LOCAL

"Wednesday Tea" at the Penfield Public Library

Lou Singer
Penfield
Librarian Camille DelVechio reviews Barbara Kingsolver&#39;s &quot;Flight Behavior.&quot;
Librarian Camille DelVechio addresses a typical group at the &quot;Wednesday Tea.&quot; This group heard about Barbara Kingsolver&#39;s book, &quot;Flight Behavior.&quot;

It was the first Wednesday of the month (January 7th) which was the scheduled time for the Wednesday Tea Book Review - a program co-sponsored by the Penfield Recreation and Public Library organizations. The reason I attended is that I consider book reviews and book discussions something like wine tastings. How can you tell what is the best wine to get and enjoy without comparing it to others? The same goes for books.

On this date, librarian Camille DelVechio reviewed Barbara Kingsolver's latest work of fiction: "Flight Behavior." I have never read any of the 15 books by Kingsolver, which include fiction, non-fiction, essays and poetry. Del Vechio gave us an overview of the author and her book plus some carefully-worded personal opinions. I learned that the author seems to like to make up interesting names for her characters. For example, the main character is Dellarobia Turnbow who is married to Cub and they have two children, Preston and Cordelia. They live in Feathertown, Tennessee. A scientist in the book is named Ovid Byron and Cub's father is Bear.

Kingsolver has degrees in biology from DePauw University and the University of Arizona, so a lot of her writing includes scientific, social justice, behavioral and environmental issues. "Flight Behavior" tells the fictional story of Dellarobia and her unexpected confrontation with millions and millions of butterflies all over a mountain in Tennessee. Using this as the overwhelming event of the book, Kingsolver now involves the reader with infidelity (Dellarobia has an affair with a young telephone repairman), details of the butterfly migration (a disruption in their usual migration to Mexico), selling land to a corporation so they can clear-cut a forest (a major blow to the environment) and climate change (man-made disasters leading to the death of millions of butterflies and other wildlife).

Librarian DelVechio spoke a little about Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible" and "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle." The first is a widely-known fictional work about a missionary family in the Congo which probably makes use of the author's experiences when she lived in the Congo. (Note: Kingsolver is very definite that her novels are NOT autobiographical though they may use some actual details.) The second book is non-fiction and IS autobiographical. It describes the year that Kingsolver and her family decided to try and be fully subsistent on everything local. They would eat only what they grew on their land or what they could get from neighbors or nearby farmers. However, each member of the family could choose one item that did not grow locally. For example, chocolate, coffee and olive oil. Some good things about the book, according to DelVechio, are its interesting details, scientific descriptions of nature and personal tensions. Some negatives about the book include very clumsy dialogue, too long and too detailed in some sections, irritating repetition and a lack of a real plot. DelVechio wondered if that could be a problem for other best-selling authors. Once they have multiple successes, perhaps it might be difficult for them to do as much editing and rewriting as they might have done before they were famous.

The "Wednesday Tea" and many other educational programs are presented under the auspices of the Library's DEAR program. It means Daytime Education at Recreation. It's an educational series for adults on a variety of topics, including local and world history, philosophy, science and spirituality. I have enjoyed DEAR sessions on the Titanic, the War of 1812, Christmas in Williamsburg and the foods of Cuba, to name just a few. Contact Penfield Recreation at (585) 340-8655 or www.penfieldrec.org for more information

For readers who may want to learn more about "Flight Behavior," the Penfield Library has scheduled a book discussion on this book on January 15th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. The leader will be Carolyn Smith.
https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/penfield/2015/01/08/wednesday-tea-at-the-penfield-public-library/21456651/
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