Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 20:04:46 +0000 From: Jennifer Krauel Subject: [*FSF-L*] BDG: Mistress of Spices To: FEMINISTSF-LIT@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU I realized just now that we are overdue to begin discussing our November book, The Mistress of Spices. (Of course you can continue posting about Bujold or anyone else for that matter, as long as it's on topic.) While I did not actually read the book, I listened to a recording of the book, perhaps made by the author herself although I don't recall. I loved hearing it told as a story. Seeing the print version I was surprised to see how Tilo's name was spelled - the author pronounced it "Taylo" (of course that is my lame rendition of her lovely accent). Here's the synopsis from Amazon's web site: "In the world created by first-time novelist Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, there is a spice to cure every human ailment, and her heroine, Tilo, is in fact The Mistress of Spices. Tilo (short for Tilottama) comes by her curative powers in a magically roundabout way. Born in India, she ends up on a remote island courtesy of pirates and sea snakes. Here she encounters an ancient woman who instructs her in the power of spice. Her education complete, Tilo heads for Oakland, California, to practice her healing arts. She diagnoses the ills of the various people who come to her spice shop, and cures them, too, until one day she discovers that magic is a double-edged sword. In chapters named for spices, we follow Tilo's adventures from her birth to the moment she must decide whether to ply her special powers alone or share her life with another." And from the New York Times review: "The Mistress of Spices becomes a novel about choosing between a life of special powers and one of ordinary love and compassion. If Tilo's choice is rather predictable, the way Ms. Divakaruni gets us there is anything but. " I found the parts about her adjustment to an old woman's body particularly interesting. There are far too few depictions of old women, real or illusory, in this genre (next April's discussion selection Remnant Population being a notable exception.) What did you think of the book? ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 15:22:04 -0500 From: Tracy Mitchell Subject: Re: [*FSF-L*] BDG: Mistress of Spices To: FEMINISTSF-LIT@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Hello Everyone: My name is Tracy Mitchell and I am new to the list.. Some of my interests include sociology (gender studies/ inequality), cooking and screenwriting (nothing published yet). I love science fiction and literature and look forward to contributing to the discussions! "Mistress of Spices" was picked before I joined and although my interest is mainly in science fiction, as opposed to fantasy, I thought I'd give it a try. There are certainly elements of the book I enjoyed. Divakaruni's ability as a poet is evident. Her language and lyrical turning of a phrase mostly added to the imagery of the book but sometimes seemed overdone. Naming the chapters after spices (except for the last) and having spices be the tool of healing and undoing of those in need reminded me of "Like Water for Chocolate". As in "Like Water for Chocolate" the power women wield in their socially constructed arena of cooking is highlighted. In "Mistress" women's power within the cultural constraints of their sex roles is also highlighted and the sex roles themselves challenged (Geeta, who dates out-side her ethnic group and Lalita's who escapes an abusive husband.) Except for Raven and Tilo, however the characters seemed quickly and sparsely sketched. The drama of the supporting characters situations where more a defining point. I had many question about he Tilo character which remanded unanswered: While "caring for our fellow human" is a noble call for anyone, does Tilo's self sacrificing border on excessive martyrdom and care-taking, roles so often attributed to women? This reader would say so. What do you think? As a character, Tilo never seemed committed to being a Mistress of Spices except by her own criteria. Even before Tilo left the island the Old One voiced doubt after doubt concerning Tilo's ability to adhere to the dictates of the spices and her role as Mistress. Tilo wanted to help folks but on her own terms. The tension between vocation and love/self will may have been helped/ made more dramatic and believable for this reader if Tilo were more committed to the dictates of the spices and thus the break from those dictates made all the more difficult. As it where, this aspect of the plot was predictable for me. There are other aspects of the novel I would love to discuss: Tilo & Raven's relationship, etc. Hope to hear from you! Peace, Tracy ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 17:12:53 -0800 From: Margaret McBride Subject: [*FSF-L*] BDG:Mistress of Spices To: FEMINISTSF-LIT@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Like Tracy, I prefer Science Fiction to Fantasy so perhaps that's why I had some problems with this book. I appreciated some of the lyrical language, the glimpses into lives/cultures I don't know much about, and the feminist/humanist awareness of the problems of transported women and men trying to live in a racist culture. I also appreciated that, although she shows the "warts" of the US big city, she also shows the problems the women especially had with the gendered expectations from their home culture. BUT the fantasy elements didn't feel very consistent to me, I wanted more than glimpses into the lives and cultures of the people, and love at first sight/miraculous understanding from one touch/look doesn't work for me. I have trouble "suspending disbelief" for that particular cliche so my ability to get into some of the other material was lessened too. (The romance elements must have been working on some level though because I must admit that a full story about Raven's life would be fun to read.) **Question for the rest of you: How did you react to the material about Raven's life? Writing this has made me realize that I remember that in more detail than I do the material about Tilo. I wonder why. Tilo is clearly the main character but I agree with Tracy, she felt a bit vague to me. The best part about Tilo for me was the parts about her as an older woman. Older women don't show up in fiction all that often. I'm writing about A Rose for Armageddon by Hilbert Schenck which has a women in her 60s as the main character. If anyone else has read the book and has any comments about it, I'd love to hear them either on the list or directly to me. This is totally unorganized but I just thought of something else: I thought the ending of MoS was telegraphed so it fell flat for me. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999 20:08:28 +0000 From: Nike Subject: [*FSF-L*] Mistress of Spices To: FEMINISTSF-LIT@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Dear All, I'm new here - so I guess the first thing is just to say hi ... Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading 'Mistress of Spices' but was really curious when I saw it nominated for this list - it hadn't occurred to me that it might be thought of as F/SF. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the novel stylistically and the way Chitra dealt with the cross-cultural stuff, although - despite the NYTimes review - I was disappointed by the ending which still seemed a little too neat and tidy for me - as if the author had built this huge luscious garden and then gone in with the secateurs. ======================= You say I am mysterious Let me explain myself: In a land of oranges I am faithful to apples. ========================