For this edition of our virtual book club, we’re discussing Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. It’s easy to participate: just add your thoughts about the discussion questions (or anything else you’d like to talk about) in the comment section below.
This book started out with so much promise: it’s beautifully written, and the scenes of the Kenyan landscape come to life off the pages. I also found myself intrigued by a time and place I didn’t know much about: 1920s colonial Kenya. Unfortunately, there was one significant deal breaker for me: I just didn’t like the main character. It was painful to watch Beryl make choice after choice that imploded her life, and after a while, even though I felt sorry for her, I just couldn’t bring myself to keep cheering for her. I slogged my way through the second half of the book.
Discussion #1: Beryl as a flawed character
What intrigued me most when I picked up this book was the angle of Beryl’s cross-cultural experiences, as well as her accomplishments as a woman in the ’20s. She made history as a racehorse trainer and a pilot—two professions that were pretty countercultural for a woman of her time. But so much of the book focused on her affairs and poor relational choices that those events overshadowed the rest of her story.
“We’re all of us afraid of many things, but if you make yourself smaller or let your fear confine you, then you really aren’t your own person at all—are you? The real question is whether or not you will risk what it takes to be happy.”
The irony is that Beryl risks everything to find happiness but ends up profoundly unhappy. I’m not sure she ever comes to realize she’s been chasing the wrong things all along.
What did you think of Beryl? Did you find her likable? Sympathetic? Do you know anyone like her?
Discussion #2: Beryl’s mother issues
I did find one reason to feel sympathetic toward Beryl: she was abandoned by her mother as a child, and that must leave an indelible scar on a person. The tragedy, of course, is that the crippling event of her life (losing her mother) is almost precisely what she ends up doing to her own child.
Even so, Beryl seems to think that her upbringing wasn’t a disadvantage but rather made her tough:
“I’ve sometimes thought that being loved a little less than others can actually make a person, rather than ruin them.”
Do you think being “loved a little less” is a benefit or a disadvantage? Do you think it’s possible to break the cycle of a lack of love?
Discussion #3: Interesting genre
I give the author credit for tackling a unique style of literature: she essentially fictionalized Beryl Markham’s memoir, which was originally published in 1942. Markham’s book, West with the Night, didn’t make much of a splash when it first came out, but in the 1980s, someone discovered a letter from Ernest Hemingway with this praise for her work: “It really is a bloody wonderful book.” The book was republished in 1983 and became a bestseller, and now Paula McLain has expanded and fictionalized the work. I didn’t realize until after I’d read it that Baroness Karen von Blixen is actually Isak Dinesen, who wrote Out of Africa.
Perhaps McLain stayed true to Markham’s personality and life experiences, but I found myself wishing that she’d created a protagonist who was more likable—or at least more sympathetic. Ultimately, Beryl was a tragic figure, but I’m not sure I would have chosen her as a subject for a novel.
“We had both tried for the sun, and had fallen, lurching to earth again, tasting melted wax and sorrow.”
In what ways do you think Beryl’s life might have turned out differently if she’d lived in a different time or place? Do you think you would have been friends with her?
Rating:
I would give this book two stars (out of five). Despite the quality writing, I just couldn’t invest in the main character enough to want to follow her journey page after page.
How many stars would you give this book?
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Remember: I’ll give away a free book to one lucky commenter! Just write a comment below to be eligible to win.
I fully agree with your opening statements but I wouldn’t have said it so eloquently and definately not as nicely and gently. I personally did not like Beryl at all. She seemed shallow and really only had one lasting relationship. I, too, was intrigued by her ability to overcome the gender barriers from that time. But the cost that she paid was too high in my view. She lost so much to pursue her aspirations. The situation with her mother was tragic but made even more tragic by her repeating it. I think she was loved by many but didn’t know how to love back. Maybe she never learned how to love. I think we can always break the sad cycles of life. It might not be easy but it is possible. I think Beryl would have lived the same basic life no matter what time or place she lived. She would choose to push the limits of herself. I cannot see myself being her friend as we are too different. I would only give the book one star and that only because I want others to know that I rated it. Although it was not descriptive about her sexual escapades in my opinion there were too many affairs to justify the rest of the story.
I love what you said: “She lost so much to pursue her aspirations.” So true! And I agree with you that it was double tragedy to see her following her mother’s path. Thanks for participating!
A little late in posting my thoughts. Interestingly, I was #3 on the list for check out from my local library. The style of writing with descriptive details of a country and people, I know little about, made an interesting read.
I did not dislike Beryl. She had a surviving sprit and an undeniable drive that allowed her to succeed professionally as a woman in the ’20s. She, like all of us, had her own personal struggles and made her own mistakes. It is unfortunate that living in “the colony” (which I associated to small town USA) or providing good newspaper reading only
appeared to hardened her belief in people or honest relationships.
“Was some god going to punish me…..I wasn’t sure what I believed and had never learned to pray. I didn’t know how to surrender to fate….so I hummed an old African song…..”
Beryl’s early life did shape her. My thought is she felt the void of parental love and guidance from both her mother AND father. Although living with her father as a child, his priority was clearly success in building a profitable farm. She witnessed his relationship with Emma and ultimately, at 16, encouraged her marriage.
Although untraditonal, I saw Beryl soften as a mother. That same determination and drive that found her success professionally, was finally hinted at in her personal life with her son. Hard decisions were made for his benefit. It was good to know “Through the years I would return to Swiftsden and visit him.” And as Gervase grew he , “felt more fondness for her than for his father…..who was even more distant and unavailable.”
I would give this book 3/5 stars because the storyline was a bit sluggish at times. Life is messy. Mistakes are made and many times repeated. I would have enjoyed knowing Beryl, not as my close friend or confidante, but to develop a relationship where she could “learn to pray.”
Thanks so much for joining in, Cindy! That’s such a wise insight that she was void of parental love and guidance from both her mother and her father. You are so right! He was physically present but emotionally absent. I have no doubt her life would have turned out much better if you were in her life and taught her to pray. 🙂
A little late in posting my thoughts. Interestingly, I was #3 on the list for check out from my local library. The style of writing with descriptive details of a country and people, I know little about, made an interesting read.
I did not dislike Beryl. She had a surviving sprit and an undeniable drive that allowed her to succeed professionally as a woman in the ’20s. She, like all of us, had her own personal struggles and made her own mistakes. It is unfortunate that living in “the colony” (which I associated to small town USA) or providing good newspaper reading only
appeared to hardened her belief in people or honest relationships.
“Was some god going to punish me…..I wasn’t sure what I believed and had never learned to pray. I didn’t know how to surrender to fate….so I hummed an old African song…..”
Beryl’s early life did shape her. My thought is she felt the void of parental love and guidance from both her mother AND father. Although living with her father as a child, his priority was clearly success in building a profitable farm. She witnessed his relationship with Emma and ultimately, at 16, encouraged her marriage.
Although untraditonal, I saw Beryl soften as a mother. That same determination and drive that found her success professionally, was finally hinted at in her personal life with her son. Hard decisions were made for his benefit. It was good to know “Through the years I would return to Swiftsden and visit him.” And as Gervase grew he , “felt more fondness for her than for his father…..who was even more distant and unavailable.”
I would give this book 3/5 stars because the storyline was a bit sluggish at times. Life is messy. Mistakes are made and many times repeated. I would have enjoyed knowing Beryl, not as my close friend or confidante, but to develop a relationship where she could “learn to pray.”