Books, Books (& Recovery)

We used the weekend to recover.  I'm happy to report that there were no major side effects other than general fuzziness and fevers.  As a side note, when we were in the doc's office, I noticed a poster up on the wall.  It was a map of the world and it was titled, "Vacation Diarrheas of the World."  Digestion-friendly countries were blue (i.e. North America, Europe) while iffy countries were red.  Africa was completely red.  Hello, Immodium AD!

We spent most of the weekend relaxing and reading, which brings me to this:

The Uncoupling, by Meg Wolitzer

A new drama teacher joins Eleanor Roosevelt High School in New Jersey and picks Lysistrata as the winter play.  The play is adapted from the original Greek comedy, written by Aristophanes, and centers around a group of women who stop all relations with men in order to end a 20-year war.  Unknown to the characters of the books (teachers and students of the school) a spell runs through the town, eventually infecting its women with the same "condition" as those in the original play.  Confusion, chaos and relational disorder ensue.

This type of book is a bit out of line with my usual reads.  I picked it up in the airport last weekend because I have been reading some heavy stuff lately and thought it might be time for a break, or what I call a smut book.  When I read the description, I thought it could go in one of two possible directions:  50 Shades of Grey (um, no thanks) or fairly comical.  It was fairly comical.

I found it interesting that the main characters of the book are a handful of very different female teachers and their partners.  I found myself remembering my own teachers and laughing at how high school students (myself included) don't consider them real people with real lives and needs.  They seem to exist only within the walls of the classroom.  In fact, when I think of my teachers now, that's exactly where I see them, and it makes sense, but yet it doesn't.  So I appreciated reading a book about teachers going home, cooking dinner, and dealing with the challenges of their own lives. 

Although the main, juicy theme of the book is marital (or non-marital) relations (ahem), I would say that an even more prominent issue is that of desire.  What happens when you fall under a spell that takes away your desire?  How much of your own yearning and passion do you take for granted?  How much of daily life and normal relations and our outlook are shaped by whether or not our desires are fulfilled?  And if our desires are taken hostage, are we still ourselves?

One last point in the books' favor:  generally it does not pick on men.  I wondered if it was going to portray men as ogling fools, incapable of living without you-know-what.  It does not; the men are valid characters and are not treated unfairly (or stereotypically) in my opinion.  The ending of the book is weak; it tends to unravel a bit in the last couple of chapters, but overall I thought it was an interesting read.  Perfect for a plane ride, or innocluation recovery.