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September 7, 2010 Novel Ideas Selection
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows Questions courtesy of ReadingGroupGuides.com
1. What was it like to read a novel composed entirely of letters? What do letters offer that no other form of writing (not even emails) can convey?
2. What makes Sidney and Sophie ideal friends for Juliet? What common ground do they share? Who has been a similar advocate in your life? 3. Dawsey first wrote to Juliet because books, on Charles Lamb or otherwise, were so difficult to obtain on Guernsey in the aftermath of the war. What differences did you note between bookselling in the novel and bookselling in your world? What makes book lovers unique, across all generations? 4. What were your first impressions of Dawsey? How was he different from the other men Juliet had known? 5. Discuss the poets, novelists, biographers, and other writers who capture the hearts of the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. What does a reader’s taste in books say about his or her personality? Whose lives were changed the most by membership in the society? 6. Juliet occasionally receives mean-spirited correspondence from strangers, accusing both Elizabeth and Juliet of being immoral. What accounts for their judgmental ways? 7. In what ways were Juliet and Elizabeth kindred spirits? What did Elizabeth’s spontaneous invention of the society, as well as her brave final act, say about her approach to life? 8. Numerous Guernsey residents give Juliet access to their private memories of the occupation. Which voices were most memorable for you? What was the effect of reading a variety of responses to a shared tragedy? 9. Kit and Juliet complete each other in many ways. What did they need from each other? What qualities make Juliet an unconventional, excellent mother? 10. How did Remy’s presence enhance the lives of those on Guernsey? Through her survival, what recollections, hopes, and lessons also survived? 11. Juliet rejects marriage proposals from a man who is a stereotypical “great catch.” How would you have handled Juliet’s romantic entanglement? What truly makes someone a “great catch”? 12. What was the effect of reading a novel about an author’s experiences with writing, editing, and getting published? Did this enhance the book’s realism, though Juliet’s experience is a bit different from that of debut novelist Mary Ann Shaffer and her niece, children’s book author Annie Barrows? 13. What historical facts about life in England during World War II were you especially surprised to discover? What traits, such as remarkable stamina, are captured in a detail such as potato peel pie? In what ways does fiction provide a means for more fully understanding a non-fiction truth? 14. Which of the members of the Society is your favorite? Whose literary opinions are most like your own? 15. Do you agree with Isola that “reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones”? |
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August 3 Novel Ideas Selection
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley Questions issued by the publisher 1. With her high level of knowledge, her erudition and her self-reliance, Flavia hardly seems your typical eleven-year-old girl. Or does she? Discuss Flavia and her personality, and how her character drives this novel. Can you think of other books that have used a similar protagonist?
2. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie falls within the tradition of English country house mysteries, but with the devilishly intelligent Flavia racing around Bishop’s Lacey on her bike instead of the expected older woman ferreting out the truth by chatting with her fellow villagers. Discuss how Bradley uses the traditions of the genre, and how he plays with them too.
3. What is your favorite scene from The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie?
4. With her excessive interest in poisons and revenge, it’s no surprise that Flavia is fascinated, not scared, as she watches the stranger die in her garden. In your view, is her dark matter-of-factness more refreshing or disturbing?
5. Flavia reminds us often about Harriet, the mother she never knew, and has many keepsakes that help her imagine what she was like. Do you think the real Harriet would have fit into Flavia’s mold?
6. Flavia’s distance from her father, the Colonel, is obvious, yet she loves him all the same. Does their relationship change over the course of the novel in a lasting way? Would Flavia want it to?
7. Through Flavia’s eyes what sort of a picture does Alan Bradley paint of the British aristocracy? Think as well about how appearances aren’t always reality, as with the borderline bankruptcy of Flavia’s father and Dr. Kissing.
8. Discuss the meaning (or meanings) of the title The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.
9. What twists in the plot surprised you the most?
10. Buckshaw, the estate, is almost a character in its own right here, with its overlarge wings, hidden laboratory, and pinched front gates. Talk about how Bradley brings the setting to life in this novel – not only Buckshaw itself, but Bishop’s Lacey and the surrounding area.
11. What does Flavia care about most in life? How do the people around her compare to her chemistry lab and books?
12. Like any scientist. Flavia expects her world to obey certain rules, and seems to be thrown off kilter when surprises occur. How much does she rely on the predictability of those around her, like her father and her sisters, in order to pursue her own interests (like solving the murder)?
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July 6 Novel Ideas Selection
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay Questions courtesy of readinggroupguides.com 1. What did you know about France’s role in World War II --- and the Vél d’Hiv round-up in particular --- before reading Sarah’s Key? How did this book teach you about, or change your impression of, this important chapter in French history?
2. Sarah’s Key is composed of two interweaving story lines: Sarah’s, in the past, and Julia’s quest in the present day. Discuss the structure and prose-style of each narrative. Did you enjoy the alternating stories and time-frames? What are the strengths or drawbacks of this format?
3. Per above: Which “voice” did you prefer: Sarah’s or Julia’s? Why? Is one more or less authentic than the other? If you could meet either of the two characters, which one would you choose?
4. How does the apartment on la rue de Saintonge unite the past and present action --- and all the characters --- in Sarah’s Key? In what ways is the apartment a character all its own in?
5. What are the major themes of Sarah’s Key?
6. de Rosnay’s novel is built around several “key” secrets which Julia will unearth. Discuss the element of mystery in these pages. What types of narrative devices did the author use to keep the keep the reader guessing?
7. Were you surprised by what you learned about Sarah’s history? Take a moment to discuss your individual expectations in reading Sarah’s Key. You may wish to ask the group for a show of hands. Who was satisfied by the end of the book? Who still wants to know --- or read --- more?
8. How do you imagine what happens after the end of the novel? What do you think Julia’s life will be like now that she knows the truth about Sarah? What truths do you think she’ll learn about her self?
9. Among modern Jews, there is a familiar mantra about the Holocaust; they are taught, from a very young age, that they must “remember and never forget” (as the inscription on the Rafle du Vél d’Hiv) Discuss the events of Sarah’s Key in this context. Who are the characters doing the remembering? Who are the ones who choose to forget?
10. What does it take for a novelist to bring a “real” historical event to life? To what extent do you think de Rosnay took artistic liberties with this work?
11. Why do modern readers enjoy novels about the past? How and when can a powerful piece of fiction be a history lesson in itself ?
12. We are taught, as young readers, that every story has a “moral”. Is there a moral to Sarah’s Key? What can we learn about our world --- and our selves --- from Sarah’s story?
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June 1 Novel Ideas Selection
Nice To Come Home To by Rebecca Flowers Questions courtesy of RebeccaFlowers.com
1. How do you feel about a woman who would “settle” for a stable, if unexciting, marriage? When Pru suddenly loses the job for which she’s sacrificed everything, she very nearly convinces herself to marry her flaky, depressive boyfriend, Rudy Fisch. While the feminist revolution was supposed to answer once and forever the question of whether we should marry for love or for money, we all know women who have “settled” for security. The Atlantic Monthly just published a piece called “Marry Him! The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough,” (read it here!) encouraging women to get what they can while the gettin’s good. Good advice, or mercenary dating tactics?
2. What do we owe our children? Meanwhile, Pru’s younger sister, Patsy, a single mother, has also been putting her life on hold. When she meets groovy emergency room doctor Jacob, sparks fly, toes curl, and fireworks explode in the night sky. Patsy’s romantic imagination is captivated. Patsy’s ready to give up everything to pursue a life with Jacob before really knowing him, dragging her father-starved daughter along with her. Patsy may even understand that Annali is half the attraction. Are mommies allowed to have lives of their own, or is Patsy acting irresponsibly? 3. How would you characterize Pru and Patsy’s relationship? Is it a realistic portrayal of sisters? Are there ways in which they are alike? 4. When I began writing the book, I wanted to try updating Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility, where economic realities impact romantic ideals. In S&S, the comely Elinor and Marianne are suddenly rendered “unmarriageable” when their father dies, leaving his estate to the sisters’ half-brother, who is quickly convinced by his wife not to help the sisters financially. What, if anything, makes women today “unmarriageable”? Is this even something we should be talking about?? 5. How did you feel about John Owen’s decision regarding his marriage? Was he right to do what he did? How did you feel about Pru’s reaction? 6. What’s up with that Jacob, anyway? What makes a guy like that tick? How did you feel about Patsy’s decisions concerning him? And concerning Annali’s father, Jimmy Roy? 7. What is Big Whoop’s function in the novel? How does Pru’s relationship with him change over the course of the book, and what internal states might that represent? |
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May 4 Novel Ideas Selection
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen Questions courtesy of readinggroupguides.com 1. Pride and Prejudice is probably Austen's most famous, most beloved book. One element, the initial mutual dislike of two people destined to love each other, has become a cliché of the Hollywood romance. Can you think of any examples?
