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Re: how to be good

Anita sagely pointed out:

> I'm surprised that your summary of the book only
> included details about Katie 
> and her infidelity:

<snip some quotes>

> and completely left out the OTHER wildly searching
> character in the book, and 
> more of the 'main' character, I think, even than
> Katie, despite the fact that 
> it is she who is narrating.

Well, try a reason on for size:
-I'm new to posting here and was trying to be concise?
-I identified more with Katie's character because at
least she seemed to be morally consistent (albeit
morally ambiguous) over and above David, who required
this peculiar religious experience that radically
changes his character?
-I'm a lousy reviewer?

Anita did a fine job of reviewing David's character.

I still don't know what to do with David.  His
extremes of rancor turned charity seem like the
perfect foil for Katie's milquetoast convictions.  But
his turn never quite seemed real to me.  I kept
expecting him to wake up out of his newfound attitude.

> This is a case of 'be careful what you wish for' on
> the surface, but more an 
> excellent study of entirely normal and rational
> people seeking something they 
> can't quite define, and surprising themselves and
> each other at just how far 
> they'll go to fill the void.  

Yes, it is that.  Working on recognizing, identifying
and remedying that void is really the challenge in
their relationship.  The source of that void is
probably a good discussion starter.  Frankly, that's a
tangent I'm not quite prepared to go down yet (I'm on
vacation...I don't want to think *too* much).  I
think, though, that I'd end up near j. marie's
comments of self versus other (or our extreme
selfishness, or something like that...I'm juggling
digests and dropping quotations already).

> There're only about a half-dozen different ways to
> interpret the last 
> paragraph...Julie, Brian... what'd it mean to you?

Well, I doubt I'll generate much ferver over spoiling
this ending (unlike the LOTR discussions :-), so
here's the last paragraph:

<amidst a minor house-leak during a thunderstorm>

"He's wearing jeans, and Tom and I grab hold of one
back pocket each in an attempt to anchor him, while
Molly in turn hangs on to us, purposelessly but
sweetly.  My family, I think, just that.  And then, I
can do this.  I can live this life.  I can, I can. 
It's a spark I want to cherish, a splutter of life in
the flat battery;  but just at the wrong moment I
catch a glimpse of the night sky behind David, and I
can see that there's nothing out there at all."

Her family:  purposeless but sweet.  Well, that's a
telling description.  What meaning does family have,
in and of itself?  What value is in it?  What's it's
role, it's calling, it's place?  Answers there would
help give Katie and David direction.

Since Katie is the narrator and it's her thoughts
we're privy to I think the final challenge is hers. 
She recognizes that the struggle is of the heart
versus the mind (so to speak).  She sees a glimpse of
emotional <something> (attachment?) juxtaposed against
no empirical evidence that anything will truly change.

What would Katie do?  At the end of the novel I
honestly have no idea.  She's been so vague nothing
would surprise me.

What does that mean?  Well, I think the whole story is
really an indictment of spiritual and relational
death.  I get the feeling that this couple entered
their life together without giving serious
consideration that they'd be responsible for one
another fifteen years down the road (and what they'd
look like in that timeframe).  

How can a purposeless family be fulfilling for any of
them?

Brian

=====
"What kind of man would live where there is no daring? I don't believe in taking foolish chances, but nothing can be accomplished without taking any chance at all." 
~Charles A. Lindbergh, at a news conference after his trans-Atlantic flight

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