About the New Canon

About 50 years ago, a group of scholarly blokes at the most acclaimed universities in the United States sat down and decided what books were to be considered literature and what books were just . . . well books. They didn't have any literary value and were not even considered "literature". The books in this Canon are said to be those literary works which have defined American culture and thus are the only ones fit to be taught. This blog is a rebellion against this old-fashioned idea. We are trying to express that these books are incredibly limited. They are essentially a list of books written by dead Eurpopean men. Women authors, minority authors and books that fall into categories other than so-called realistic fiction are few and far between on this list, but nonetheless they were judged to be ideal books against which all other books are to be measured. We want to create here a list of great reads that aren't necessarily written by someone who could not imagine what life would be like for our generation. The value of the books included on the Canon cannot be ignored, but by limiting ourselves to a strict list of valuable books, we eliminate the voices of our current generation.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Title
The Secret Life of Bees

Author
Sue Monk Kidd

Copyright
2002



I would not be surprised if you have heard of Sue Monk Kidd and immediately associate her with poorly done chick flicks. It's sad but true that her books tend to get turned into relatively mediocre Lifetime movies (die, Mermaid Chair, DIE). However, Kidd is a brilliant writer and this book is incredibly moving.

This novel takes place in 1964, during that tumultuous time of the Civil Rights Movement. The main character in this novel is named Lily and she has spent her life haunted by the day her mother was killed. Lily remembers this day vividly and it formed much of her identity up until that point. Her relationship with her father is, at best, shaky, but luckily she has the company of Rosaleen (a black nanny) to guide her and give her the love and affection she desperately needs.

When Rosaleen "insults the three deepists racists in town", Lily's world is turned upside down and she breaks Rosaleen out of jail and the two of them run away to Tiburon, South Carolina, a mysterious town her mother wrote on the back of an old picture of the Virgin Mary. There she meets and is "taken in by a trio of black beekeeping sisters" and is forced to confront not only her idealistic views on her mother, but also her own latent racist beliefs.

The two main focuses of this novel are racism and more importantly to the novel, the mother-daughter relationship. The novel is written compellingly with beautiful descriptions and the voice of Lily calls out to the reader and draws you into her world. This is a beautiful book and I highly reccommend it.

Note: Quotes are from the back cover of the novel.
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