2. This book has been described by scholars as a very conservative text. Did you find it so? What sort of position do you see it taking on the class system?
3. Pride and Prejudice has also been described as Austen's most idealistic book. What do you suppose is meant by that?
4. In 1814 Mary Russell Mitford wrote: "It is impossible not to feel in every line of Pride and Prejudice. . . the entire want of taste which could produce so pert, so worldly a heroine as the beloved of such a man as Darcy. . . Darcy should have married Jane." Would you have liked the book as well if Jane were its heroine?
5. Two central characters in Austen’s works have her own first name:
In Emma: Jane Fairfax is a decorous, talented, beautiful woman. In Pride and Prejudice: Jane Bennet is everything lovely. What do you make of that?
6. Lydia and Wickham pose a danger to the Bennet family as long as they are unmarried and unchecked. But as a married couple, with little improvement in their behavior, this danger vanishes.
7. In Pride and Prejudice marriage serves many functions. It is a romantic union, a financial merger, and a vehicle for social regulation. Scholar and writer Mary Poovey said that Austen's goal "is to make propriety and romantic desire absolutely congruent." Think about all the marriages in the book with respect to how well they are fulfilling those functions. Is marriage today still an institution of social regulation? What about it would change if gay marriage were legally recognized?
8. Austen suggests that in order to marry well a woman must be pretty, respectable, and have money. In the world of Pride and Prejudice, which of these is most important? Spare a thought for some of the unmarried women in the book-Mary and Kitty Bennet, Miss de Bourgh, Miss Georgiana Darcy, and Caroline Bingley. Which of them do you picture marrying some day? Which of them do you picture marrying well?
9. Was Charlotte Lucas right to marry Reverend Collins?
10. What are your feelings about Mr. Bennet? Is he a good father? A good husband? A good man?
11. Darcy says that one of Wickham's motivations in his attempted elopement with Georgiana was revenge. What motivations might he have had for running off with Lydia? (Besides the obvious. . .)
12. Elizabeth Bennet says, ". . . people themselves alter so much, that there is something new to be observed in them for ever." Do any of the characters in the book change substantially? Or do they, as Elizabeth says of Darcy, "in essentials" remain much as they ever were?
13. Elizabeth is furious with Darcy for breaking up the match between Jane and Mr. Bingley. Although he initially defends himself, she changes his mind. Later when Lady Catherine attempts to interfere in his own courtship, he describes this as unjustifiable. Should you tell a friend if you think they're about to make a big mistake romantically? Have you ever done so? How did that work out for you?
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April 6 Novel Ideas Selection
The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff Questions Courtesy of EveryWomansVoice.com 1. What did you think of the range of voices and time periods the author employs in The Monsters of Templeton? How would the novel have been different had the story been told from a single point of view, or been set in one era?
2. “As soon as it died, our lives spiraled down,” the Buds lament in Chapter 13, on the death of the Lake Glimmerglass monster (page 151). Why are so many people in Templeton affected by the monster’s death? What did the monster represent to them?
3. Given her conflicted relationship with her mother and, to a lesser extent,with her hometown, why do you think Willie Upton decides to go back to Templeton? What was Willie looking for when she returned to Templeton? Does she find it?
4. In what instances do ghosts make appearances in The Monsters of
Templeton? What do the ghosts represent? What other symbols does the author employ in the novel? What do they mean?
5. In the Author’s Note, the author discusses writing about her hometown of Cooperstown, New York, and calling the fictional town Templeton. Do you think that The Monsters of Templeton could have taken place in any other locale? Why is the actual town’s history so important to the book’s present day events? How would the book have changed if she had decided to call the town Cooperstown?
6. For twenty-eight years, Vivienne has told her daughter that Willie was the product of a hippie commune. The day that Willie returns home, she decides to tell her the truth: that her father was a man in Templeton. What would you have done if you were in Willie’s position? Or in Vivienne’s?
7. Of the many characters from the past—Marmaduke Temple, Davey
Shipman, Charlotte and Cinnamon, Elizabeth Franklin Temple, to name a
few—which one(s) stood out for you? Why?
8. Vivienne’s life is seemingly full of contradictions: she’s a former drug-using hippie with a child out of wedlock who later converts to Christianity and becomes the chaste girlfriend of a minister. Talk about these and other aspects of Vivienne’s character. How are she and Willie different, and similar?
9. What did you think of Willie’s search to uncover her father’s identity? What did each new layer of history teach Willie about her family? Why was it important that Willie learn everything she learned?
10. What was your opinion of Ezekiel Felcher at the beginning of the novel? Did it change as the novel progressed? Did you think that Willie might stay in Templeton to be with him? What do you think she should have done? What do you think she will do in the future? 11. “This is a story of creation,” says Marmaduke Temple in one of the
epigrams before the book begins, ostensibly an excerpt from his own story about how he founded Templeton. In what other ways is The Monsters of Templeton a story of creation? How can Willie’s story been seen as a story of creation?
12. The Monsters of Templeton ends with a death and a birth. What does this mean in the larger context of the novel? Who—or what—else is born in the book?
13. What does the book’s title mean? Who or what are the “monsters” it refers to? What, exactly, does the word “monster” mean in the context of this book?
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March 2, 2010 Novel Ideas Selection
Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz Questions Courtesy of ReadingGroupGuides.com 1. Horwitz begins the book by wondering why his immigrant great-grandfather became obsessed by the Civil War. Does he ever answer this question? Why are so many Americans with no blood tie to the War nonetheless fascinated by it?
2. While Americans cling to the Civil War, they've forgotten most of the rest of their history. There is no comparable obsession with the Mexican War, the War of 1812, or even the American Revolution. What are some of the reasons for this? 3. Horwitz, though not a native Southerner, seems to enjoy the region and its people. What are some of the traits of the South he finds appealing in Charleston and elsewhere? 4. Horwitz meets many women who are as devoted as men to memory of the War: Sue Curtis, June Wells, Melly Meadows, Mauriel Joslyn. How does their approach to the War differ from that of men? 5. Horwitz devotes more space to Robert Lee Hodge than to any other character. Why? What drives Rob? Do you find him heroic, appealing, repellent, or just plain nuts? 6. Horwitz suggests that reenactors are motivated by an urge to escape their own time zone and experience the "period rush" of entering another era. What is it about the 1860s that seems more appealing than our own time period? Does Horwitz ever experience a period rush? 7. At one point, Horwitz, clad as a Confederate reenactor, walks into a shop full of black shoppers and feels ashamed. Is it possible to play-act the Civil War as spectacle, or does reenacting the War inevitably raise troubling questions? Horwitz often asks himself a difficult question: what is the appropriate way to remember the Confederacy and those who fought for it? Can you honor your Confederate ancestors without insulting others? What do you think? 8. Horwitz visits most of the War's major battlefields, including Gettysburg, Shiloh, Vicksburg and Manassas. What draws him, and other people, to these parks? In what ways are they a sanctuary from modern society? 9. Many Southern whites revere the rebel battle flag as a symbol of the valor and sacrifice of their ancestors. To many African-Americans, the same flag is a hated symbol of segregation and white supremacy. Is there any middle ground? Which of the states in the South have navigated this minefield most successfully? 10. As he tours the Civil War landscape, Horwitz often finds battlefields and other sites threatened by strip malls and tract housing. What value is there in saving these sites, which are often just empty fields? 11. Throughout his journey, Horwitz encounters a profound sense of Southern grievance, a feeling that the region is still looked down on. Is this Southern paranoia or a justifiable response to the way the region is regarded by the North and by Hollywood? 12. Horwitz writes about the killing of Michael Westerman while flying a Confederate flag from his truck, in Todd County, Kentucky. What are the social and emotional reasons why Westerman's killing becomes such a flashpoint for Southern anger, both black and white? 13. In Richmond, Horwitz listens to a debate over whether a statue of Arthur Ashe belongs on Monument Avenue. He finds his own views shifting. Do you think the statue should have been put there? 14. In Alabama, Horwitz visits classrooms to see how the Civil War is being taught today. How are black and white students approaching the War differently? Is there any sense of a common American history? 15. Across the South, Horwitz implies that the dream of the Civil Rights era is embattled. In what ways does he show progress in race relations, and in what ways retreat? 16. At Andersonville Prison, Horwitz finds that there are two irreconcilable views of who was responsible for the tragedy there. Who wrote these histories and why? Which view do you think is more accurate? 17. The South's population is changing dramatically as the region fills with Northerners, Latin Americans, Asians and others. If this trend continues, can Confederate remembrance endure in the 21st century? 18. Since the book's publication, Horwitz has been attacked by both right-wing and left-wing Southerners who think he is either an apologist for Confederate heritage or a sworn enemy of it. Overall, do you think he is fair? Too fair? 19. Every year, it seems, there is a new book or movie, such as ColdMountain or Gettysburg, that reignites passion for the Civil War. What literature, film or television series has brought the War alive for you? |
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February 2, 2010 Novel Ideas
A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks (Questions courtesy of Reading Group Guides.com) 1. In the opening scene, an unknown narrator makes his first appearance. Were you surprised that his story wove throughout the rest of the narrative? How would the novel have been different had this not happened? Did you know who the narrator was? When did you know? |
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January 5 Novel Ideas Selection
The Archivist's Story by Travis Holland (Questions courtesy of Reading Group Guides.com) 1. Discuss Travis Holland’s storytelling style. How were you affected by his use of the present tense to describe lives that are overshadowed by the past?
