Date: 24 November 2019
Location: Linda B.
The Happy Bookers met at the home of Linda B. to discuss The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck.
A first comment suggested that the “Behind the Book” epilog should have been placed first because it explains so much about the making of the book. Shattuck’s half-German mother and her German grandparents, meeting with resisters’ widows, and her own struggle with shame over her heritage contributed to a basic theme of the book as stated in the epilog: her grandmother’s statement that she did not want to be forgiven; she wanted to be understood. On this basis the book examines the burden of guilt among characters who had varying degrees of involvement with Nazism and its crimes.
We found an apparent problem with the back-and-forth jumping of the narrative, a device used by other authors, too. Though sometimes hard to follow, this scheme provided informative character development and depth.
Another problem concerned Ania, who took the papers and the identity from her dead friend. This, we decided, was a smart and justifiable move.
Yet another problem: What can one make of Marianne? She is unsympathetic and stiff with rectitude, “holier than thou.” But she did much good, especially in taking in needy survivors. In one complicated act of hard-heartedness, when she confronted Franz Muller about his past, he was forced to face the truth about himself. She deserves credit for keeping her moral compass straight. After all, someone said, how would I have handled these problems? Our values don’t equip us to handle such conditions.
We went over a number of topics not strictly related to the book, as is our wont:
- The harshness of the Treaty of Versailles in 1918 as a factor in the rise of Hitler.
- The positive achievements of Hitler that persuaded many Germans to follow him—prosperity, restored pride as a people, military strength.
- The Stanley Milgram-type experiments, in which ordinary people inflict cruelty when ordered to do so by an authority figure.
- The experiences of members’ parents who served in WWII.
- Post-WWII German men’s explanation to occupying Americans: “I was on the Eastern front.”
- The Germany of 1946 compared to the South after 1865; The pillage of Athens (Alabama); The difficulty (hard to imagine) of living through Reconstruction.
- How to have a strong immune system:
1-Crawl on the floor as a baby;
2-Eat dirt, either a pound or a ton (!)—take your choice.
But instead of eating dirt, we had dishes of sausage, butternut squash and other delights.
— John