I need to focus and actually write this. It’s been a busy week — M and C started school; it’s going well and it looks like we may become the proud parents of a cello (player) — and I’ve been meaning to get down to write this (shoot, we have DSL now; you think it would be easier) all week.
So. Gap Creek. By Robert Morgan. One of those Oprah books (I’ve yet to have a good experience with them.) Actually, it was for my church’s bookgroup (yay! a book group!) that I read it. And, it’s not bad. I kind of liked it. The story: Julie lives in the North Carolina Appalachian mountains in the late 1800s. She watches her brother and her father die. She works hard. She meets Hank, falls in love, moves to Gap Creek, South Carolina. Where she proceeds to Live Life. All sorts of trials happen: the man they live with is crumudgeony, he dies, they get swindled out of money, Hank is moody, the mother-in-law is cranky, the house floods, she delivers a premature baby, baby dies, and they Move On. There. Now you don’t have to read it.
I shouldn’t make fun of it. It really wasn’t a bad sort of time spent. It’s just that I’ve read similar stories that were written much better. And resonated much better. Which I think is the real problem here. Morgan put Julie through the paces, but I’m not sure if he ever really felt her. (Which begs the question: can men really write women well? Conversely, can women accurately write men?) If he did, I’m missing something, because I sure didn’t. But then, as we know, I often miss the boat on these Meaningful and Moving books.
The Book Nut 
I often also wonder if men can write women. This question seemed particularly appropriate when I read <>The Apothecary’s House<> by Adrian Mathews, after which I decided male authors were crap at understanding their female characters. But sometimes I am pleasantly suprised, most recently by some short stories by Mark Helpri n (I just read <>The Pacific and Other Stories<>, which I highly recommend if you haven’t read it) and the female character in Amitav Ghosh’s <>The Hungry Tide<>. It’s funny, but I can’t remember feeling this way about female authors and male characters…is it because female authors don’t often have male protagonists? I’ll have to pay more attention!
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How does your ward book group work? We tried to have one–but it fizzled out. I suggested that we all read THE SAME BOOK, but no one wanted to do that. So, we all read different books and then came back and discussed them. (Others were concerned about $). And, I think we didn’t meet often enough either………
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Ah, ward book groups. This is my third. The most common thing was to all read the same book — we usually picked older books that we could be sure would be at the library (in one ward, I even went the extra mile to make sure it was available at the library)or we got one or two books and passed it around to whomever was interested. This ward has two books every month and a read one/both or none option. I don’t know how the discussion goes — the first meeting I’ll go to is on the 29th. Which brings me to meetings; if you don’t meet monthly (perhaps taking December or summers off), there’s really no point, because, as you pointed out, it fizzles out.
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I’m pretty sure an excellent writer, male or female, can portray characters of either gender. I think male writers do portray women more often than vice versa, as turtlebella was thinking. But I have definitely read books where men have written women amazingly well. I think it’s all about being a good writer. And connecting with your audience, something that might happen with one reader and not another.
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Guess I won’t read this one. Thanks for the heads up. I wish our ward would get a reading group going – maybe, I’ll need to be in charge of that. My sister’s ward chose ‘Miracle of Forgiveness’ for its 1st book. Great book, but not for a bookclub. It fizzzled!
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I’m in charge of our book club now–wondering how to defizzle it.The worst example I know of a man trying to write a woman is Memoirs of a Geisha–it was interesting storywise, but I just could not believe she was real. I think one of the things men often miss out on is how women are constantly evaluating and “reading” life–they either simplify too much or they make the woman a frittering fretter. They often write them as they wish them to be. But then, I don’t know if women do much better. I think it’s true that a good writer can do it–but I think the most authentic books are those in which the author writes what he or she knows–and right now I can’t think of any stellar examples. Even books like Anna Karenina–and now that I think about it, that was quite the fad in the late 1900’s (compare Henry James and Willa Cather–whose women are more believable?)
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Hear hear, Inkling. Cather writes much more believable women. Even if James’s stories are interesting (sometimes).Ah, defizzling a book group. That’s a tough one. Perhaps start with a general survey — what books would people like to read (maybe multiple choice), etc. Then pick something that would get the most people. I also think it would just serve to start it and keep it going. No matter what. Maybe, eventually, more than 2 people would show up. I’ve also wondered if having it at the same place/time every month would help rather than rotating it around.
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Oh, no comparison between Willa Cather and Henry James! Perhaps I think that though because I really don’t like James’ novels very much. Also, I thought Cather did a wonderful job portraying Jim in <>My Antonia<>. But something else has occurred to me. Since I’m not male, am I able to ascertain whether a female author is good at portraying males? After all, my reaction to male authors being ‘good’ or ‘bad’ at creating believable women characters is based on my thinking, “Well, a woman would never really do/say/think that! He [male author] must not understand women at all,” which is all based on my experiences as a woman. So perhaps we should ask a man what female authors are good at writing male characters. Perhaps I will ask around and blog about this, instead of taking over your comments section, Melissa!
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I just found your blog by mistake, but I love it. I was trying to find some ideas for a good book and I feel like with your blog, I’ve hit the mother lode. I’ll passing this one on to my friends! Thanks for all the ideas!
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turtlebella — that’s an interesting insight, one I hadn’t thought of before. I’ll check by and see if you get around to posting your findings…susan — welcome! I always like having new readers. And feel free to leave suggestions, whenever you have them.
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So funny! I just read Gap Creek for my (ward) book group and I was pleased to wander on to your site. So I know I’m a year behind in your conversation, but I was also irked that Julie seemed an unbelieveable woman. Particularly during the circumstances surrounding the (gasp) sex scenes; Julie just didn’t seem respond to her husband in the a woman typically would.One male author that I think creates particularly complex and believable female characters is Wallace Stegner. I highly recommmend anything by him; Crossing to Safety or Angle of Repose (his pulitzer prize winner) are my favorites.
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