Emily’s Comments (group member since Sep 24, 2013)

Emily’s comments from the Reader with a Cause group.

Emsollenberger wrote: "Hello!

I am a prevention educator at a local domestic violence program. I am hoping to utilize this page during DVAM this year!

When will the discussion guide and conversation get going?

Thanks!"

We'll be reading the book through the end of the month (October) and will start discussion shortly thereafter! Looking forward to it!

I only know Roxane Gay from her Twitter feed -- I finally picked up this book this past weekend and I am excited to dive in.

I've started this book - it's pretty intense from the get-go.

I was really disappointed/angry/infuriated when I found out that VAWA 2013 didn't actually do anything to change the way that this case would be prosecuted today. I finished the book and thought "Well, that was the 80s...SURELY they've fixed that by now."

I was thrilled to see Nanapush (a character from Erdrich's book Tracks) make an appearance during Mooshum's sleep-talking/story-telling!

Love the quotes from Erdrich! Her words add another dimension to an already rich, complex story.

I found this fascinating! I'm not sure what to do about it, except to take note and see if it's true in my life/workplace.

This is something that I'm definitely guilty of. However, it's really hard to think about being more assertive when the research indicates that women are penalized for it. I was frustrated with this part of the book - it seemed like Sandberg was saying "Women are bad because they don't ask for what they deserve; however, they are penalized when they do ask for what they deserve. So...you should just ask for it anyway and just deal with it. It will probably go well?"
Not very actionable advice.

I do think that being more open at work actually leads to a more "authentic self" -- it was refreshing to hear that Colin Powell (and the US DOL!) agree.

I went into this book thinking that I would hate it - I'd read or heard a LOT of criticism about this book and Sandberg's thesis overall, so I was surprised when I discovered that I didn't hate it. True, much of the advice is more applicable for women who "aspire to the C-suite;" however, there was much there that resonated with me, or there was a way that she would frame an issue that I hadn't really thought of before.

A colleague defended this book saying that if a man had written this book, he wouldn't have received half as much criticism for it not being inclusive enough - we'd just read it and think "meh, not really for me." But because Sandberg is a woman, we have higher expectations for her and this book, as well. (This makes me think of the criticism that Mindy Kaling has gotten for her show "The Mindy Project" not being diverse enough http://jezebel.com/mindy-kaling-on-di...)

Ashley wrote: "I was so excited for this movie to come out that I read the book in 3 nights. I really enjoyed the book and the characters. And I thought the movie was well made and the characters were cast well. ..."

3 nights!? Well done. :)

Have you gone on to books 2 & 3? Do you plan to?

The faction idea really bothered me while reading the book - I thought they were reductive and simplistic and just a dumb idea in general. It's one thing to get sorted into a House, it's another to get sorted into a lifestyle, job, and life.

That being said, I would be Erudite. I like to read, what can I say? (Buzzfeed agrees)

I didn't love this book, but I thought it made an excellent movie! I was intrigued with this quote from one of the producers, who described his desire to film this book even before it was released: "We were really taken with the idea of a young woman who, in the beginning of the story, isn't allowed to look at herself in the mirror, and, by the end, was a completely empowered warrior." (full article: "'Divergent' Producer Douglas Wick On How To Make A Successful YA Adaptation" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03...) That quote made me appreciate and re-evaluate Tris's story quite a bit.

I also think they did a great job with the setting - I loved the way that Chicago looked in the film.

I also found a playlist on Spotify of this soundtrack - check it out here: https://play.spotify.com/user/jennife...

This is so different than the soundtrack in the movie! Which I loved - it was very heavy on Ellie Goulding and, to me, that seemed like a perfect fit.

Ashley wrote: "For those that were excited about this duo... another book on the way!! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316......"

Very cool. Interesting that Rowling is still using the pen name for the sequel. The cat's kind of out of that bag, no?

Kathy wrote: "Thanks for posting those NY Times links. The letters in response to the second article express exactly why I haven't been able to bring myself to read this book or watch the TV show. I've enjoyed r..."

Kathy - you might be interested in the show creator's comments related to this (that Erica shared on another thread):

"The show's creator, Jenji Kohan of "Weeds" fame, told National Public Radio last year that Piper was her "Trojan horse" to get American audiences thinking about prison reform:
"In a lot of ways, Piper was my Trojan Horse. You're not going to go into a network and sell a show on really fascinating tales of black women, and Latina women, and old women and criminals. But if you take this white girl, this sort of fish out of water, and you follow her in, you can then expand your world and tell all of those other stories. But it's a hard sell to just go in and try to sell those stories initially."

Because this read like a story, at times I forgot that this was nonfiction - so finding and reading these articles while reading the book made it real for me.

It was disappointing to read about the facts that the reporters got wrong (am I crazy to have more faith in modern journalism?) - and the quotes that the People article included. I think there is a tendency to write off people in prison, like the article did with the "scum of the earth" quote, and I appreciated reading about a woman reacting to that. It made me think more critically about the consequences of our current criminal justice system's structure.

Yeah - I tried to read some of Kathy Reichs' books after watching Bones and I just couldn't do it! So I feel you there.

For this book/show, I'm very glad that I read the book first, but they are so different that you almost have to look at them as totally separate things. That the show is "inspired by" but is not an accurate representation of the book.

I was really surprised by how different the show was from the book.

In the first few episodes, there are a lot of similarities and a lot of little things happen that are inspired by the events of the book (the missing screwdriver, the vindictive peeing incident, etc.) - but happen differently. And then it diverges almost completely from the events of the book! Larry becomes a real jerk; her ex-girlfriend is also in prison with her; Pennsatucky is her enemy... ((view spoiler)[and what the heck with Piper beating the crap out of her in the last episode?! When is the show coming back?... (hide spoiler)])

I do love that Capt. Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager is in the show as Red - and that Piper was reading Gone Girl in the chicken episode (another Reader With a Cause book!).