book club

A few favorite passages from March by Geraldine Brooks, which I am currently in the middle of:

"What does a man really need, after all, in a material way? Bread, shelter, a little raiment. The latter we had, even to being able to sell some excess cottons, silks, and woolens. What man can wear two coats, after all? I was glad to give up the garments on the peg rail that spoke to me of slave labor, worm slaughter, and sheep theft - for is not fleece the rightful property of the sheep? And why should the humble silkworm be sentenced to death for our finery?"

"I had come in stages to a different belief about how one should be in this life. I now felt convinced that the greater part of a man's duty consists in abstaining from much that he is in the habit of consuming. If I prolong my dark hours by the consumption of costly oil, then I waste both the life of the beast slaughtered for the purpose, and the clarity of mind which comes from timely sleep. If I indulge in coffee then I pay to pollute myself, when instead I could have a cleansing draught of water at no charge at all. None in our household ate meat, but now we learned to do without milk and cheese also, for why should the calf be deprived of its mother's milk?"

This interesting piece of historical fiction is told from the perspective of Mr. March, the absent father from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, who is off fighting on the side of the Union during the Civil War. A surprisingly complex character, Mr. March reveals himself as a devoted father & husband, committed abolitionist, devout vegetarian (borderline vegan), and a righteous & honorable man. A lovely read.

Thank you to my grandmother for the gift.

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