2. What did the initial encounter between Pavel and Babel reveal about both men, and about the way they perceive literature? Are there authors whom you revere as much as Pavel reveres Babel?
3. What does it mean to live free from censorship? How did Stalin’s literary purges shape the social climate of the Soviet Union? Is any degree of government-sponsored censorship appropriate?
4. Pavel recommends Chekhov’s story “Gooseberries” to his mother in Chapter Seven. What does her response to the story–particularly her concern that Ivan Ivanovich’s brother will eventually realize the bitterness of the berries–indicate about her view of the world? How does her illness shape Pavel’s outlook for the future?
5. How was your reading of The Archivist’s Story influenced by the knowledge that the story of Isaac Babel’s imprisonment and confiscated manuscripts is real? In what ways can fiction sometimes recall history more vividly than nonfiction does?
6. How familiar were you with the Russian literary works referred to throughout the novel? What traits do you associate with Russian writers, and how do those traits differ from your impressions of American writers? What is it like to read this novel, which captures life behind the Iron Curtain in the 1930s, in the aftermath of perestroika and the fall of the U.S.S.R.?
7. What ultimately inspires Pavel to risk his life to save a portion of Babel’s works? What does his courage illustrate about the value and political nature of literature? What does a nation’s fiction say about its history and culture?
8. Discuss Pavel’s memories of his wife, Elena, and his poignant quest to claim her ashes. Would you have believed the official version of the accident’s cause? How did the nature of her death complicate his ability to grieve for her?
9. What common ground do Pavel and Natalya share? Do they feed each other’s hungers, or are their emotional cravings impossible to satisfy?
10. What has kept Pavel resolute in his friendship with Semyon? Which one of them is more courageous? Which one is the better realist?
11. What is the significance of the archive at Lubyanka Prison? How would you define the role and purpose of archives–literary, presidential, or otherwise? Who should have access to them? Why do they matter?
12. Pavel cannot shake the memory of the slander he committed against his former colleague Mikhail. What compelled Pavel to go along with his student? Would you have been equally persuaded in similar circumstances?
13. In the novel’s closing chapters, Pavel has little left to lose and is resolute in his plan. As he retrieves his hidden items from the basement wall and imagines the ominous car coming for him, what is he leaving behind? What will be gained by his fate?
14. In what ways did Travis Holland resurrect Babel just as Pavel hoped to do? Is it the nature of authors to contribute to one another’s immortality?
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December 1 Novel Ideas Selection:
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich 1. Who was your favorite character?
2. In a movie version, who would you cast to play Stephanie Plum? Joe Morelli? Ranger? Lula? Grandma Mazur?
3. If you could have dinner with a character from this book, who would he/she be and where would you go?
4. Is there a scene or a chapter in this book that particularly cracked you up while you were reading it? If so, which one?
5. What might have happened if Stephanie didn’t get the job as a bounty hunter?
6. How would the story have turned out differently if Stephanie and Joe Morelli had been friends?
7. How might the story have progressed if Stephanie and Joe Morelli were working together on the same side of the law?
8. How would the flavor of the book change if the setting was in another city?
9. What might have happened if Benito Ramirez had managed to get into Stephanie’s apartment before she shot Jimmy Alpha?
10. What might have been different if Morty Beyers didn’t steal “Stephanies” (Joe’s) vehicle?
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November 3 Novel Ideas Selection:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Questions courtesy of Readinggroupguides.com) 1. How do Scout, Jem, and Dill characterize Boo Radley at the beginning of the book? In what way did Boo's past history of violence foreshadow his method of protecting Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell? Does this repetition of aggression make him more or less of a sympathetic character?
2. In Scout's account of her childhood, her father Atticus reigns supreme. How would you characterize his abilities as a single parent? How would you describe his treatment of Calpurnia and Tom Robinson vis a vis his treatment of his white neighbors and colleagues? How would you typify his views on race and class in the larger context of his community and his peers? 3. The title of Lee's book is alluded to when Atticus gives his children air rifles and tells them that they can shoot all the bluejays they want, but "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." At the end of the novel, Scout likens the "sin" of naming Boo as Bob Ewell's killer to "shootin' a mockingbird." Do you think that Boo is the only innocent, or mockingbird, in this novel? 4. Scout ages two years-from six to eight-over the course of Lee's novel, which is narrated from her perspective as an adult. Did you find the account her narrator provides believable? Were there incidents or observations in the book that seemed unusually "knowing" for such a young child? What event or episode in Scout's story do you feel truly captures her personality? 5. To Kill a Mockingbird has been challenged repeatedly by the political left and right, who have sought to remove it from libraries for its portrayal of conflict between children and adults; ungrammatical speech; references to sex, the supernatural, and witchcraft; and unfavorable presentation of blacks. Which elements of the book-if any-do you think touch on controversial issues in our contemporary culture? Did you find any of those elements especially troubling, persuasive, or insightful? 6. Jem describes to Scout the four "folks" or classes of people in Maycomb County: "…our kind of folks don't like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don't like the Ewells, and the Ewells hate and despise the colored folks." What do you think of the ways in which Lee explores race and class in 1930s Alabama? What significance, if any, do you think these characterizations have for people living in other parts of the world? 7. One of the chief criticisms of To Kill a Mockingbird is that the two central storylines -- Scout, Jem, and Dill's fascination with Boo Radley and the trial between Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson -- are not sufficiently connected in the novel. Do you think that Lee is successful in incorporating these different stories? Were you surprised at the way in which these story lines were resolved? Why or why not? 8. By the end of To Kill a Mockingbird, the book's first sentence: "When he was thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow," has been explained and resolved. What did you think of the events that followed the Halloween pageant? Did you think that Bob Ewell was capable of injuring Scout or Jem? How did you feel about Boo Radley's last-minute intervention? 9. What elements of this book did you find especially memorable, humorous, or inspiring? Are there individual characters whose beliefs, acts, or motives especially impressed or surprised you? Did any events in this book cause you to reconsider your childhood memories or experiences in a new light? |
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October 6 Novel Ideas Selection
Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle Questions Courtesy of ReadingGroupGuides.com 1. In "Boy," "Passing 50 Without Breaking the Speed Limit," and "Fashion and Sporting Notes from the Ménerbes Dog Show," Mayle offers affectionate portraits of his wife. Would you have liked to learn more about her? Do you think that as a woman she has a different perspective on life in Provence?
