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 Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear which I’ve gone back and forth about reading, put off by all the hype.
When I spotted the tradwife element of Yesteryear in the blurb, Ira Levin’s The Stepford Wives sprang to mind.
Just as ‘Stepford Wife’ has become shorthand for a certain sort of traditional housewife, the title of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 has come to signify an inescapable paradox.
Heller’s classic is an anti-war novel as is Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five.
I’m linking by title to Five on a Treasure Island, the first in Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series
Swerving Robert Louis Stevenson I’m linking by title again to Aylet Waldman’s novel about a pendant looted in the Second World War, Love and Treasure.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay, an old favourite of mine, is by Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman’s husband.
This month’s Six Degrees has taken me from tradwives, who may not be quite what they seem, to the story of two artists out to beat fascism with their comic book superhero. 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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Many many years ago, I utterly failed to connect with The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay, the very first read of a new book club I’d joined when book clubs weren’t as omnipresent as they are now. I wonder if it’s worth my while to give it another go? A clever chain as usual.
Thank you. That was a doorstopping choice for a book club although lots to talk about
It must have been 20 years ago now. I really can’t remember!
I thought Love and Treasure was a fascinating book. I knew nothing about the Hungarian Gold Train before I read it. Great chain this month! I loved the Famous Five books as a child.
Thank you. Always happy to remember the Famous Five!
I’ve read 5/6 amazingly! Only Ayelet Waldman still to encounter. I remember DNFing Heller’s follow-up, Something Happened, many years ago, but did like the film of Catch 22 – it has Alan Arkin, so bound to be good.
Excellent! I think Heller fell foul of the bestseller sequel urge.
What fabulous links, Stepford Wives and Catch-22 is a great one but I think my favourite is Slaughterhouse 5 to the Famous Five!
Thank you. The Famous Five link was a bit bizarre but it’s what came into my head!
Very nice… yes, the starter book does kind of remind me of the Stepford Wives, and probably another reason why I won’t be reading that book – Yuck!
I know what you mean, although I am curious as Yesteryear seems to be provoking lots of different reactions
We had the same first link Susan! Always love it when Enid Blyton pops up in 6 Degrees!
I’ve just spotted that! Bit of a strange Enid link but that’s what popped into my head.