A Blessing on the Moon

I think I figured it out.  Yes, I know what happened.  Elspeth was so anxious about hosting her first book club dinner, that she deliberately chose the strangest book on earth in order to distract us from noticing the details of how clean her house was or how tasty dinner was.  She thought the craziness of the book would enthrall us so thoroughly and completely dominate our conversation and attention…and she almost pulled it off.  But her house was too darn cute and her meal was too deliciously amazing to remain in the shadows.  Foiled!  Nice try, El, nice try.

Now I must admit something embarrassing right now before I go on.  I had a major fail as group photographer last night.  I took pictures of some great things, including El's adorable new bulldog, wine, and one of the most perfectly cooked steaks I've ever eaten.  But there was no memory card in my camera.  I'm shaking my head in shame.  That's a rookie mistake, and I'm no rookie.  The truth is I've never done that before…ever!  I can't believe it happened last night.  Sorry everyone!

With that out of the way, let's move on to the Points of Discussion:

• The wandering of the dead Jews reminded us of the 40 years in the desert and of purgatory.
• We discussed the moon and fables and how this moon had become damaged because of the horrors in the world.
• A deep philosophical discussion came about regarding why bad things happen- the role God has in it, and the various ways people approach that question.
• The relationship between Chaim and Ola was disturbing to us all.  
• The hotel raised many questions for us and we wondered if Chaim was really dead at some points.  We also saw the symbolism in this experience related to how the Germans treated the Jews in real life.
• We all agreed we had never read a book like this and briefly discussed the criticism the author received for writing about the Holocaust in this way.

Fun Facts:
Dead sex disturbs Greta.
We were down 2 members: Erin, Jessica- we missed you!
El's husband Phil, in honor of the Biblical account of Jesus turning water into wine, served the best wine last.
Nancy was blingin' all over the place!  You go, girl!
Becky isn't allowed to talk to Greta's children or Nancy's grandchildren about animals and Heaven.