was written in 1962, it seems that we are still facing some of the issues it addresses in a real way. Sam found this article yesterday. What do you think about it?

Silent Spring Question #2

Carson poses this question herself (pg.99): Can any civilization wage relentless war on life without destroying itself?

Silent Spring Question #3

I feel like this might be a stupid question, but I am going to ask it anyway. In both "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "Silent Spring" there is discussion of the fact that we are often not actually paying the full price of commodities (whether for food or for pest control, etc.) because all of the various monetary impacts of those services are not calculated. Is it practical to think that we can even determine a "true," so-to-speak, price for such commodities? Does it actually matter because we end up paying the actual price in the end anyway? If we don't pay it, who does?

Silent Spring Question #4

As an American culture, we seem to be obsessed with solving problems chemically (pest control, losing weight, curing illness, growing and making food, etc.) instead of naturally. Does this ring true to you? If so, why do you think we are like this? If not, explain.

Silent Spring Question #5

Do you have any statements about the book or questions you would like to pose for the group?

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

For as long as I can remember, I have seen a copy of Silent Spring on my parent's bookshelf. Sam and I sort of use their house as a long-distance, long-term library, and during our most recent mass book collection, Silent Spring ended up in the pile.
Silent Spring was written by Rachel Carson, an established natural history writer, and published in 1962. It is widely credited with starting what we now think of as the environmental movement in the U.S. Her book also helped in the banning of dangerous agricultural chemicals, which she documented were causing negative effects on the natural world. It is listed in the top ten (#5) best non-fiction books by the Modern Library.
As you know, we live in Portland, a city that seems to be deeply caught up in the "green" movement right now. There are tons of farmer's markets, Prius', ecological NGOs, and pricey organic grocery stores. While I am fully in support of the premise in which environmentalism is based on, as of late I feel like being "green" has become a trendy, elitist status symbol. I chose to read Silent Spring, not only because it is considered a nonfiction classic, but also because I thought it might be interesting to get back to the roots of a current national craze.

Change of Schedule

Hi Friends,
Due to some technical difficulties, we will have an adjustment in the book club reading schedule. We are going to be bumping up the March book to February (Silent Spring by Rachel Carson), and moving a few other things around (Loren, can you host in March?). Please refer to the sidebar for all of the exact schedule changes. I really, really hope this doesn't mess anyone up. I will be posting more info on Silent Spring as soon as possible, hopefully in the next day or so.
Gracias,
Blair

Intro to discussing "The Omnivore's Dilemma"

Well, it doesn't appear (as yet) that this is the chattiest book club so I thought I'd lend my two cents before posting my questions. Right now I'm in graduate school and two of my classes have been online. One of the course requirements is to participate in a discussion board with the stipulations that you must give one primary response to each question and 2 secondary responses to other people's postings. It makes for a really lively and interactive learning experience. So I guess I'm suggesting that we all try to respond to all of the questions, then respond to everyone else’s postings so we get a dialogue that resembles a discussion we might have if we weren't communicating electronically. I know we all joined the book club because we like to read, and discuss the books we are reading...

And on to the questions! I hope you all enjoyed the book, I tried to limit my discussion questions but found it hard to do so...

Question 1

Having read the book, how would you define "the omnivores dilemma?" and do you consider yourself as an omnivore with a dilemma? Why/why not?