2. Why does Mayle create an air of mystery and suspense when he describes his two excursions to see Monsieur X, the truffle seller? Does the extreme secretiveness surrounding the buying and selling convey something more than the extraordinary value placed on truffles? 3. Why does Mayle find "the wise, venal, and congenitally crafted Massot" [p. 90] so appealing? How do Massot's peculiarities and his approach to life add an unexpected dimension to Mayle's portrait of Provence? 4. In "As Advertised in Vogue," Mayle mocks the Beautiful People who are discovering Provence. Are his criticisms legitimate? Can the "invasion" of outsiders bring benefits to Provence and to other rural areas without destroying the peace and beauty that make them so attractive? 5. Régis, the track suit-wearing gourmet, has definite theories about why France provides the best food and best eating experiences in the world [p. 166-7]. How do American eating habits and expectations compare to those of the French and the English? From your own experience, is it possible to find great, inexpensive restaurants in the United States? Do diners and small town restaurants fill the same role in this country as relais routiers do in France? 6. One of their visitors accuses the Mayles of "going native" [p. 231]. How do the vignettes in Toujours Provence differ from the stories in A Year in Provence? Do they reflect fundamental changes in Mayle and his way of thinking about life? |
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September 1 Novel Ideas Selection
Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress 1. Why did the author choose to write this book in the style that he did? Which storyline did you prefer?
2. What are the parallels between the 2 storylines in the book? How are Lucille’s situation & the civil rights situation similar?
3. Why did Lucille murder her husband? Why did she choose to keep “him” with her? What compelled her to divorce him after his death?
4. Why did Lucille confide in Peejoe?
5. What role did the press play in the events that occurred in CottonCounty that summer? Has the role of the press changed or stayed the same?
6. Lucille began to hear Chester’s voice halfway through her trip to California. Why? Was there a particular reason she heard him when she did?
7. Why was Peejoe, arguably the character most concerned with social responsibility fascinated by death?
8. After Taylor Jackson’s death at the community pool, Peejoe lamented that he died for a trivial matter. Did he?
9. At one point in the story, Dove accused Nehemiah of starting the race riot at the community pool. Was his accusation accurate?
10. Was Lucille mentally ill or sane? What made her so likeable?
11. Was it selfish or selfless for Lucille to give her children to Meemaw to raise?
12. Did Dove regret not testifying in federal court again Sheriff John Doggett? Would the story’s ending have been different if he had?
13. What character changed the most in the novel?
14. Why did the author choose to portray the race issues of the 1960s through a child’s eyes?
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August 4 Novel Ideas Selection
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom Questions courtesy of BookRags.com 1. Is it ever right to do wrong? How does this book address that struggle?
2. Which character(s) are you most like? Explain.
3. In what ways does the Beje become a character in this story?
4. Discuss one or two of the internal struggles of Corrie Ten Boom.
5. Discuss the symbolism of the watches in the story. How is Corrie like one of her father's clocks?
6. Besides Corrie, which character is most important to the plot? Explain.
7. How do the women work to keep hope alive while in the concentration camp?
8. What event is the climax of the story?
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July 7 Novel Ideas Selection
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Questions courtesy of ReadingGroupGuides.com
1. The novel begins with Amir's memory of peering down an alley, looking for Hassan who is kite running for him. As Amir peers into the alley, he witnesses a tragedy. The novel ends with Amir kite running for Hassan's son, Sohrab, as he begins a new life with Amir in America. Why do you think the author chooses to frame the novel with these scenes? Refer to the following passage: "Afghans like to say: Life goes on, unmindful of beginning, end...crisis or catharsis, moving forward like a slow, dusty caravan of kochis [nomads]." How is this significant to the framing of the novel?
2. The strong underlying force of this novel is the relationship between Amir and Hassan. Discuss their friendship. Why is Amir afraid to be Hassan's true friend? Why does Amir constantly test Hassan's loyalty? Why does he resent Hassan? After the kite running tournament, why does Amir no longer want to be Hassan's friend? 3. Early in Amir and Hassan's friendship, they often visit a pomegranate tree where they spend hours reading and playing. "One summer day, I used one of Ali's kitchen knives to carve our names on it: 'Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul.' Those words made it formal: the tree was ours." In a letter to Amir later in the story, Hassan mentions that "the tree hasn't borne fruit in years." Discuss the significance of this tree. 4. We begin to understand early in the novel that Amir is constantly vying for Baba's attention and often feels like an outsider in his father's life, as seen in the following passage: "He'd close the door, leave me to wonder why it was always grown-ups time with him. I'd sit by the door, knees drawn to my chest. Sometimes I sat there for an hour, sometimes two, listening to their laughter, their chatter." Discuss Amir's relationship with Baba. 5. After Amir wins the kite running tournament, his relationship with Baba undergoes significant change. However, while they form a bond of friendship, Amir is still unhappy. What causes this unhappiness and how has Baba contributed to Amir's state of mind? Eventually, the relationship between the two returns to the way it was before the tournament, and Amir laments "we actually deceived ourselves into thinking that a toy made of tissue paper, glue, and bamboo could somehow close the chasm between us." Discuss the significance of this passage. 6. As Amir remembers an Afghan celebration in which a sheep must be sacrificed, he talks about seeing the sheep's eyes moments before its death. "I don't know why I watch this yearly ritual in our backyard; my nightmares persist long after the bloodstains on the grass have faded. But I always watch, I watch because of that look of acceptance in the animal's eyes. Absurdly, I imagine the animal understands. I imagine the animal sees that its imminent demise is for a higher purpose." Why do you think Amir recalls this memory when he witnesses Hassan's tragedy in the alleyway? Amir recollects the memory again toward the end of the novel when he sees Sohrab in the home of the Taliban. Discuss the image in the context of the novel. 7. America acts as a place for Amir to bury his memories and a place for Baba to mourn his. In America, there are "homes that made Baba's house in Wazir Akbar Khan look like a servant's hut." What is ironic about this statement? What is the function of irony in this novel? 8. What is the significance of the irony in the first story that Amir writes? After hearing Amir's story, Hassan asks, "Why did the man kill his wife? In fact, why did he ever have to feel sad to shed tears? Couldn't he have just smelled an onion?" How is his reaction to the story a metaphor for Amir's life? How does this story epitomize the difference in character between Hassan and Amir? 9. Why is Baba disappointed by Amir's decision to become a writer? During their argument about his career path, Amir thinks to himself: "I would stand my ground, I decided. I didn't want to sacrifice for Baba anymore. The last time I had done that, I had damned myself." What has Amir sacrificed for Baba? How has Amir "damned himself"? 10. Compare and contrast the relationships of Soraya and Amir and their fathers. How have their upbringings contributed to these relationships? 11. Discuss how the ever-changing politics of Afghanistan affect each of the characters in the novel. 12. On Amir's trip back to Afghanistan, he stays at the home of his driver, Farid. Upon leaving he remarks: "Earlier that morning, when I was certain no one was looking, I did something I had done twenty-six years earlier: I planted a fistful of crumpled money under the mattress." Why is this moment so important in Amir's journey? 13. Throughout the story, Baba worries because Amir never stands up for himself. When does this change? 14. Amir's confrontation with Assef in Wazir Akar Khan marks an important turning point in the novel. Why does the author have Amir, Assef, and Sohrab all come together in this way? What is this the significance of the scar that Amir develops as a result of the confrontation? Why is it important in Amir's journey toward forgiveness and acceptance? 15. While in the hospital in Peshawar, Amir has a dream in which he sees his father wrestling a bear: "They role over a patch of grass, man and beast...they fall to the ground with a loud thud and Baba is sitting on the bear's chest, his fingers digging in its snout. He looks up at me, and I see. He's me. I am wrestling the bear." Why is this dream so important at this point in the story? What does this dream finally help Amir realize? 16. Amir and Hassan have a favorite story. Does the story have the same meaning for both men? Why does Hassan name his son after one of the characters in the story? 17. Baba and Amir know that they are very different people. Often it disappoints both of them that Amir is not the son that Baba has hoped for. When Amir finds out that Baba has lied to him about Hassan, he realizes that "as it turned out, Baba and I were more alike than I'd never known." How does this make Amir feel about his father? How is this both a negative and positive realization? 18. When Amir and Baba move to the States their relationship changes, and Amir begins to view his father as a more complex man. Discuss the changes in their relationship. Do you see the changes in Baba as tragic or positive? 19. Discuss the difference between Baba and Ali and between Amir and Hassan. Are Baba's and Amir's betrayals and similarities in their relationships of their servants (if you consider Baba's act a betrayal) similar or different? Do you think that such betrayals are inevitable in the master/servant relationship, or do you feel that they are due to flaws in Baba's and Amir's characters, or are they the outcome of circumstances and characters? |
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June 2 Novel Ideas Selection
Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression by Studs Terkel 1. What did you know about the Great Depression prior to reading this book? Did you learn anything new about this time in our nation’s history? If you knew of the topic before, did anything you read change your opinion? How has this book changed or enhanced your view of the subject?
