Ponder: Unsheltered

Occasionally I get more out of writing my blog post about a book than I do from reading the book itself. That is the case with Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver ©2018. Unsheltered had an ever-present down-trodden aura that I found unappealing but I challenged myself to complete the book despite its theme. It was in researching the internet links of several historic characters and one historic place that I came to appreciate the intricacies of the novel. Not that I liked it any better, mind you, but I could recognize more of its merits.

Overview
The storyline of this faction book follows the lives of two somewhat parallel families one in present day times and one in the 1870's, living in a real-life town of Vineland in southern New Jersey founded by Charles Landis as a temperance town.  Both families live in houses that are shambles and falling down about their ears and neither family is in a financial position to repair his home. The patriarch of each family is a teacher, endeavoring to gain tenure or job security. Both are caught in a transition between belief systems. I noticed the closing lines of one chapter were the  title of the next, perhaps the author's tool of further connecting the two time periods. The present day family is three generational, made up of a father and mother, a debilitatingly ill paternal grandfather, a son and daughter both in their late twenties, and a infant grandchild whose mother committed suicide due to depression shortly after his birth. This contemporary family is struggling to make sense of the economic climate and political leanings of factions of today's United States. Nearing retirement age they still are not financially secure to do so. Their neighbor is a large hispanic family whose property is littered with the cars they work on as mechanics. The historic family is made up of a husband, his hard-to-please wife, her younger malleable sister, and her judgmental, formerly well-to-do mother. The historic family is torn in a battle of blind disbelief or blasphemous belief in Darwinism. The coexistence of Science and God is viewed as impossible. Their neighbor is Mary Treat, a naturalist and correspondent with Charles Darwin.

I found this book's topics to be so depressing, the language so stilted, and the continual bouncing back and forth between two time periods so annoying, I was hard pressed to say something positive. I read for pleasure and this book was no pleasure to read. Barbara Kingsolver is a well-renowned, highly respected author. What was I missing?

Normally I abstain from reading reviews of books until I have written my own but for Unsheltered I made an exception.  I checked what the Washington Post said about Unsheltered in its book review: 

https://beta.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/in-barbara-kingsolvers-unsheltered-trump-is-just-the-latest-threat-to-earths-survival/2018/10/16/6aebe630-d140-11e8-b2d2-f397227b43f0_story.html. In my opinion, the article was an excellent summary and assessment. I give that article a rating of 5 resounding stars and encourage my readers to look at it. I give the book Unsheltered 1 star which in my personal rating system translates as "Awful but I read most or maybe even all of it".  This rating reflects my enjoyment of the book and my willingness to recommend it to others rather than its value on some sort of literary scale.

Lemons to Lemonade
When I do read a book that is difficult for me to plow through, I often earmark occasional phrases that catch my eye and cause me to ponder, to adhere to the old adage "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade". A collection of those phrases follows accompanied by my thoughts on them.

• A mother can be only as happy as her unhappiest child. (Ch. 3  - Investigators)
  I found this a thought provoking idea and I think it very well may be true. Children may grow into adults but they are still your babies to worry and fuss over.
  
  
• Polly had let Scylla and Charybdis [names for two dogs] out the back door. He watched them follow the ordained path of their morning constitutional: a direct line to the oak, which they sniffed and circled, then crossed to the beech where they both micturated. (Ch. 6 - Strange Companions)
  This is an example of the stilted language I found obnoxious. I must confess my ignorance in not knowing the Greek mythological reference to Scylla and Charybdis as being synonymous with an idiom meaning "between a rock and a hard place".  Once I knew this, the names were kind of clever if a bit presumptuous. Granted this was a time period in the latter part of the1800's when being educated meant knowing your classic references. But really... morning constitutional and micturated? She let the dogs out to pee! At least I have expanded my vocabulary  – with a word I will most likely never use. But maybe I will. Perhaps instead of saying something "pisses me off", I can more primly and properly claim it "micturates me off"!
  
  
• "Their little families have come here looking for safety, but they will go on laboring under old authorities until their heaven collapses. Your charge is to lead them out of doors. Teach them to see evidence for themselves, and not to fear it." "To stand in the clear light of day, you once said, unsheltered." (Ch. 8 - Shelter in Place)
  The novel has several references to the word unsheltered, its title. I found this one interpretation unique. Unsheltered in this case meant exposing yourself to all the evidence, impartially, with out any protective bias or cushioning. Was I always raised to believe something in particular? Maybe it is time to remove those insulating filters and re-evaluate what I am witnessing.
   
• "Deserving, getting, and wanting are three different things. Typically unrelated." (Ch. 9 - The Front of the Line)
  This message made me think of the recent bout of shootings, the majority by white males, who thought they were being deprived of getting what they wanted and thought they deserved.
  
