First Month of TWB Book Club: Looking Back at The Yellow Wallpaper

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This February, @thewritersblock started with a new experiment: Book Club (#TWBBookClub). Every month we read one book as writers, to learn more about what works and what doesn’t, about how we can write better ourselves. There are exercises to take one or more elements from the book and write a non-fiction review, a fiction piece, or even poetry. This was the first month, and we’ve been reading The Yellow Wallpaper.

Experiences from @alheath

During the first month of Book Club, the book of choice was The Yellow Wallpaper. It wasn't a book I would have thought to pick myself, but I found it an interesting read. We were then set various writing tasks that we could pick to work on.

I chose two of the tasks; a review of the use of POV in the book and a poem based on one of the characters. The review is now available to read but as I don't usually write poems, I'm still working on that. It's proving to be a healthy challenge so far!

My review of The Yellow Wallpaper is the first full-length review I have ever written. It allowed me to gain a better understanding of the book not just as a reader, but as a writer. It was my first time in actually studying a book and what makes the writing style work. In the future, I hope it will help me to contribute towards reviewing other books.

The feedback I received was positive and a boost to my confidence. I enjoyed taking part in this month's book club and look forward to seeing what the chosen book is next. Any excuse to read and talk about books is a good one in my eyes.

Experiences from @naquoya

The Yellow Wallpaper was a quick and interesting read that had me following along, intrigued by the slow, but methodical build up that the protagonist goes through as her world starts to crumble around her. In an old home country home to convalesce, her mental state seems to have been a little fragile to begin with. The yellow wallpaper in her room slowly adds to her state, as it seems to be communicating to her. There was the suggestion of fungus, and the thoughts that the home had been possibly haunted, given how unused it was.

Whatever the cause, we see her unravel, from within her own perspective. The thoughts, the conclusions, the understandings that she arrives at. The decisions she makes as the wallpaper changes from feeling like a prison to her, to becoming her domain, something only she can comprehend.

The pace picked up in the second half, adding to the sense of dread, adding a feeling of suffocation or claustrophobia, something I think the first person POV helped with. The ability to see things from her perspective, especially as she flipped over in her own view of what she believed was happening.

Experiences from @bex-dk

The Yellow Wallpaper was a quick read for me, but unfortunately it has set me off on some research that will take a little time to get compiled. The description of the wallpaper reminded me of a TV program I once saw that mentioned Victorian wallpapers often containing very toxic materials. So that made me wonder if her symptoms were perhaps not just worsened by her confinement and lack of other things to think about but also by the chemicals of her environment. But that post will come sometime later when I've managed to write and edit it.

The mentions of the baby--and her limited access to it--also made me wonder if there might be a factor of postpartum depression. While I'm not well-informed on the subject, I know it exists and was not understood historically.

Experiences from @nobyeni

Reading this book as a writer has a very different feeling to it. You’re no longer just getting pulled into a story, but you see what pulls you. The story still works, it is still good, but now in a very different way. As if you see the tricks the magician uses and you start to think that maybe you can do it too.

Thinking about this book, has made me revisit the concept of mental illness and the role of women in society again. Even though I had realised this when I read the book before, now it started to become more apparent. The way she talks about the judgments of her husband, and to see the source of all her thoughts is very upsetting. I never came round to try a fiction piece, but I did write a review of the book, focussing on Female Hysteria in The Yellow Wallpaper.

Interested?

Would you like to join? Please come visit us at The Writers Block Discord, and join in on the conversations about writing. Stay tuned for the book-of-the-month March, which will be made public shortly. At @thewritersblock we focus on writing and use a peer-review process to help everyone grow in often unexpected ways. #TWBBookClub is only one of the many initiatives of the members.