iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Thank you very much for that heartening story! Banning that particular book from high schoolers is a shame since it addresses so many of their current challenges. I gave a copy to my nephew who was considering letting his son play h.s. football—fortunately his son lost interest on his own.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I’d say foster children are more hostages to fortune, which brings to mind “Demon Copperhead.” Hmmm, wonder if that was banned.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Funny that was banned, now it’s required high school reading:)

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

(Also, I think you mean “was never inevitable”)

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Is this why DJT hasn’t been charged with destruction of public property, e.g. the White House and grounds? A question that has plagued me for some time.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I knew nothing about Patchett’s family dynamics, so appreciate the info here, for which thanks. To me, they seem easier to discern in the scrambled families in “The Dutch House,” and somewhat in the central family in “Tom Lake” (I confess 3 sisters and a cherry orchard sent me to Chekhov).

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I kept thinking it was gonna be an exercise in Stockholm Syndrome but though the captives adjusted to their lot, they didn’t become persuaded to their captors’ points of view.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

How about Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake?”

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Not the first time Patchett added a twist that made me wonder if she shared first manuscript with trusted friends/readers who wanted more. Here endeth the speculation.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Yes, the word that comes to my mind is lyrical (hmmm, just occurred to me that is a musical term)

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Since the question didn’t specify romantic couples, I’ll add Roxane & the discovered protege Cesar whose demise (I suppose—kinda hope to be wrong and hope someone will correct me) was to me the tragic element.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Indeed it is, and “Tom Lake” was beautiful but also had an ending that almost felt like a way to engage with an issue of the times that “It was the right thing to do” was often said in connection with. But I digress…

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

However, there are those who say characters, relationships and plot aren’t separable if the story is done right. 🤔

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

As with 2 other Patchett books I read, I’d say relationships, to be sure, but there were hints of a very bad ending scattered throughout. Epilogue seemed contrived. 1/2

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

It seemed the author had fun with national stereotypes (the comically suffering lovelorn Russian, the French cook, the Swiss neutral) & on the various languages (my faves: “It was easy to sound tired in Russian.” “It is easy to love a woman when you can’t understand a word she is saying.”)

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

All good points, and they helped me get past the thought that she was Rufus’s “good right arm” but her left was the one left in the past, whether that was equivalent or balance or because we all need a good right arm to anchor us in our time. /Overthinker

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

My parents were inveterate campers who found the little sugar and creamer packets on restaurant tables convenient and easily obtained.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

“All Aunt Hagar’s Children” is a fine book by Edward P. Jones.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

As with other books based on 1st person narratives, images of extreme cruelty may fade but be instantly recalled, as with any study of world history (drawing and quartering, medieval warfare, Nazi atrocities, Hiroshima/Nagasaki, killing fields, genocides). Meanwhile there is still slavery.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

You make the important point that all such literature (fiction and non-) leads us to, the question of what we would do in such times and circumstances.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Agreed, Dana tells the story with enough description of others’ words and acts and there’s no reason to think she’s an unreliable narrator.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I enjoyed the double time travel since the reader first travels to 1976.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

(Pardon the double “of” in previous, couldn’t find edit button) The subject of connections over time reminds me of Faulkner’s “The past is not dead, it’s not even past.”

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

But she had to save Rufus to ensure her ancestry, which then raises the ethical question of what one is allowed to do for the sake of of posterity.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

It made me look up what I thought was from the Book of Common Prayer but turns out to be much older (sorry, can’t link) “In the midst of life we are in death.”

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

I agree, the aftermath of WWI looms large in my memory of the novel.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

I’m a bit over halfway through but comparing this to 2 other banned books we read about the founding of new places, “Parable of the Sower” and “Paradise,”both by women, both featuring violence against women—a matter of gender or cultural perspectives? (Don’t tell me if it’s in the rest, pls)

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

As of halfway I think of Ursula (who also lived 100 years and then took on raising the child to be Pope) as a strong female voice and presence, and you can view Remedios the Beauty as powerful in her effect on men. Yes, I have half to go, now into the advent of the modern world and its wonders.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

At first I thought the sewing would never end;) Ursula had certain Ma Joad aspects, loved her observations about boys (wonderful until arrival of face fuzz then all hell breaks loose) and men (they’re all the same, crazy!) There’s an adage that men run the world, women run the men. Hmm…

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Yes, I’m interested but not just because of this work. One of my daughters has a bro-in-law from Colombia, the other’s mate is from Panama. Most likely those two will never meet, but it might make for an interesting Thanksgiving dinner :)

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I struggled with the fantastical elements on first read long ago, it upended the usual way authors make readers believe a story by grounding it in the possible. Now I don’t need things to be true IRL, it’s what the characters believe and how skillfully the author conveys that.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

It seemed cinematic, alternating between the immediate events and reflecting on them, maybe an easily adapted filmscript. Oh wait…

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

I had no problem with the profanity, at least that I could understand, my difficulty was with the complex physics, biochemistry etc. a field this ancient history (as in, I’m ancient) major is sadly deficient, the very thing that would make this perfect for h.s. science students.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

I’ve read a biography of her mother and her mother’s work (A Vindication of the Rights of Woman) but not this work which I get the impression reflects a fear of science. Could this be an example of a mother being more forward-thinking than her daughter?

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

For those mystified at the apparent non sequitur of my post about reading Morrison at work, it was an answer to Auntie Fa’s post—placement error mine, apologies. And yes, it was good to read both books in the same time, good choices!

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Unfortunate salacious poster or book cover (unclear) though she looks prematurely sexualized, for sure.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Unless your constitution is stronger than mine and depending on your work surroundings, I’d be careful reading Morrison at work—a passage early in “Beloved” had me sobbing in the break room in the presence of embarrassed co-workers. :(

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

It is also my daughter’s birthday, sharing it with Morrison is her favorite “This Day In History” fact. My astonishment that “Beloved” was read/taught in her 10th grade English class may have been due to how much it affected me when I read it in my 40s!

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

The scene where the proper expression/meaning of “be” vs “beware” on the inscription was debated, beautifully delineating the generational divide. A Bravo! passage!

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

I considered it feminist like I considered “Trust” to be, in conveying/representing a depth of female experience esp as subject to male dominance, now revising my view to the better expression womanist—thanks!

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

I’m sort of “rereading” as I go by starting and stopping the audiobook as I listen to the author’s voice, which I could listen to read the phone book but have to confess is s-l-o-w esp after just hearing Ruby Dee read TEWWG, but I will not miss any of it, see you in the fall!

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

I was in at the beginning once I was clear what was going on, though I confess it was with a certain dread.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Adding my hearty thanks for the chance to reread the book and read the reactions of others. .

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

I like all the associations here and might add perhaps wishful that he had not known her before, they had not been together more/longer.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

The dialect enlivened things considerably, especially since I listened through the city library’s online site to the audiobook read by the wonderful Ruby Dee—recommend!

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

2/2 I may have already mentioned that I thought the book would make a fine opera, thought there might be need to be supertitles due to dialect.

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

I thought the courtship of Teacake and Janey was beautifully done—one of the passages that make me think of arias. 1/2

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@jwheatspear.bsky.social @jwheatspear.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Not a single sentence (too many) but a passage that surprised me was re Mrs. Turner’s “color struck” nature—a phenomenon I was aware of but had never seen in literature.

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