"Wild" Book Club meeting

The No. 1 Ladies' Book Club held their first meeting on 2/28 with 11 participants. Mojgan, Seti, Sheri, Saha, Zohreh, Noushin, Farahnaz, Mahshid, Sheila, Gisue, Mahtab and Ensie were there.

Here is a summary of thoughts that swirled around the room about the book we had read: "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail" by Cheryl Strayed.

In general, the book gave an air of courage, courage in the sense of being young, wanting to do something extreme, and not knowing any better. Many of us, being in a different stage of our lives, could not relate to the protagonist, with her impulsive and sometime addictive personality, in addition to her making decisions that went against common sense. 

Some of the "air-head" and "addictive" choices we noticed were: 

• "Splurging on junk food every time she obtained some money, just to go broke a few minutes later."
• "Constant urge to look for intimacy with guys."
• "Becoming a heroine addict."
• "Choosing to shoot their beloved horse themselves to put it out of its misery rather than scrounging/saving to have someone professional do it."
• "Deciding on an abortion without even a second thought" (although we understood the reason she'd want to avoid this at her young age, not to do what her mom had done)

Here are some of our thoughts about the idea of a young female backpacking through PCT solo:

• "If someone as messed-up as her can do this, then any of us can."
• "I'd be scared to death to venture out on that trail by myself. Scared of bears, snakes, dehydration."
• "Wouldn't there be crazy rapists on the train waiting to prey on young females?"
• "It would be great to be at peace with nature."
• "I'd pack more clothes and less books."

There were inspiring parts as well. Her relationship with her mom was so strong throughout the book. She pointed out how her mom finally got out of an abusive marriage and took her three young children, protecting them like a mother duck, to give them the love she could. She was angry at her mom's death as a knee-jerk reaction because it came so suddenly. When she died, the close knit of the family fell apart. Later, on the trail, she remembered that her mother never gave her opportunities that other children had. She was angry at the loss, and she was angry at what could have been different.

The inspiring parts were about the strength of one's mind. How chanting a mantra "I'm strong, there's no one stronger, I can do this," got her through the toughest parts of the trail. Distractions, and setting goals were also key. She go through the trail where stronger men abandoned. Finally, just deciding to do something, no matter how unfathomable, and just 'doing it' is sometimes what it takes. Thinking about it too much, and facing fears that form usually prevents people from taking the action.

Would we recommend it? 

As a whole it was an interesting read, but we would not recommend it. It ran long and repetitive and lacked a MAJOR conflict or breakthrough.

Looking forward to discussing the next book!