  
• So here's my problem, Eligibility is based on the MAGI, whatever the heck that is. We three kings? Gold, frankincense, and myrrh?" ..."Mom. Modified adjusted gross income. It says right there." "Wow. We're a Medicaid family." Tig grinned. "There you go. Gift of the Magi."(Ch. 9 - The Front of the Line)
  I found this exchange amusing as mother and daughter wend their way through a confusing government website for financial help with health care.
  
  
• "The thing is, Mom, the secret of happiness is low expectations." (Ch. 15 - Unexpected Reserves)
  Frank and I have often mused upon this thought, on a more trivial scale. If we go to a movie or show expecting it to be great, we're a bit saddened if it did not present as anticipated; however, we are very pleased when we walk out of an unknown or low rated form of entertainment and find we are upbeat and happy. This nugget of wisdom could possibly be extended to apply to life.
  
  
• "A person can succeed and fail at the same time. Maybe letting me down was your way of getting me to be me... "adaptable" (Ch. 15 - Unexpected Reserves)
  This exchange was between Tig and her mom Willa about possibly her mom not always being there for Tig when Tig needed her. Intermittent lapses in maternal performance or favoritism toward a sibling probably made Tig a stronger adult. Failure at motherhood = success of child.
  
  
• "If you can't borrow from the future you have to steal from the now." (Ch. 15 - Unexpected Reserves)
  This quote is spoken by the modern family's mother as gleaned from her millennial son. Although not generally voiced so blatantly, it may unscrupulously apply to various Ponzi-type investment schemes or stock market manipulations. The mom does find this view disturbing. I find this concept prevalent in all those phishing text messages, phone calls, and emails I get.
  
  
• "One percent of the brotherhood has their hands on most of the bread. They own the country, their god is the free market, and most people are so unhorrified they won't even question the system. If it makes a profit, that's the definition of good. If it grows you have to stand back and let it. The free market has exactly the same morality as a cancer cell." (Ch. 15 - Unexpected Reserves)
  This quote is spoken by the modern daughter who is a staunch recycler and environmentalist in contrast to her Wall Street minded brother with whom she is always at odds. I ask myself is the growth of the majority of start-ups a good thing? If they do succeed, does the product benefit the general public or is the profit merely a contrived wage source for its launching team? See? The negativity of the book is rubbing off on me.

Interesting Historical References
I did find the historic references in Unsheltered led me down side paths to a set of interesting facts. In her Acknowledgments section Kingsolver states

Mary Treat was a nineteenth-century biologist whose work deserves to be known better. ... Unsheltered is a work of fiction, but most of its nineteenth century characters and events are real, if often implausible

Vineland is a real town in southern New Jersey, my native state, founded by a man name Charles Landis as a temperance town with the aim of creating a utopian society. Wikipedia lists ten temperance towns in the United States. (I learned that Palo Alto, California, home to Stanford University is one of those temperance towns.)

In addition to banning the sale of alcohol, Landis required that purchasers of land in Vineland had to build a house on the purchased property within a year of purchase, that 2½ acres of the often-heavily wooded land had to be cleared and farmed each year, and that adequate space be placed between houses and roads to allow for planting of flowers and shade trees along the routes through town.

Per Wikipedia, Welch's, know for it grape juice, was founded in Vineland.

The interactions between Uri Carruth editor of an independent Vineland newspaper and Charles Landis town founder are based on fact. I will admit they lent excitement and disdain both to my read.

****************START SPOILER ALERT ******************

There was indeed a shooting of Uri Carruth an independent newspaper editor by Charles Landis who was then put on trial for murder. He was acquitted! The Landis Wikipedia article states

This may have been the first time in American judicial history where a person claimed insanity as a reason for being not guilty.

The reason for the shooting is clarified in https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Talk:Charles_K._Landis which made me wonder at similarities to today's leaders. To quote from this reference

What is interesting about Landis's life is not the benign "founding father" image that was created for him, but the fact that a flawed person in his "manic" phase could actually accomplish some solid achievements.

***************** END SPOILER ALERT ******************

Conclusion
This book was not enjoyable for me and hence its 1 star rating. I am not politically inclined. The 21st century chapters held my interest but I found myself speed reading or skimming through the 19th century chapters. Checking back I see that seven of the nine "lemons" I thought worthy of juicing were from the 21st century chapters. Yet many of the historical references from the 19th century chapters piqued my interest and I learned a great deal - but only after completing the book. Why did I stick with it? It was on the reading list for my daughter-in-law's book club and I wanted to give this author a second chance even though I hated her book The Lacuna. I can't always eat cookies and ice cream; I have to eat my veggies, too. But I like veggies! I did not like this book!