tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18963968.post5866695675688862940..comments2023-05-18T06:17:14.289-05:00Comments on Wishing and Waiting: Book TourNicolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00562910016603877697noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18963968.post-84166137609789697902007-03-12T10:14:00.000-05:002007-03-12T10:14:00.000-05:00I'm interested by your note about the portrayal of...I'm interested by your note about the portrayal of women: "To me it was also as if each background character was one individual emotion or feeling" related to IF, and I liked how you thought about it in these terms.<BR/>For me, it was interesting that in many ways, the ways James presents it, many of these women might indeed BE "fertile"--that it's the sperm that are the problem societally, but that the concentration is on the women's desperate measures. It's been fertile women, not women who have struggled with infertility or loss, who've been the ones who clap their hands when they hear I'm having a girl and say, "Oooh. You can dress her like a little doll!" It's been women who haven't had trouble conceiving that in my experience I've found to have stranger, more "lustful" responses to babies. I think you're onto something, about how these individual responses of the women display different "snapshots" of the IF experience, but I also think that those are more often than not hidden responses--the anger that happens inside of us, the loneliness we keep to ourselves, the way we learn to smile, cheerily, at a mother and new baby when your body wants nothing more than to cry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18963968.post-2634342523218231752007-03-08T12:00:00.000-05:002007-03-08T12:00:00.000-05:00thanks for the spelling lesson. How mortifying. ...thanks for the spelling lesson. How mortifying. wait: m-o-r-t-i...yep, i'm good.Jaileerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17449147039469225882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18963968.post-81873185616920072402007-03-06T19:15:00.000-05:002007-03-06T19:15:00.000-05:00Your comment on the first question is very insight...Your comment on the first question is very insightful. I can definately see what you are saying.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18963968.post-5623426368088017692007-03-06T17:39:00.000-05:002007-03-06T17:39:00.000-05:00I, too liked your answer to #1. I never thought o...I, too liked your answer to #1. I never thought of it that way!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18963968.post-58438319167436876902007-03-06T15:18:00.000-05:002007-03-06T15:18:00.000-05:00I didn't like any of the characters or really iden...I didn't like any of the characters or really identify, so I agree with you there!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18963968.post-49913801529728157482007-03-06T12:11:00.000-05:002007-03-06T12:11:00.000-05:00This is such a great point: It is like each indiv...This is such a great point: It is like each individual is actually one moment in time during IF.<BR/><BR/>It's so true. It's as if you pieced a real person together based on their individual days. I think I would have loved to see a single character with that complexity :-)Lollipop Goldsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01020874415819057995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18963968.post-60935221360945095402007-03-06T09:01:00.000-05:002007-03-06T09:01:00.000-05:00I liked your answer to your last question - answer...I liked your answer to your last question - answered very much like I would have answered.<BR/><BR/>However, there are exceptions to every situation - I know parents who never had a difficult time conceiving who raise their children with love and respect, and I know parents who had a hell of a time getting PG let their children walk all over them. But, as a whole, I do think we appreciate more when we struggle to get it.Tina / Anxious Changerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05455878557333244801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18963968.post-27368164928646861252007-03-06T08:58:00.000-05:002007-03-06T08:58:00.000-05:00Great, great answers! I especially liked your res...Great, great answers! <BR/><BR/>I especially liked your response to the question about why the "flawed" couple was able to conceive. I absolutely felt that way when everybody else around us was getting pregnant - and we were still going to the clinic. Especially when my brother-in-law's wife was pregnant the first time; she doesn't care much for children, and had said many times before that she didn't want them. But all she had to do was snap her fingers...<BR/><BR/>You and Inglewood are absolutely right; being a parent means more when things aren't so easy. Sometimes we tend to be "helicopter parents", but we don't take our kids for granted either.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18963968.post-65884441025138749622007-03-06T08:47:00.000-05:002007-03-06T08:47:00.000-05:00I love your answer to the first question. The por...I love your answer to the first question. The portrayal of the masses of women in the book really bothered me, but I couldn't put my finger on why. Viewing them each as a snapshot instead of a full person makes a lot more sense now-- thank you!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18963968.post-9101337532014446742007-03-05T23:15:00.000-05:002007-03-05T23:15:00.000-05:00Very interesting and thoughtful answers. I too re...Very interesting and thoughtful answers. I too really appreciated your answer to the first question. It really made me look at those scenes a bit differently to consider those women as being various reactions to infertility.<BR/><BR/>Strangely, I had the opposite reaction to the two different narrative styles. I found the 3rd person parts to be the most compelling for me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18963968.post-88561214190352196222007-03-05T22:10:00.000-05:002007-03-05T22:10:00.000-05:00Like your comment on the first question, you gave ...Like your comment on the first question, you gave me another perspective. I didn't really relate my experience with IF to that in the book which may explain why I didn't see it your way. I was quite angry with the portrayal of women.<BR/><BR/>As for the difference between children who are raised by those who have gone through IF it all comes down to appreciation. People tend to appreciate more what they have had to work hard for. Now everyone can send their nasty comments my way!Inglewoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17134146120953237406noreply@blogger.com