2. What did you find to be the most unusual or interesting events in this book? What, if anything, surprised you?
3. Has reading this book inspired you to do further research on the subject and the time period discussed?
4. What did you think of Hard Times? What do you think will be your lasting impression of the work as a whole? How about the subject specifically?
5. What did you like or dislike about the book? Were you glad you read this book? Would you recommend it to a friend? Do you want to read more works by Studs Terkel or more about the Great Depression?
6. What impact do you think Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression will have on history? Can you see this book being discussed in later years?
7. If the subject is political and is not in line with your personal political beliefs, how did you feel about reading it? Has it changed your opinion at all? Why or why not?
8. What techniques did people undertake to survive the depression? How did they go about securing food, shelter, and clothing?
9. What were their attitudes toward government relief and welfare?
10. How did the American people feel towards President Hoover? President Roosevelt?
11. Did some groups advocate revolutionary political change? Did the Depression bring about radical changes in our political and economic systems?
12. How do you think Americans would react to a depression today? Would it be similar to the 1930s response? Or would it be different?
13. What was similar and what was different about their experiences? (could include age, race, gender and occupation)
14. What are the indicators of hard times? Which indicators of hard times during the Great Depression are similar to the hard times that some of us experience today? Which are different?
15. Are there any particular accounts that you found to be the most powerful and meaningful?
16. The New Deal has been called the "Third American Revolution." Using the accounts in Hard Times, explain whether, in what ways, and why, you think it was revolutionary or not.
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May 5 Novel Ideas Selection:
The Coffee Trader by David Liss Questions courtesy of Reading Group Guides.com 1. The Coffee Trader is a novel in which moral, ethical, and emotional choices are often bound up with monetary and financial choices. How do financial dealings shape or define character? Does this novel suggest a relationship between financial dealings and morality?
2. Miguel, the novel's central character, often makes some questionable choices even though he regards himself as essentially honest and upstanding. Do you think he is a good person or a bad person? Why do you think so? What about Geertruid?
3. Given the degree to which The Coffee Trader depicts merchants tricking and deceiving one another, do you think trade on the Amsterdam Exchange inherently deceptive, or is it simply trade in which some people choose to behave deceptively? How do the activities on the Exchange influence the lives of traders when they are off the Exchange? Can merchants effectively rope off financial deception as one aspect of their lives and behave ethically elsewhere?
4. How does the setting of this novel—Amsterdam and its various communities and locales—affect the novel? How does the setting influence the events, the characters? Is the setting familiar or alien to you? In what ways are the lives of people in seventeenthcentury Amsterdam familiar to you, and in what ways are they unlike people today? What surprised you most about the way people lived?
5. There are a number of people in The Coffee Trader who are out to harm Miguel, or at the very least trick and manipulate him toward their own ends. Given that virtually no one is truly trustworthy, do you think that this novel has a central villain? Who? How should villainy be defined?
6. Is Hannah a modern character in a pre-modern situation, or do you think her view of herself, the world, and her options are rooted in a particularly seventeenth-century perspective? What exactly are her goals? How would a contemporary woman in her situation respond?
7. Discuss the role of the Ma'amad in Amsterdam's Jewish community. What is the relationship between the Ma'amad and the Inquisition in Portugal?
8. In his interview, the author mentions that this book was originally going to center on chocolate instead of coffee. How do you think it would have been different if chocolate had remained at the center?
9. Discuss Miguel's commitment to religious observance. What motivates his devotion? Do you think of him as being particularly religious? Does his attachment to worship and the Jewish community affect how you feel about him?
10. Reviewers have called this novel a thriller, though it lacks many of the traditional characteristics of one—no one gets killed, people are rarely placed in physical danger. Is this novel a thriller? How does it work to keep the reader anxious about the fates of the characters?
11. Discuss the novel's ending. Why do you believe the author made the choices he did in the various resolutions of the plot threads? Do these characters get what they deserve? Why or why not?
12. How is the kind of financial deception in The Coffee Trader like or unlike what we see in our own times? Is what happens on the Amsterdam Exchange similar to scandals like Enron or World- Com? Is the difference just a matter of scale?
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April 7 Novel Ideas Selection
The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright Questions courtesy of: www.thewednesdayletters.com 1. Jack’s death was expected, whereas Laurel’s was a surprise. Do you think one way is preferable to the other? Are there things you can do to help prepare yourself for a loved one’s demise?
2. A&P adopts the nickname that others had given to mock her, telling herself, “nicknames mean you matter” (p. 5). Have you ever had a nickname you didn’t like? How might you have turned it around to give it a positive meaning?
3. The youngest Cooper child, Malcolm, has been away for two years. Would he have returned to Woodstock earlier if he’d known his father was dying of cancer? Should he have returned sooner?
4. When Malcolm does return home, he discovers a secret his parents kept from him. Have you ever discovered secrets held by someone you loved after he or she had passed on? How did your discovery affect your feelings about that person?
5. Why did Laurel try to keep Malcolm’s parentage a secret? Would Jack and Malcolm have been happier if she had?
6. When Sam was 17, she ran away to New York City to pursue her dream of having an acting career. Though she got a small part in a show called “Curtains” she eventually stopped pursuing her dream. How and why did this happen? Is it admirable or disappointing that Samantha puts other’s needs ahead of her dreams?
7. When reading her father’s letters, Samantha learns that he paid for the part in the show she got. Yet she’s not angry about this. Why not? Was this the act of a loving parent or a controlling father? Does learning this secret change Samantha’s view of herself?
8. Aside from the Coopers, who is your favorite character and why?
9. Joe is finally able to give up alcohol because the girl he nearly killed forgave him—even visiting him and frequently writing him letters while he was in prison. What is the novel saying about the relationship between forgiveness and self-acceptance? Where else are these themes worked through the novel?
10. Matthew and Monica’s marriage is troubled by their childlessness. Would it have lasted if they hadn’t been able to adopt a child? What does a child bring to a couple like Matthew and Monica?
11. What does Nathan’s inability to trust Rain say about him? Is there such a thing as a healthy skepticism?
12. Discuss Malcolm’s development over the course of the novel. How do the letters play a part in his journey to maturity? What is it about letters that gives them such power? When was the last time you wrote a letter?
13. It takes an unusual spirit to forgive your rapist—and even welcome him into your community. Could you—like Jack and Laurel—accept Pastor Doug as a man of God?
14. Does The Wednesday Letters inspire you to start any traditions of your own?
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March 3 Novel Ideas Selection
The Banyan Tree by Christopher Nolan (Questions courtesy of Reading Group Guides.com) 1. The novel's opening chapter is a narration of Minnie at work on her weekly butter churning. How does this chapter introduce the reader to the mind of Minnie O'Brien, to the story's main concerns, and to the author's idiosyncratic prose style? What is the significance of ordinary domestic detail in this novel?
