Book Chat Issue #106
My reading life: the nineties
Hello reading friends and a big welcome to new subscribers. I’m very glad you’re here.
I’m currently working through a short series where I share my personal story and talk about books that have been important markers in my life. This issue features Part 7 of My Reading Life.
If you missed the previous entries, you can find them here:
Part one | Part two | Part three | Part four | Part five | Part six
Writing about my history has mostly been a lot of fun, but like any memoir(ish) project it involves reflecting on the past, and sometimes that can be painful. I’m grateful to all the people who have encouraged me to keep going, and would also like to encourage you to write some of your own life story.
If you are interested in writing about your life, but don’t know where to start, I am planning to deliver a short online course on life writing in the second half of this year. Please let me know if this is something you’d like to be part of. More details coming soon!
A quick note for shy people: If you feel uncomfortable about discussing your writing dreams in the comments section, you can contact me directly by hitting reply. I’d love to hear from you.
My reading life - part 7
We have reached the 90s!
In the last instalment, I moved to the Central Coast and started a university degree. I had always secretly wanted to do a degree, but I left school at fifteen and higher education wasn’t an option, so becoming a mature-age student at 30 was incredibly exciting. I loved being a student and continued to study for many years, but my getting my first degree was one of my proudest achievements.
As it turned out, a degree in sociology isn’t terribly useful, but it did get me a job at the local TAFE (technical and further education) college where I taught social theory, gender studies, and communication skills. By the end of the 90’s I was teaching at both the TAFE and the local university, as well as writing curriculum documents and learning materials. I completed a post-graduate degree in Women’s Studies and a Masters in Adult Education, as well as various other diplomas.
To be honest, I’m not quite sure why I thought I needed to do all those degrees, but I think I was trying to prove my worth. It took me a long time to realise that I was good enough, with or without any paper qualifications. On the flip side, I still love learning and I’m always enrolling in one course or another.
What I was reading in the 90s
In amongst all this child-rearing, working, and studying, I continued to read.
And not just best-sellers, of course. Like all avid readers, I frequently read older books and classics that I’ve stumbled across and feel right for me at the time.
One such book is The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Set during the Great Depression and first published in 1939, the novel focuses on the Joads, a poor family of tenant farmers driven from their Oklahoma home by drought, economic hardship, agricultural industry changes, and bank foreclosures, all of which forced tenant farmers out of work.
It would probably be timely to read it today as I’m sure many of the themes would resonate.
The Grapes of Wrath (the title is a reference to both the Bible and the Battle Hymn of the Republic) caused a furore when it was published and was banned in many libraries. Many people thought the book had socialist overtones, (which is probably why I liked it so much). Some people even suggested the book be burned. Californians, in particular, where unhappy about the way they were portrayed.
Eleanor Roosevelt saved the day by giving the novel her seal of approval and in 1940 it won the Pulitzer Prize. In 1962, it won the Nobel Prize for Literature. It’s still in print and is considered a classic American novel.
Another favourite book from this time was Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson, which I remember enjoying very much. Set on a beautiful island in the Puget Sound in 1954, it’s about a Japanese-American WWII veteran who is standing trial for murdering a fisherman. The trial is any important story for local newspaperman Ishmael Chambers because he still harbours deep feelings for the wife of the accused man. This book explores many themes around racism, love, justice, community, and conscience and is well worth hunting down if you’ve never read it.
When I left full-time work in 2020, my friend Sally (a talented artist), suggested she create a painting to mark my retirement and asked me to nominate some favourite books to give her an idea of my interests. I mentioned Snow Falling on Cedars and she painted this very beautiful picture which hangs in pride of place in my study.
Other excellent books from this era include:
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields (1993)
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (1995)
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (1996
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
Traveling north
Last week I went on a short holiday to Murrurundi (a small country town about four hours north of Sydney) to see an exhibition of crocheted works of art. They were so clever.
I went with my sister Jennifer and we stayed at the local pub, The White Hart, which amused me greatly because I had just downloaded a new audiobook called Death at the White Hart. Fortunately we made it through the night without being murdered in our beds.
We travelled by train and took a healthy packed lunch, but while we were there we mostly ate the local fare which included pies and pizza. Delicious!
The trip was a tribute to our Mum who would have been 96 last Monday. She was an inveterate traveller and loved games and quirky things, so she would have been in her element. My inventive sister made a customised game of Spotto to keep us amused on the trip, and we also played Bananagrams, our mother’s favourite game. There were prizes for the winner which we shared (of course). It was lovely to have a short break away.
International Book Club
We are currently reading The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. I’m about halfway through, are you making progress?
We are meeting in early June - (June 5 in the USA and Canada, and June 6 in Australia and New Zealand) and we’d love you to join us. If you aren’t already a Book Club member and would like to come along, let me know and I’ll send you an invitation. It’s free for subscribers.
That’s all for this issue.
If you’re travelling over the Easter break, keep safe.
Marg xx
Snow Falling on Cedars is one of my all time favorites. It’s so beautifully written and so impactful. I’ve been considering giving it a read again. I’m so excited to have found someone who loved it too! 😊
Great information and I have never read Grapes of Wrath, although I had it on one of my shelves for years. Thank you for sharing your life via era of books. So much!