Gap Creek by Robert Morgan

[mtngal]

Still waiting. Did yours come Lenora? I better check my amazon account....

[AlmostThere]

No, so I emailed the seller yesterday. I did get a confirmation email on July 31st with this disclaimer;

Your order will be shipped via the standard shipping method (usually
regular surface mail). The arrival expectation is 4 to 14 business days.
In some cases, this may take 21 business days or longer to arrive. If your
shipment does not arrive by 21-August-2008, please contact the seller to
check the status of the shipment. Your seller should provide the same
level of customer service you expect from Amazon.com.

I chose this seller because they were in my state, so thought it would arrive quickly.
Fingers crossed!

UPDATE; arrived in today's mail!

[Bethers]

Just a reminder to those of us who have the book - we best get readin', time is catchin' up with us.

I do have my copy and soon's I finish the book I'm currently reading, this one gets started. And finished! Looking forward to this.

Anyone want to take on the book to read in September? We have October covered.

[Paulette]

It's a pretty quick read. Hope you all get yours so you can get them read!

[Bethers]

Has everyone got the book read? If so, Paulette can start the discussion here anytime - if not, let us know and we'll give you another couple days. I'm ready.

[AlmostThere]

I've been reading inbetween helping out my injured son. I'm on page 245.

[Paulette]

Okay, if everyone is ready we'll start the discussions. I have to confess here that I am using the questions from the back of my book, at least to get us started. Maybe we'll venture off from there. We'll see. Like I said, I've never done this before.

Julie is only in her teens when the novel opens, yet she has already learned to face life's hardships with a resiliency that is remarkable in one so young. We think of adolescence as a time of rebellion, yet Julie offers very little resistance to anything Mama and Papa tell her to do. Why do you think she is so accepting of her role? Sometimes Julie inwardly simmers at what she is asked to do, "but I didn't have any choice," she says. Is that true? What choices does she have?


Just thought I'd bump this up.

[Paulette]

Okay, for some reason my post from this morning wasn't showing up in the New Posts, so I'm replying and seeing if it will show up now.

I've started the discussions, if anyone is interested and if everyone has finished their reading.

[Bethers]

In families like hers - from that era and basically farm families, there wasn't a lot of rebellion - as the kids had their chores, which continued to grow with age and need. Julie was doing what was necessary - and she often was doing what a boy would have been doing, had there been a boy. That also wasn't unusual in this type of family. Seems to be the rebellious kids were mainly those from the cities and those that never really had the chores, etc in the families. And in that era, often, children didn't fight it - but got married to get out of it. However, often, marriage didn't change things, just gave them a different set of chores.

[Paulette]

IMO, similar to today's youth. Those that have responsibilities and suffer natural consequences often don't rebel like those who think the world is their platter!

[mtngal]

I loved this book. The writing was amazing. But this question brings up an inconsistency to me. In the beginning, it was clear the very survival of the family depended on Julie and Lou taking up the hard out door work. I couldn't help but wonder how the remaining members of the family got along after Julie (and soon Lou) left the home. As the book evolved, I was actually surprised that Julie left home to marry.

[Bethers]

To get off topic of the question, and comment as Diana did - I loved the book also. I didn't think I would - as often, when a book is written in a dialect, I don't like it as well (usually because I think it detracts). This book proves that a book written well in a dialect improves the book. I could hear these people talking - I knew exactly what they sounded like - and it was exactly how I feel they should sound. I felt often like an eavesdropper or interloper into their lives - forgetting that I was reading. I loved that - and after finishing the book thought about emailing the author - cuz I really, really was impressed.

Diana, as to what you called an inconsistency - to me that is the reality of life. Yep, it sounded like she would become the father figure in the family and never leave, but inside she was dying to get out - and did. I think that happened in families a lot. And what sounded like a family that would fall apart because she was indispensible - wouldn't - as most didn't and still don't. Ah, don't we all like to think that we are indispensible, though.

[Paulette]

Discussion question # 2.

Even though two of her sisters are older than she is, Julie is the one everyone counts on. "Everything that was hard feel to me, and everything that nobody else wanted to do fell to me." Why? What is the author saying about Julie? About those who depend on her? About the time and place in which she grows up? "Because you're the strongest one in the family. And because everyone has to do what they can," is her mama's explanation. What do you think of that philosophy? In what ways do people live up or down to what is expected of them?

Whew...that's a lot of question!

[Bethers]

I think again, we have to remember who's perspective the book is written by. I think she realized, after she was married and didn't know how to cook, etc, that maybe it wasn't easier - it was just different work that fell to her. She didn't learn to sew, etc, remember? She made choices to do the things that would have fallen on a brother - and yep, that is heavier work - and she was obviously capable of it. I agree that in some things we don't make real choices, they just fall on us because we can - and that partly happened to her - but partly she made that choice also.

I believe in the way it was written the author was showing that JULIE felt that way - we don't know how the sister felt that did all the cooking - maybe she felt the same - that no one else wanted to do it and she had to? I think that's pretty normal of people of that age. And we don't know that the author felt that way - we know that Julie did.

[AlmostThere]

I can relate to Julie, as being a farmer's daughter myself, that sometimes harder jobs just were expected of you for the family to survive. You didn't have to like it. Most times I didn't. Julie did man's work and that made her feel inadequate as a housewife, thus she was hesitant as to how to stand up for herself as she lacked self confidence.