Thursday, April 21, 2011
You or Somone Like You -- a "not too serious" review
Sitting in Brigid's handsomely appointed living room, sheltered from the cacophony of the world outside, the intrepid ladies of the NTSBC delved into You or Someone Like You by world renowned scent critic and self-styled auteur extraordinaire, Chandler Burr. Wine and conversation flowed freely as these loquacious literary ladies dissected and divined the larger portent of M. Burr's controversial contention that Judaism's fixation on separateness is a myopic world vision and every bit as racist as any other "ism" in which one group ascribes superiority to its members simply as a matter of birthright. While some thought the work provocative, daring, and original, Brigid and Margaret cogently observed that the tome read more like a term paper than a novel and passionately objected to the scribe's incessant and contrived references to esoteric literary works. Kelby and Peggy tacitly agreed with their erudite assessment. Not having finished the book, Teresa diplomatically recused herself from the discussion, but commented that she would toss the book out straight away. Her sudden vehemence took us all by surprise, but privately we all envied her, for unlike us, she would never have to carry with her the memory of You or Someone Like You.
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OMG...I can hardly read this post partly because I'm laughing so hard I'm crying and partly because I don't know half the words! You all are too funny and now I'm even more disappointed that I had to miss the gathering of the loquacious literary ladies!
ReplyDeleteThis will go down as the NTSBC's best post ever!
Love the review! My own thoughts about the book became more positive as I read it. After slogging through the pomp, pretentiousness and name-dropping that marked the first part of the book, I, as one without particularly strong ethnic, religious, or political affiliations, really appreciated the message that, when you get right down to it, none of it (including pomp, pretentiousness, and name-dropping) really matters. Thumbs up, Mr. Burr:-)
ReplyDeleteA small addendum to my previous comment, in an attempt to clarify my statement that none of it - including ethnicity, religion, politics - really matters. Of course they do, but like in "Hedgehog," it seems to me that such human social constructs, while they help us bring order our lives, also tend to create "us vs. them" situations that can unfairly make the people who are in the "us" position feel superior to those in the "them" situation. Sometimes it's harmless fun, like in the case of sports fans (well, usually harmless), other times it's just practical, like in a boss/employee situation, and other times it can be devastating, like with the Nazis and the Jews. But when all the social latticework is stripped away, which it eventually is, we are all just humans. My clarification is longer than my original statement! This is why it's best to have these conversations in person.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Tammy! And in the words of Maya Angelou - "as human beings we are more alike than we are unalike."
ReplyDeleteI concur (trying to use a big word). It might not have been a favorite book, but it makes a good point. I am impressed by the intellect and conscientous comments of this not so serious group. Sorry I missed the discussion!
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