I Know This Much is True

Author: Wally Lamb

One-sentence summary: A man whose twin suffers from paranoid schizophrenia confronts his brother’s current mess as well as their joint and individual past suffering in search of meaning and redemption.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 8

Our favorite thing about it: We loved how real the story and characters were, the amazing writing and story and the depth of meaning in the book.

Our least favorite thing about it: This book has a lot of foul language and it is quite a long book as well.

Main Topics of Discussion: Twins, Relationships, Parenting, Siblings, Love, Conflicting Emotions, Imagery, Parables, Grief, Mental Illness

Our favorite quote: “That love grows from the rich loam of forgiveness; that mongrels make good dogs; that the evidence of God exists in the roundness of things. This much, at least, I’ve figured out. I know this much is true.”

Notes: We could have talked about this book all night long. And not just because it was a hefty book. It had layers upon layers of story and meaning; metaphor and imagery. We all thought this was a fantastic read. One of the things we kept mentioning over and over again was how real the characters and story seemed to us. So real that we felt we could reach out and “touch” them. The characters were so believable and well rounded. They all had amazingly real voices even at different ages throughout the book.

Throughout the book, the narrator (Dominick) is searching for some meaning to the suffering he has experienced both in his past and currently. His relationships are all broken or sick. We loved how even the language of the narrator changed and softened as he became more aware of himself and his shortcomings. He gravitated toward forgiveness and understanding as well as an acknowledgement of God. The spiritual journey that hovered all around his physical and emotional pain was very well written and interesting to read.

This book was about so many things but front and center were relationships of all kinds. And each of these relationships was written so true to life even with all the ugliness and conflicting emotions they contain. Love, hate, guilt, regret, romance, fear. Experiencing completely opposite emotions at the same time was a repetitive theme in this book. Other interesting and prominent themes were monkeys, rabbits, keys, water.

The history of the narrator was told from the perspective of his grandfather and took place in a world that seemed realistic, yet contained a palpable mystery to it. The author so subtly made that “history” a myth and parable for instruction for the narrator and moved between both worlds absolutely seamlessly.

We all found ourselves identifying with the middle-aged male narrator, which is quite a feat considering that we are not middle aged men. But we felt pulled right along with him in his journey of pain and healing, discovery and understanding.

Memorable Meeting Moments: Our first breakfast for dinner! Stephanie’s birthday celebration, and Dara’s solo of “True” by Spandau Ballet circa 1983. (I Know This Much is True…)

What We Ate: Mimosas, Cinnamon French Toast with Banana Rum Syrup, Bacon (and Prosciutto), Greek Yogurt Parfait with Honey and Fresh Berries

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Author: Jamie Ford

One-sentence summary: A Chinese-American man living in Seattle alternates between present time and the 1040s living and retelling his story about love, loyalty, and loss that is truly bitter and sweet.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 8 (unanimous rating)

Our favorite thing about it: We loved the story because it was so engaging, and we also loved learning about the historical context of the novel.

Our least favorite thing about it: If we had to pick something, we might say that Henry’s father may have been written slightly one-dimensionally as he was a bit extreme.

Main Topics of Discussion: Asian culture (Japanese and Chinese), war, fear, loyalty, honor, family, father/son relationships

Our favorite quote: “Like so many things Henry had wanted in life – like his father, his marriage, his life – it had arrived a little damaged. Imperfect. But he didn’t care, this was all he’d wanted. Something to hope for, and he’d found it. It didn’t matter what condition it was in.” (p.142)

Notes: We universally liked this book. We thought the story flowed really well and the author’s decision to narrate alternately from the 1940s and then the present time was perfect for this story, and happened seamlessly. The setting of both time periods was Seattle, Washington in and around the Chinese and Japanese towns. The insight into the cultures of both of those Asian cultures, with the added prism of American culture, was fascinating and enlightening. One of our favorite things was learning about those cultures and how they were treated and viewed following Pearl Harbor and during the rest of WWII. Quite often, we focus on the German/European side of WWII and the Asian side gets lost. And in this book, the focus was on the Asian side of the war IN America.

However, the war was not really the primary theme of the book. It served as the backdrop for Henry and Keiko’s story, which is really a timeless one. The title of the book spells out the main theme of the book perfectly…bitter and sweet. That is a theme that is really relatable to most readers because most of us have experienced things in our life that are simultaneously bitter and sweet. This made the story and theme resonate with us.

One point of discussion was the father/son relationship, which we see in Henry and his father as well as Henry and his son. The differences and similarities between both of those relationships was interesting, especially through the lens of their Asian backgrounds and thoughts on obedience, honor, and loyalty. National pride played a large part in Henry’s relationship with his father and may have prevented Henry’s father from relating with his son.

We enjoyed following along with Henry’s love for Keiko and the cultural as well as physical distances that separated them. The end of the book, although only an implied resolution, was satisfying enough for all of us.

Memorable Meeting Moments: We went to A Taste of Home restaurant in Wylie, which is housed in a historic Victorian home.

What We Ate: Comfort food! (Like Shepherd’s Pie and Meatloaf), Raspberry Iced Tea, Sweet Potato Fries (with a special dipping sauce), and Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Cake.