Housekeeping
13 journalers for this copy...
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HOUSEKEEPING BOOKRAY
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If you would like to join this bookray, please send a PM (private message) to debnance and I will add you to the list. Please be aware that this is an international bookray and it is very helpful if you are willing to ship overseas. If you have a hard time shipping overseas, you can let me know and I will try to place you accordingly on the list. The list of members will be listed below:
TENTATIVE ORDER FOR HOUSEKEEPING:
debnance...Alvin, Texas
KarenZero...Brooklyn, New York
sevedra...Canton, Georgia
TakYak...New Wilmington, Pennsylvania
tiatia...Springfield, Virginia
lauraloo29...Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
samulli...Weimar, Thüringen, Germany
Color code:
Blue=Has read the book and passed it on
Red=In transit to/has not journaled yet
Green=Has book now
As a member, you will receive the book from the person listed before you. When you receive the book, please make a journal entry at BookCrossing stating that you’ve received it. Please read it as soon as you can (don't rush; just be reasonable about the length of time). After you read the book, please journal again at BookCrossing with your comments.
When it you've finished reading the book, please PM the next person on the list to request their address. If you haven't had a reply from them after a week and two PM's, please move on to the next person on the list. I'd like to keep the book travelling reasonably quickly. Mailing the book by media mail is the least expensive way (or surface mail if it's sent overseas).
If any questions come up, please send a PM to me at debnance or an e-mail to debbienance@houston.rr.com.
Many thanks for your co-operation, and may everyone enjoy Housekeeping!
Released 17 yrs ago (11/21/2006 UTC) at Postal Release in -- Mail, by hand, rings, RABCks etc, Texas USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Off in a bookray to New York
Thanks for sharing the book, debnance! I've been trying to reach sistermadilou with no luck so I may have to go on to the next reader.
finished on 2/24
SOMEWHAT SPOILERY
I've read Gilead, so I was somewhat prepared for the exquisite use of language. Wow, Marilynne Robinson is good.
I still like Gilead better though, because the story in Gilead I found more compelling. The detached, lonely depression Slyvie and Ruthie found themselves in was, well...depressing.
I wonder if Ruthie and Lucille are the same person. The two sisters diverged so much, I began to think of one as the other's perception of what could have been. Lucille with sheer determination and concentrated effort pulls herself out of Slyvie's transient life. Lucille seems not to remember (or at least dwell on) the day her mother abandoned her. Maybe Lucille isn't real and is Ruthie's version what her life could be if she took control. But then, Ruthie's choice of a transient lifestyle at such a young age seems dreamlike to me and too much a mirror of Sylvie's behavior, and I wonder if Lucille is real and Ruthie is not but represents a piece of Lucille connected to her Aunt and Mother, and it's a piece Lucille had to let go of in order to survive. But this "piece" lives on in the form of a fictional Ruthie who accompanies Sylvie.
I may be overthinking this novel. But it's a novel that begs thinking and reading.
Also, what happened to Aunt Molly? Does she still live in China? Did she die?
I've pm'ed the next in line.
RE: the BOOK
I didn't enjoy Gilead so I wasn't sure I would like this. Maybe I like Syvie's depressed manic lifestyle more but I definately enjoyed reading this novel. I did wonder how Lucille grows up and if she ever rebels or just accepts the "norms" of the community.
I'm trying to get a hold of the next person and will mail once I have their address.
May 31 - Ftarazu has asked to be skipped. Will get the address of the next person.
June 5 - Sent to the next reader.
Judging from the previous journal entries I am not really sure what to expect. ^.^
But I have to agree with other readers that the language is exquisite and even though I usually do not notice such subtleties I found myself reading ever more slowly to savour the prose.
That said, I am quite sure I wouldn't wanna read this story again in the near future. It is just too sad and depressing.
Since debnance told me I am free to do with the book whatever I want, I will try to find some more readers for it to continue the ray.
klaradyn (South Africa)
samutsari (Sri Lanka)
...
I already have klaradyn's address and will post the book tomorrow.
I'll send this to samutsari next week Tuesday or Wednesday.
The book is well and beautifully written. The story is sad, telling about loss and how two sisters and their aunt manage with their lives. It wasn’t easy to read and I can’t say I loved it, but it was worth reading.
I’ll send the book to Chania.
and I was so pleased - this book has been in my wishlist for sometime and now I got it!
looking forward to reading it, was a nice surprise!
Very well written and with a touch for the alternative way of looking upon the world, I rather liked the book, even though it's a bit on the darker side of life. The writer manages to get you inside the world of the main characters and how it slowly evolves from what seems like a rather happy life (though not according to general standards of even our world these days) towards a complete getting to the other side of the scale.
It depends very much on each person individually if you would consider this book to have happy end or not, and also upon what your standards are for happiness. Lots of things stay open and the writer does give you a possibility to draw your own conclusions.
Thanks a lot for sharing this well travelled book, so clearly a bookcrossing book that it will continue to travel after this.
Released 14 yrs ago (3/9/2010 UTC) at -- Por correo -- In the mail --, Santa Cruz de Tenerife Spain
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Went with me to the meet-up for someone to take it home.