Digging to America

Digging to America"

Let's start with the title. Is this a play on the familiar phrase "digging to China?" I believe that's a metaphor for working at something for so long and hard it was as if you were "digging to China." So is "Digging to America" similar inthat against great odds these Asian babies have come to be rescued and live in America? Is the author using the word "America" as metaphor for a utopian existence--a Mecca or Shangri-La? Some place or some state (like Nirvana) that we all aspire to?

Taylor doesn't fill the book with much plot; it's more about attitudes and traditions and impressions and character-building.

Regarding the naming of the Korean girls, I think the Yazdans, both first generation Americans of Iranian parents, are still very conscious of their ethnicity and ever mindful of "fitting in" to Western society. Therefore, they have opted to eschew her given name Sooki for Susan, a somewhat similar American one. The Dickinson-Donaldsons, several generations American, embrace Jin-Ho's Koren name and even dress her up in traditional clothing on occasion and teach her Korean songs. They are not as threatened about blending in and about their Americanness, because they were already deeply established in the culture.

Maryam's character is developed more fully than all the others combined. In my view, the book leans most towards being first person Maryam; perhaps her character is one the author is very familiar and comfortable with. Maryam is a complex woman. The classic introvert. I readily identify with her! Like Maryam, I think it would be unforgivable if someone put me on the spot in front of so many people and popped "the question." (aside: Is overconfidence an extrovert trait?) What I don't understand, is how she could be such a freethinking feminist in her native country, but put all that aside in this county. Is it because she was trying to help her husband (and herself) fit in to America's status quo, her mainstream way of being? What changed for her? But here she is, later in the book, long after the death of her husband, where she has every opportunity, every right to be an eccentric feminist and she plays it safe instead. For Maryam, the less you say, the less chance you have of making a mistake and looking even more like an outsider. "Very rarely did she go out in public in the mornings. Going out was work. It required conversation. It raised the possibility of mistakes."

and

"Somehow, for no other reason she could name, she had never felt at home in her own country or anywhere else; which was probably why her three best friends were foreigners."

Maryam's relationship with Dave could be a cautionary tale for those too proud to let down their guard and dare to be loved or needed. "She had resented his never-ending neediness. It hadn't yet occurred to her that a life where no one needed her would be a weak, dim, pathetic life." But then she calls herself a fool for falling in love. It's a constant struggle with Maryam, her desire to be above all that--all that is needy and emotional, versus BELONGING and all the give-and-take-and-feelings that come with that. "Oh, the agonizing back and forth of romance! The advances and retreats, the secret wounds, the strategic withdrawals."

Maryam sets wide boundaries. She suffers in silence (and enjoys it!). Some people don't want to be rescued. Maryam finds comfort and balance in her sterile, staid, minimalist home environment.

At time, Anne Tyler's writing has a poetic aesthetic. I love her alliterative passages such as "...he was just another hapless man desperate for a helpmate." And "She greeted Farah with a flood of Farsi."

But at other times, Tyler's writing is inconsistent and confusing, particularly in the end. All of a sudden in Chapter 9 we go from equal coverage of the Yazdans and Dickinson-Donaldsons to first-person Jin-Ho. Bitsy and Brad throughout this entire chapter are Jin-Ho's mom and Jin-Ho's dad this, and Jin-Ho's grandpa that. I found it very distracting and disruptive of the flow of the book. Also, I had to reread the ending to see if I missed something. It was as if she'd forgotten what she'd written already. "She and Dave were spending every day together and every night." (aside: Were they conjugal or merely companions?) Then, 20 pages later, Farah is visiting Maryam and asks, "Do you ever hear from him?" "Oh, from Dave," Maryam said. "No."

That said, I think it was an overall good book that proposes many important questions of what it means to belong; both to a country, and to a relationship or family. Why do some fear eccentricity and "otherness" while others embrace it?

Is there anywhere that books are rated like films? If not, why? I give this a 2-3/4 star rating out of 4.

~ Brenda

July Meeting

Don't forget our meeting tomorrow night, July 19, at 5:30 in the 2nd floor meeting room of the Beaufort Branch. See you there!
Please bring a list of books that we can consider for fall and winter.