Six Degrees of Separation is a meme hosted by Kate over at Books Are My Favourite and Best. It works like this: each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six others to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the titles on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain.
This month we’re starting with Miranda July’s All Fours which I’ve not read but I gather it’s about a woman who holes up in a motel, thirty minutes from home, having told her husband and child she plans to drive across the USA.
Bringing to mind Anne Tyler’s Ladder of Years in which a middle-aged woman walks away from her family on their beach holiday and keeps on going.
I’m linking by title to John Boyne’s A Ladder to the Sky in which a writer becomes a serial plagiarist.
A story is stolen in Andrew Lipstein’s Last Resort, a smart satire about literary ambition.
Lipstein also wrote The Vegan leading me to Han Kang’s The Vegetarian in which choosing not to eat meat is an act of rebellion.
Making me think of Ruth Ozeki’s My Year of Meats in which a great deal of beef is eaten thanks to a TV show produced by one of the main characters.
Which reminds me of Bonnie Garmus’s Lessons in Chemistry in which a 1960s frustrated female scientist uses her cookery show to teach chemistry to her viewers.
This month’s Six Degrees has taken me a journey of self-discovery in a motel room to a hit cookery show whose presenter had an ulterior motive. Part of the fun of this meme is comparing the very different routes other bloggers take from each month’s starting point. If you’re interested, you can follow it on Twitter with the hashtag #6Degrees, check out the links over at Kate’s blog or perhaps even join in.
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As ever, an interesting chain, from which I’ve read – and liked – The Vegetarian, and read- and disliked – Lessons in Chemistry.
Thank you! It was the reverse for me but given all the brouhaha around both, my expectations for Lessons in Chemistry were very low and sky-high for The Vegetarian
It takes all sorts …. thank goodness!
Great chain Susan. I loved Ladder to the Sky!
Thanks, Cathy. That was my first Boyne which set the bar high.
Have read the first and the last books, both very funny. Must check out the Tyler and Boyne books. Great roundup once again.
Thank you. I can thoroughly recommend both.
Ah, quite a few books I know in this chain. The Vegetarian being my least favourite of the Han Kang books – but she has become a favourite author of mine otherwise.
I think my hopes for The Vegetarian were raised too high by all the prepublication buildup. So often leads to disappointment.
I didn’t get on with the vegetarian, loved Garmus – so the opposite to Margaret! Your first link reminds me that I have several Anne Tylers to catch up on though – I think I have read Ladder of Years!
I thought the Garmus would be up your street! I’m hard pressed to remember some of the Anne Tylers I read years ago, much as I love her writing.
Lovely chain. I really would like to read My Year of Meats… I just need to buy a copy.
Thank you! It’s well worth seeking out.
The thought of Anne Tyler’s character walking away from her family on holiday makes me wonder why it doesn’t happen more often!
They do say holidays are stressful!
I really like your chain moving smoothly from one book to the next. And it’s so much more condensed than mine. However I try to be brief I rarely manage it!
I wasn’t too keen on Lessons in Chemistry!
Thank you. I used to be an editor so I’m forever whittling copy down! I think opinions were quite divided about the Garmus
The only one of these that I have read is Lessons in Chemistry, which I enjoyed a lot!
I did, too! So much hype around it I was primed for disappointment.
I like how you ended up with Bonnie Garmus: self discovery in another way! The Vegetarian-Ozeki connection is a good one–I’ve only read one of her books so far and found it very thought provoking. Must look up others!
Absolutely, and thank you!
Great work!!
Thanks!
Somewhere else, this week, I came across a reference to Han Kang’s novel and was immediately reminded of the, um, transformation scene (avoiding spoilers here). With your link, I was immediately reminded of the argument over the family dinner (being vague again). One thing’s for sure: I can’t imagine ever forgetting that book. And I”m not even sure I exactly “liked” it (I read it twice though, for review purposes) but I have forgotten so many books from back then… and, not that one.
Hmm… I don’t think if many would claim to like it. Not an easy book to review.