Kathy K., Kathy T., Deb, Susan, Patricia, Jackie and I (Mary T.) met at Deb's cafe to discuss Etta & Otto & Russell & James. We are curious to know who recommended the book, as no one in attendance claimed responsibility, and we had fun guessing. We'd really appreciate it if the person who did suggest the book do a short post telling us why you suggested it!
Hoping this won't dissuade you from revealing yourself, the comments leaned to the negative. Accepting the premise that the style was 'magic realism,' many of us were thrown off about 2/3 of the way through the book when Etta "became" Otto. Did she have dementia and imagine the whole story? What drove Etta's urge to get to the ocean? What was the symbolism of her journey, Otto's papier mache menagerie, the reporter who joined Etta briefly on her sojourn, etc.? Why didn't the guinea pig talk? She probably had all the answers! The author admitted she wrote the book "sporadically" and in a stream of consciousness mode, which could explain why it seemed disjointed. (Would love to get the editor's take on it!) Many of us were confused/disappointed with the ending and came to the meeting hoping someone else could explain it!
Maybe we can take a few minutes at the next meeting to get the perspective of the people who weren't at this meeting.
We'll meet on May 15 at the Coffee Grounds to discuss What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, a collection of short stories by Nathan Englander.
Until then ... happy reading!
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