2. It has been said of Christopher Nolan that "he plummeted into language like an avalanche, as if it were his one escape route from death--which, of course, it was. He had been locked for years in the coffin of his body, unable to utter. When he found words he played rapturously with them, making them riot and lark about, echoing, alliterating and falling over one another. . . . Nolan constantly subverted and remade idiom" (John Carey, Preface to Under the Eye of the Clock, New York: St. Martin's Press 1987, p. ix). What pleasures and difficulties does Nolan's unique use of language present to the reader? What is unusual about his verb usage? What are the other notable elements of his writing style? 3. According to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, a banyan tree is an East Indian fig tree whose branches send out shoots that grow down to the soil and root to form secondary trunks. Why has Nolan chosen this image for the book's title? To what does the metaphor of The Banyan Tree refer? How is it being used in the following quotation: "She thought as she chewed and chewed as she thought, and every time she swallowed her banyan tree grew in desperation. . . . As she savoured it The Banyan Tree sent down more roots and the moment they hit the floor up sprang three children, her three children, playing a game of snap-apple this Hallowe'en in September" [p. 145]? 4. In Irish fiction the Catholic Church has traditionally played a large and sometimes cruelly repressive role. How important is the church in Minnie's life? What effect, if any, does religion have upon her sexuality? How does she feel when her eldest son decides to become a priest? 5. Carried across the threshold by Peter, Minnie is described as a new bride, "hunted down by nature" [p. 65]. At Sheila's birth, the narrator tells us that the new baby "curled her toes in readiness for a life of only second-class importance" [p. 122]. Do these examples imply that being born female in Minnie's world limits a woman's potential for happiness and self-realization? Does the fact that Minnie's neighbor Jude Fortune, an example of an ambitious rather than a passive female, comes to such an unhappy end support that theory? 6. Jude Fortune plays a powerful role in the story as the antagonist of Minnie's deepest wish--to retain ownership of the five fields for Frankie's return. What sort of a woman is Jude, and how are her values set in opposition to Minnie's? We're told, "The widow Fortune thought like a farmer but grafted like a whore" [p. 172] and "To her there was no such thing as love" [p. 171]. Is Jude's love of money and Minnie's love of the land used to draw attention to two very different spiritual conditions in these women? 7. Many important plot details in The Banyan Tree are only hinted at within the text. We're told that Jude Fortune's father, "the bluebottle of her childhood, had infested her every struggling dream. . . . Jude's reality lay somewhere between a father's commerce and a husband's love" [p. 171]. Is this hint meant to supply an explanation for Jude's behavior as an adult? Later in the story, Peter O'Brien's grandson reveals that he is Nuala Lynam's grandson. Earlier, we are told that Nuala had put her baby up for adoption at his birth. Is it correct to assume that the young man knows who his grandfather is, and who Minnie is? Why is the author vague in these descriptions? 8. Why does Minnie fix her hopes on Frankie's return? What effect does his late arrival have on her? Is he an admirable character? Does it appear that Minnie doesn't love her other two children as much as she loves Frankie? Do the circumstances of Frankie's conception make him an especially beloved child? 9. Near the end of her life, Minnie reflects on her children: "One set out as a priest and came home an old man, one set out as a boy and never came back at all, and his girl set out to nurse and now she's her own best patient" [p. 329]. Does Minnie have a happier disposition than any of her children? Is she more at peace with the choices she has made? 10. Minnie's two sons leave home early in life, but while Brendan sends letters and money, Frankie cuts his ties more ruthlessly. What motivates their actions and their seeming desire to stay away from Ireland? Are they trying to escape their family, or is it the farm and its responsibilities that are too much of a burden? Could the novel be an exploration of a generation's abandonment of rural life? 11. Thinking of Peter, Minnie says, "Aye indeed the mousetrap caught me a good man, a good honest man" [p. 17]. Is Peter as honest as Minnie thinks he is? What are Peter's best qualities? Why does he keep the knowledge of his heart disease from his wife and family? When Minnie finds a picture entitled "your baby boy Peter" in his coat pocket years after his death [p. 326], does she realize Peter's dishonesty? Does she connect the visit of Nuala Lynam's grandson, who is "the livin' image" [p. 335] of her son Frankie, with Peter's secret? 12. Much of Minnie's emotional life is lived waiting for the postman and for Frankie's return: "This game of waiting was murder on the heart and tinder-boxed the brain" [p. 329]. Sheila also waits, in thrall to her rich and wandering husband Luke Green. Does this theme of waiting point to a problem of passivity, or of disappointed love, in the lives of these women? 13. Looking at the generation of exiles from Ireland--the alcoholic priests Brendan O'Brien and Harry Hope, the rootless Frankie, the Irish-speaking Pat from Donegal, who seems to be dying of AIDS, the prostitute who enlists Frankie's help with Pat--does it appear that these characters are living hopelessly unhappy lives, or merely normal ones? Is their discontent directly related to their exiled condition? How does their discontent differ from Minnie's? Are all hopes doomed to fail, for the rooted and wandering alike? 14. Christopher Nolan has been disabled from birth, and in his memoir Under the Eye of the Clock, he refers to himself as "birth brain-damaged, but curiously, though seldom recognized, intellectually normal" [p. 4]. How might such a disability affect an author's point of view, the things he notices and cares about with greatest intensity? Does the physical world perceived by the five senses appear with greater emphasis in Nolan's writing? Does the fact that he typed out the book with his "unicorn stick" seem to have affected the book's style or structure? 15. The story of The Banyan Tree is a simple one, focused as it is upon the memories and experiences of a single character. How does Nolan's exuberant use of language transform the apparent simplicity of the story? If you have read James Joyce's Ulysses, which follows the thoughts and experiences of three characters throughout the course of one day, would you consider The Banyan Tree similar in its basic premise? |
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February 3 Novel Ideas
Crazy Ladies by Michael Lee West (Questions courtesy of Reading Group Guides.com) 1. On the first page, Miss Gussie states, ³There is so much good in a garden, if you don¹t count what happened to Adam and Eve.² How does this statement serve as a foreshadowing of events to come and as a metaphor for the story as a whole? Why does West choose to begin and end the novel in Miss Gussie¹s garden? |
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January 6 Novel Ideas Selection
Before I Die by Jenny Downham (Questions courtesy of BookBrowse.com) 1. Describe Tessa's relationship with her father. How has this relationship been shaped by Tessa's illness? Debate whether Cal, Tessa's younger brother, feels neglected by his father. Discuss Tessa's relationship with her mother. Why did she leave home? When does Tessa miss her mother the most? 2. Discuss the true qualities of a friend. Which of these qualities best describes Tessa and Zoey's friendship? What does Zoey offer Tessa that her father cannot give? Why does Tessa's father call Zoey when Tessa won't get out of bed? Cal hates Zoey. How does Tessa explain her friendship with Zoey to her little brother? 3. Tessa's father is frustrated when she becomes withdrawn. He says, "If you won't talk about it, how can I help?" (p. 2) How does this withdrawal represent the first stage of grief? Why is talking about feelings always better than keeping them to yourself? 4. Discuss why Tessa doesn't want to return to school. She says that Zoey is the only person at school that isn't afraid of her illness. Explain how difficult it is for teenagers to deal with the terminal illness of a classmate. What might Zoey say to other students that would help them know how to interact with Tessa? 5. Tessa writes her private thoughts on the wall beside her bed. Why does she let Zoey read what she has written? 6. Zoey tells Tessa that it's all right to be afraid. How does Tessa reveal her fear? How does she use her hat to hide her fear? Discuss how Cal, Adam and Tessa's father express their fear. 7. How is Tessa's list a form of bargaining and acceptance? At what point in the novel does Tessa accept the fact that she is dying? Explain how her list helps her "get on with living." Which item on her list is the most dangerous? Why does doing illegal things like shoplifting and driving without a license give Tessa a thrill? 8. Tessa's father wants to know the things on her list. He says, "I need to know about it, not because I want to stop you, but because I want to keep you safe." (p. 80) Discuss how Tessa reacts to her father when he asks to see the list. 9. Discuss the conversation between Tessa and her father after she is caught shoplifting. Why does he think anger is taking her over? 10. How is Tessa's list confusing to her father? Explain how Tessa's list is self-centered. Her mum tells her, "You have to think about the people who love you." (p. 170) At what point does Tessa begin to think about Cal and her father? Explain why Tessa's mother speaks in past tense when she says, "we loved you." Why is it unrealistic for Tessa to think that she can rekindle her parents' relationship? 11. Why do you think sex is number one on Tessa's list of things she wants to do before she dies? Tessa worries about being a "slag" if she has sex with someone that she doesn't know. Explain Zoey's reaction to Tessa's thoughts. 12. Tessa says that walking up the stairs behind a boy she doesn't know reminds her of hospital corridors. What do the stairs and the corridors symbolize? 13. Discuss the moments in the novel that Tessa is most depressed. Who helps her deal with her depression? 14. Why does Zoey suspect that Tessa is in love with Adam? What does Zoey mean when she says, "I thought you understood the rules! Never let a bloke into your heart–it's fatal"? (p. 88) Why is Adam different than Zoey? Discuss what Adam means when he says, "I can't give you what you want." (p. 117) What does he ultimately give her? What does she offer him? 15. Tessa asks the home health care nurse if she believes in God. What is the significance of this inquiry? Tessa tells the nurse that she doesn't believe in heaven. Discuss the nurse's reaction to Tessa's confession. Why does the nurse think a support group might be helpful to Tessa? How does Tessa's list take the place of a support group? 16. How does Tessa's dad react when he finds out Zoey wants to terminate her pregnancy? Discuss how his opinion is related to Tessa's terminal illness. 17. Depression, loneliness, anxiety, and guilt are emotions associated with grief. How does each of the characters in the novel deal with these emotions? |
