Book notes | The Vanishing Half
The (Fourth Friday) UMRA Book Club II met on February 26 to discuss The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. Attendees agreed this was a very well-developed story of racial passing, racial colorism, and, to a lesser extent, homophobia.
The story is of twin sisters from a Black Louisiana town during Jim Crow. The separate fates of the sisters assume lots of plot twists. In a period spanning 50 years, there are identities chosen and imposed; there are possibilities embraced and rebutted. Consequences are in abundance.
There is even some hometown color: the University of Minnesota Medical School and the very harsh (the author’s words) Minnesota winters.
We also briefly noted The Human Stain by Phillip Roth. Roth considers the same issue of identity, the same crises of racism—but with the act of passing sometimes a celebration of challenging racial constructs, an exhilaration of the grand and elaborate art, and an act to “take his future into his own hands.”
—Brit Britten, Fourth Friday Book Club member
UMRA Book Club II to meet February 26
Fri, Feb 26 2021, 2pm
The UMRA Book Club II is new and we welcome new readers. We meet at 2 p.m. on the fourth Friday of every month except December. At the present time, we are meeting online via Zoom.
Dorothy Marden will lead the discussion of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, recounts the separate fates of twin sisters from a Black Louisiana town during Jim Crow. The sisters' lives diverge, only to intersect unexpectedly years later. The novel spans nearly half a century from the 1940's to the 1990's. On the one hand a provocative meditation on the possibilities and the limits of self-definition, and yet there is the challenge of identity that is both chosen and imposed.
The Vanishing Half is one of the New York Times "The 10 Best Books of 2020" and other honored citations.
If you would like more information, have book suggestions for future meetings, or wish to join this discussion, please send your name and email address to us for the ZOOM INVITATION:
Dorothy [email protected]
Maggie: [email protected]
What would you like to read in the future? Some suggestions:
Red Pill, by Hari Kunzru
Turn of the Screw, by Henry James
Nectar in a Sieve, by Kamala Markandaya
Short Stories, by Herman Melville, such as Billy Budd, and Bartleby the Scrivner
The Black Tulip, by Alexander Dumas
Night Train to Lisbon, by Pascal Mercier
Upcoming Events
Our July 15 "hike" is going to be a kayaking adventure on Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) and Lake of the Isles! If you don't have a kayak (or paddleboard), Wheel Fun Rentals, located next to the new concession stand rents single kayaks at $15 an hour and double kayaks at $25. The second hour is free if we rent before noon. Life jackets are provided with the rental.
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