(1973 US postage stamp)
“...and he is terribly afraid of being fooled”
“It wasn‘t American to explain yourself.”
I adore Claude Wheeler. Is he a rebel, a misfit in his world, a independent spirit at home with the challenges of the land? His clash and compromise with his world fascinates. How would you feel in this family? What did you all think? Is this what you were expecting?
#catherbuddyread One of Ours - Book I
Graywacke @Lcsmcat @CarolynM @batsy @jewright @catebutler @crazeedi @Tanisha_A @Tamra @bromeliad 5y
Graywacke Also, share your favorite quotes? (I have so many highlighted in my Kindle book) 5y
batsy I wasn't sure what to expect because I didn't know much about it before starting, but I too love Claude. The blurb on my edition calls this a "beautifully modulated" novel and it really is. Her writing is so assured & takes its time. So many good lines. I loved this one too: "Sometimes he thought security was what was the matter with everybody; that only perfect safety was required to kill all the best qualities in people & develop the mean ones." 5y
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batsy 👆🏽 It'll be interesting to see how that idea of security and meanness or smallness of character continues to develop in the novel when the war happens. 5y
Lcsmcat I agree with @batsy ! Claude makes me sad because his life seems to be ruled by someone else‘s wishes. I‘m hoping the war which we know is coming will affect this. 5y
jewright I love Claude. His father annoys me. The part with the cherry tree just breaks my heart. I hate when people do things out of spite. 5y
Lcsmcat @jewright Exactly! Poor Claude is surrounded by selfish men and a weak woman. 5y
Tanisha_A You are so sweet for tagging me. Haven't been reading this yet. ☺️ 5y
Graywacke @batsy appreciate your comments on her writing. Your comments make me think of my current read![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png)
An Orchestra of Minorities 5y
An Orchestra of MinoritiesGraywacke @batsy also that quote seems so apropos today 5y
Graywacke @Lcsmcat true about him being rules. Personally I don‘t mind his family having influence, but they really use him, squashing who he wants to be (maybe or maybe not without realizing it). That bothers me. 5y
Graywacke @jewright his dad is such a cruel match for him. Seems everyone likes his dad, but he sees right through to the dark aspects. I thought he was alone being the only one who sees through his dad, which, if I got that right, is really isolating. His silly mother is no help. 5y
Graywacke @Lcsmcat yes that ( @jewright ). Selfish dad, brother, (field helper?), weak mom... 5y
Graywacke @Tanisha_A of course. I forgot. Should I take you off the list for this one? 5y
catebutler I really appreciate how clever Cather is with her characters and I think Claude is one of my favorite Cather characters. This first part of the novel really captures the dynamics of a farming family in the early 1900‘s. It would be very difficult to be talented, sharp minded and a dreamer but be expected to let that go, in order to better the family. And I agree, so many passages are marked and flagged in my edition so far. 5y
CarolynM I highlighted that quote too @batsy ? Another one I liked "Evidently it took more intelligence to spend money than to make it." I agree his father is awful and the cherry tree incident is the perfect example @jewright His parent's views about his education are so frustrating but not that different from some people's modern attitudes - if it's church based is must be good and we don't want you thinking you know better than us. (edited) 5y
jewright @Lcsmcat I feel like the mom tries, but she‘s stuck and can‘t fight against the father. She tries to offer the coat, for example, when his dad stops him from taking the car. She tries to comfort Claude about the tree, but she feels trapped between the two. She has no escape from the father and tries to play peacemaker as best she can. 5y
jewright @CarolynM I hate when parents don‘t their children‘s opinions on education. If a child can offer a reason, it is something the kid has to live with, not the parents. It‘s not like he wanted to drop out. 5y
Lcsmcat @catebutler Yes, Claude has to give up his dreams to run the farm for his family. 5y
Lcsmcat @jewright She does try. That‘s why I called her weak. She‘s not evil or selfish, but she isn‘t strong enough to do anything to help Claude follow his dreams. 5y
Lcsmcat @CarolynM That‘s a great quote! 5y