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December 2 Novel Ideas Selection:
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Questions courtesy of ReadingGroupGuides.com) 1. Gilbert writes that “the appreciation of pleasure can be the anchor of humanity,” making the argument that |
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November 4 Novel Ideas Selection:
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Questions courtesy of ReadingGroupGuides.com) 1. In his introductory note Yann Martel says, "This book was born as I was hungry." What sort of emotional nourishment might Life of Pi have fed to its author? 2. Pondicherry is described as an anomaly, the former capital of what was once French India. In terms of storytelling, what makes this town an appropriate choice for Pi's upbringing? 3. Yann Martel recalls that many Pondicherry residents provided him with stories, but he was most intrigued by this tale because Mr. Adirubasamy said it would make him believe in God. Did Pi's tale alter your beliefs about God? 4. Early in the novel, we discover that the narrator majored in religious studies and zoology, with particular interests in a sixteenth-century Kabbalist and the admirable three-toed sloth. In subsequent chapters, he explains the ways in which religions and zoos are both steeped in illusion. Discuss some of the other ways in which these two fields find unlikely compatibility. 5. Yann Martel sprinkles the novel with italicized memories of the "real" Pi Patel and wonders in his author's note whether fiction is "the selective transforming of reality, the twisting of it to bring out its essence." If this is so, what is the essence of Pi? 6. Pi's full name, Piscine Molitor Patel, was inspired by a Parisian swimming pool that "the gods would have delighted to swim in." The shortened form refers to the ratio of a circle's circumference divided by its diameter. Explore the significance of Pi's unusual name. 7. One reviewer said the novel contains hints of The Old Man and the Sea, and Pi himself measures his experience in relation to history's most famous castaways. Considering that Pi's shipwreck is the first to focus on a boy and his tiger, how does Life of Pi compares to other maritime novels and films? 8. How might the novel's flavor have been changed if Pi's sole surviving animal were the zebra or Orange Juice? (We assume that if the hyena had been the only surviving animal, Pi would not have lived to tell us his story.) 9. In chapter 23, Pi sparks a lively debate when all three of his spiritual advisors try to claim him. At the heart of this confrontation is Pi's insistence that he cannot accept an exclusively Hindu, Christian, or Muslim faith; he can only be content with all three. What is Pi seeking that can solely be attained by this apparent contradiction? 10. What do you make of Pi's assertion at the beginning of chapter 16 that we are all "in limbo, without religion, until some figure introduces us to God"? Do you believe that Pi's piousness was a response to his father's atheism? 11. Among Yann Martel's gifts is a rich descriptive palette. Regarding religion, he observes the green elements that represent Islam and the orange tones of Hinduism. What color would Christianity be, according to Pi's perspective? 12. How do the human beings in your world reflect the animal behavior observed by Pi? What do Pi's strategies for dealing with Richard Parker teach us about confronting the fearsome creatures in our lives? 13. Besides the loss of his family and possessions, what else did Pi lose when the Tsimtsum sank? What did he gain? 14. Nearly everyone experiences a turning point that represents the transition from youth to adulthood, albeit seldom as traumatic as Pi's. What event marks your coming of age? 15. How do Mr. Patel's zookeeping abilities compare to his parenting skills? Discuss the scene in which his tries to teach his children a lesson in survival by arranging for them to watch a tiger devour a goat. Did this in any way prepare Pi for the most dangerous experience of his life? 16. Why did Pi at first try so hard to save Richard Parker? 17. Pi imagines that his brother would have teasingly called him Noah. How does Pi's voyage compare to the biblical story of Noah, who was spared from the flood while God washed away the sinners? 18. Is Life of Pi a tragedy, romance, or comedy? 19. Do you agree with Pi's opinion that a zoo is more like a suburb than a jail? 20. How did you react to Pi's interview by the Japanese transport ministers? Did you ever believe that Pi's mother, along with a sailor and a cannibalistic cook, had perhaps been in the lifeboat with him instead of the animals? How does Yann Martel achieve such believability in his surprising plots? 21. The opening scene occurs after Pi's ordeal has ended. Discussing his work in the first chapter, Pi says that a necktie is a noose, and he mentions some of the things that he misses about India (in spite of his love for Canada). Would you say that this novel has a happy ending? How does the grown-up version of Pi contrast with his little-boy scenes? |
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October 7 Novel Ideas Selection
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (Questions courtesy of Reading Group Guides.com) 1. What was your perception of America's food industry prior to reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? What did you learn from this book? How has it altered your views on the way food is acquired and consumed?
2. In what ways, if any, have you changed your eating habits since reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? Depending on where you live --- in an urban, suburban, or rural environment --- what other steps would you like to take to modify your lifestyle with regard to eating local? 3. "It had felt arbitrary when we sat around the table with our shopping list, making our rules. It felt almost silly to us in fact, as it may now seem to you. Why impose restrictions on ourselves? Who cares?" asks Kingsolver in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Did you, in fact, care about Kingsolver's story and find it to be compelling? Why or why not? What was the family's aim for their year-long initiative, and did they accomplish that goal? 4. The writing of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle was a family affair, with Kingsolver's husband, Steven L. Hopp, contributing factual sidebars and her daughter, Camille Kingsolver, serving up commentary and recipes. Did you find that these additional elements enhanced the book? How so? What facts or statistics in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle surprised you the most? 5. How does each member of the Kingsolver-Hopp family contribute during their year-long eating adventure? Were you surprised that the author's children not only participated in the endeavor but that they did so with such enthusiasm? Why or why not? 6. "A majority of North Americans do understand, at some level, that our food choices are politically charged," says Kingsolver, "affecting arenas from rural culture to international oil cartels and global climate change." How do politics affect America's food production and consumption? What global ramifications are there for the food choices we make? 7. Kingsolver advocates the pleasures of seasonal eating, but she acknowledges that many people would view this as deprivation "because we've grown accustomed to the botanically outrageous condition of having everything always." Do you believe that American society can --- or will --- overcome the need for instant gratification in order to be able to eat seasonally? How does Kingsolver present this aspect in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? Did you get the sense that she and her family ever felt deprived in their eating options? 8. Kingsolver points out that eating what we want, when we want comes "at a price." The cost, she says, "is not measured in money, but in untallied debts that will be paid by our children in the currency of extinctions, economic unravelings, and global climate change." What responsibility do we bear for keeping the environment safe for future generations? How does eating locally factor in to this? 9. Kingsolver asserts that "we have dealt to today's kids the statistical hand of a shorter life expectancy than their parents, which would be us, the ones taking care of them." How is our "thrown-away food culture" a detriment to children's health? She also says, "We're raising our children on the definition of promiscuity if we feed them a casual, indiscriminate mingling of foods from every season plucked from the supermarket." What responsibility do parents have to teach their children about the value and necessity of a local food culture? 10. In what ways do Kingsolver's descriptions of the places she visited on her travels --- Italy, New England, Montreal, and Ohio --- enhance her portrayal of local and seasonal eating? 11. "Marketing jingles from every angle lure patrons to turn our backs on our locally owned stores, restaurants, and farms," says Kingsolver. "And nobody considers that unpatriotic." How much of a role do the media play in determining what Americans eat? Discuss the decline of America's diversified family farms, and what it means for the country as a whole. |
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September 2 Novel Ideas Selection:
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (Questions by Jan Brogan at www.HallieEphron.com) 1. The narrator, the young Mrs. de Winter, is never given a first name. How does this affect the reader’s view of her, and her comparison to Rebecca?
