Where'd You Go, Bernadette?
is
one of the best books I have read recently and given I read at least 3-4 books
a week - that's high recommendation from Moi! Would rate it an 8/10
The author
is Maria Semple. Her
back ground is in script writing for really funny shows like Mad About You, Saturday Night Live, Arrested
Development, Suddenly Susan and Ellen.
And thankfully
she brings her talent to this multi faceted fabulous book. Coming across a good
book is such a pleasure but it brings an inherent conundrum with it. You want
to tear through the book cos you want to find out what's coming next but at the same time you want the book to last
forever!
This starts it's
narration in the voice of Bernadette's daughter and hooks you from the first
page.
The narration changes
voices with almost every pause and there are more twists and surprises than a
twister though unlike the twister the surprises aren't bad!
I don't want to
give away the story at all but for me this book made me think of the role of a
person as an individual versus as a
member of a family - mother, father, wife, husband, sister etc.
No man(woman!) is
an island but striking the balance between your "self" and your
duties/obligation is a tricky one.
Think about it-
most of us love our family and want to do stuff with and for them. But so often
that takes over your life. I really do think everyone should do something on a
regular basis that is for them alone- their mind, their body even if they
sometimes feel or are made to feel selfish about doing so.
This now reminds
me - though it's not really meant to be thought of in that direction of a
couple of good movies where (in both these at least) a stay at home mom gets
taken for granted and then breaks out of the rut.
One is a 1989
movie called Shirley Valentine (6.5/10) about a British
Housewife who rediscovers herself in Greece.
I saw this at least 20 years ago
but still remember it. This was based on a Broadway play. I find very often the
quality of writing and plot and basically fleshing out of characters is richer
when the movie is based on a book or a play. You can find this on YouTube is
you feel inclined to watch it. BTW- it stars Pauline Collins of the Upstairs,
Downstairs fame
The other movie
I thought of is English Vinglish
- an Indian movie based in New York.
It really brings to
life how we sometimes define and how sometimes people define us by the one
thing we can't do. In this it’s speaking English. And how one has to not let
one's whole identity be defined by it.
I find it really
interesting how given a lack of physical differentiators very often language is
subconsciously used as a socio-economic dividing factor. For example in 18th
century the Russian court spoke French!
Also especially
in former colonies or occupied states the fluency in language of the occupier
becomes the favored language. For example
in India the fluency, grammar and accent of a person's English very often places them socio- economically. Personally I
find it very offensive when people make fun of pronunciation - language is
not inherent but a learnt trait and should be treated as such!
I really enjoy it when an underlying serious issue is treated delicately
and presented for us to enjoy like in these movies and Book! Enjoy!
And if you end up seeing these movies or reading this book- leave me a comment!
1 comment:
So glad you enjoyed this book! Will bring it to Canada with me to read on the plane. :)
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