Graywacke @catebutler great points, especially on capturing the dynamics. Cather documents her time and place wonderfully. She‘s a special record. And I love Claude too. Not sure he‘s my favorite, but he has a lot to love in his open questioning mind and his outer stoic work ethic. 5y
batsy @CarolynM That's a great quote! 5y
Graywacke @CarolynM great quote and apt today (and then with the robber barons). This quote got me on his mother: “According to her conception of education, one should learn, not think; and above all, one must not enquire. The history of the human race, as it lay behind one, was already explained; and so was its destiny, which lay before. The mind should remain obediently within the theological concept of history.” 5y
batsy @catebutler Very good point about how a person of Claude's temperament would fare in a farming family. @Graywacke The dad instantly rubbed me the wrong way and I can't help but be #TeamClaude on this one. I like how Cather points out how a sensitive child and the all-purpose jocular dad is a mismatch from the start. 5y
Graywacke @CarolynM and this one got my attention too, on his mother again. I hear it in my neighborhood today: “she had told him once or twice that nothing could happen in the world which would give her so much pleasure as to see him reconciled to Christ.” 5y
batsy @Lcsmcat The mother is one of those Cather characters I find so intriguing. I'm also frustrated with her and her inability to stand up for her son, but that scene where Cather depicts how she *feels* the pain on her son's behalf (when he's told by his father that he is to run the farm) really got to me, as well. 5y
Graywacke @batsy yes. His dad. Complicated character there. Acts happy and joyful, but is actually controlling and stifling (and sharp). He‘s not kind at all, it‘s just show. 😐 5y
Graywacke @batsy @Lcsmcat @jewright his mother is intriguing. She isn‘t a bad person, she‘s just so closed minded. She simply blocks things out and so can‘t see a lot... but she means well. I think her weakness comes from her unwillingness to go outside her comfort zone. The tension when he tries to find comfort in her and can‘t because she can‘t see what‘s important to him, and so they can‘t connect... that was moving to me. 5y
Graywacke Does anyone else see John Grady Cole parallels with Claude? Maybe I‘m just being silly. But the outward stoicism strikes me. John Grady Cole is the main character inAll the Pretty Horses (edited) 5y
All the Pretty Horsesbatsy @Graywacke Yes, about the mother—nicely put. The father: I know people like that and they've always made me reflexively uncomfortable, so I think I relate just a little too much to Claude! Haven't read All the Pretty Horses. Cormac McCarthy is a writer I want to read but I feel I need to be prepared 🙂 5y
Graywacke @batsy McCarthy is unnecessary but excellent. A terrific wordsmith who likes it dark and gory. I loved reading through his work. All the Pretty Horses is his easiest book to read, to get into and connect with, because, despite everything else, JGC is really beautiful. I‘ll let my advertisement sleep there. 🙂 5y
CarolynM @batsy @Graywacke I agree about the mother. She loves Claude, but she's unable to see anything from any perspective other than her own. Those quotes are excellent. And it is sad for both of them. 5y
Lcsmcat @Graywacke @carolynm @jewright Re the mother and the “learn not think” quote - perhaps her narrow view developed as a kind of protection against the father‘s controlling abuse. If she could admit to herself that life could be different from the preordained path, then she would bear some level of responsibility for the way her husband treated her son. Either because she chose him in the 1st place, or stayed without standing up to him. A kind of ⬇️ (edited) 5y
Lcsmcat “this life doesn‘t matter, only the next one does” mentality? Just a thought that occurred to me with the juxtaposition of these quotes. 5y
Graywacke @Lcsmcat it‘s an interesting question. Was she like this before they met and married, or did she become like this after they married? 5y
Graywacke @CarolynM yes, it‘s really sad. I feel the same. 5y
Graywacke @Lcsmcat @CarolynM @batsy @jewright @catebutler @crazeedi @Tanisha_A @Tamra @bromeliad A note to let everyone know there‘s a lot to read for next week. Books 2-4 are only 70 pages in my kindle edition, but it turns out that‘s like 200 pages in a normal edition. (Apologies for the poor planning) 5y
Tanisha_A @Graywacke Hahaha! You can! I'd join another buddy read you host later. 🥰 5y
Graywacke @Tanisha_A sure. Will do. 5y
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