2. The narrator is 21-years old. Why is that important? Her husband, Maxim is 42. How does that affect her view of their relationship? She also tells Maxim that “I don’t belong to your sort of world?” (p. 53) What is the narrator’s attitude about herself? How does this make you feel about her, and why is it so important for the progression of the story?
3. How does the way Maxim proposes to the narrator affect her view of their relationship? How are her fantasies contrasted by the realities? Why is there so much talk of the tangerine he eats and its bitterness?
4. The narrator says: “The past did not exist for either of us, we were starting afresh, he and I. The past had blown away like the ashes in the waste-paper basket.” (p. 60). Do you think the narrator really believes this at this point in the story? How is her thinking here in direct opposition to the theme of the book?
5. Mrs. Danvers is described as “someone tall and gaunt, dressed in deep black, whose prominent cheekbones and great, hollow eyes gave her a skull’s face, parchment white, set in a skeleton’s frame?” (p. 66.) How does this description foretell her role in this story?
6. You can’t see the sea from the east wing of Manderley where our narrator and her bridegroom have a bedroom. Why did Maxim choose this wing for his new marriage and how does our narrator misread his reasons?
7. Beatrice, Maxim’s sister, is described as direct. Why is it important that this character be direct? What does she say about Maxim’s physical and emotional condition six months ago? How does the narrator misinterpret this? How does this prove to be a clue?
8. When the spaniel, Jasper, takes the path to the cove, the narrator follows and meets Ben, the addled worker. (p.109) He gives the narrator an important clue: “I never said nothing, did I?” What is he referring to? Why does the narrator’s trip to the beach cottage provoke a fight with Maxim?
9. How does the way the narrator handles her mishap – breaking the china cupid –say about her? What is her relationship to the servants? What should it be? Why does it irritate Maxim?
10. Why does Mrs. Danvers maintain Rebecca’s bedroom suite in the west wing so painstakingly? When she says of Rebecca :”I feel her everywhere, you do, too.’ what is she trying to do to the narrator? (p.161)
11. For the costume ball, Maxim suggests that the narrator goes as “Alice In Wonderland.” Why does the Maxim choose this character? What is the author saying about his view about his wife? Is it apt?
12. Later when Mrs. Danvers suggests that the narrator copy one of the portraits in the gallery for her costume, what is she trying to achieve? How does the author use this to build suspense?
13. When Mrs. Danvers tries to talk the narrator into jumping out the window, do you believe she may succeed? The rockets, which signal the accident at sea, interrupt them. Why is that significant?
14. When Maxim reveals how he killed Rebecca, he also, for the first time, tells the narrator he loves her. Why are these two revelations timed together?
15. What is the narrator’s reaction to her husband’s confession? What does this say about her? How has she misinterpreted her husbands’ grief and his first marriage and how was that critical to the story?
16. Maxim says living with Rebecca was like living with the devil (p. 257) Do you think Rebecca represents evil? Is she supposed to be a sociopath? Have you known anyone like Rebecca?
17. Maxim says “I thought about Manderley too much.” (p. 258) What does he mean? He credits Rebecca for making Manderley its current creation of beauty. Why is that important in their social class? In the county where they live? How does this emphasis and sacrifice for the house and the estate foretell the ending of the book?
18. Does Maxim’s revelations about Rebecca make you sympathetic to him? Justify murder?
19. How do these revelations change the narrator? What does she learn about keeping secrets and being shy? How does her character change? Her actions? Her relationship to Mrs. Danvers?
20. Jack Flavell says initially that when he learned Rebecca drowned, he thought: “That’s the sort of death Rebecca would chose, she’d go out like she lived, fighting.” (p. 305) How does this prove to be true? What does Maxim’s rejection of his blackmail offer say about Maxim? How does his reaction contrast to Frank’s response?. How does the existence of Rebecca’s note to Flavell change the course of the story?
21. Flavell and Rebecca were first cousins, and having an affair. How does that make you feel about Rebecca? That era?
22. What does Dr. Baker’s revelation of Rebecca’s terminal illness say about Rebecca? Does this justify Maxim shooting her? Or mitigate his guilt because Rebecca was goading him to murder her?
23. Maxim loses Manderley. Is that sufficient punishment for murdering his wife? Does he deserve punishment? Does he deserve happiness?
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August 5 Novel Ideas Selection:
The Sea Captain's Wife by Martha Hodes (Questions courtesy of ReadingGroupGuides.com)
1. In what ways can Eunice be described as an unconventional woman ahead of her time? In what ways can she be described as a conventional woman caught up in her own time? 8. Hodes writes that "In her voyages from New England to the Deep South to the British Caribbean, Eunice also mad a journey from the life of an impoverished white woman in the United States to the life of an elite woman of color in the West Indies." Hodes also notes that "In New England, Smilye was not a white man, but in the West Indies, he was not a black man.” What do these episodes of ambiguous or changeable racial definitions tell you about the larger concept of race? |
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July 1 Novel Ideas Selection:
The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks (Questions courtesy of ReadingGroupGuides.com) 1. It seems that Carrie doesn't come alive until literally everyone around her is dying. Why do you think it took her home being taken over by the Confederate Army and turned into a hospital to awaken Carrie out of her stupor? 2. Do you believe that Zachariah really wanted to die when he picked up the colors on the battlefield? Why does Nathan Stiles spare Zachariah on the battlefield specifically, when others carrying the colors were killed? Is Zachariah grateful to be spared, or is he regretful, or a little of both, and why? 3. Does John McGavock undergo a character transformation from the beginning of the novel, when he and Theopolis encounter the gang of ruffians in the woods, to the end, when we see scenes him of him wandering around Franklin somewhat aimlessly? How do you think he views the war? How do you think he views his role, or his non-role, in the war? And how does this compare with Carrie's attitude towards the war? 4. In the author's note Robert Hicks says of Mariah, "… I have concluded that Mariah may well have been the most complete human of them all." Mariah never let her enslavement define her. Do you agree? 6. When Carrie first notices Zachariah in her upstairs guest room, she remarks: "Unlike most of the men, he looked ready to die. He looked as if he were welcoming it, urging it along…I wanted his eyes on me." Why does Carrie take to Zachariah, and why does she later give him special treatment? Do you think it was purely physical attraction? Does Zachariah's welcoming of his own death conflict with Carrie's values? 7. Faith plays a large part in each character's motivations. Discuss the role of belief in a higher power and how it guides Carrie, Zachariah, and Mariah in their actions. For most of us, our belief system changes or 'grows' over the span of our lives, one way or the other. How did Carrie's faith change over the span of the novel? 8. Why do you think Carrie beats Zachariah on the porch? Were you surprised by this or did you understand it? 9. Zachariah and Carrie have an intense love affair yet it's never consummated sexually. Do you think the fact they never were physically intimate takes away or adds to their relationship, or does it matter? 10. At one point Carrie tells Mariah, "You always could have left, even when you weren't allowed. I would have never stopped you." Do you think this is true? Carrie seems to think of Mariah as her best friend, but she was really her property, a "gift" her father gave to her as a child. Do you think Carrie tries to make herself appear a better friend/owner than she really was? Discuss Carrie and Mariah's relationship. Could friendship really transcend enslavement? 11. Among the political issues leading up to the Civil War was the South's strong adherence to the doctrine of 'state's rights.' Among the issues to come out of the war was the emancipation of the enslaved in the 'slave states,' whether they had remained loyal to the union or had seceded and joined the Confederacy. Yet, neither of these political issues is ever addressed 'head-on' in the book. Why do you think that is? 12. Carrie comes from a rich, educated family. She is "learned." Zachariah is poor, and almost illiterate. Yet do you think one is wiser than the other? 13. Robert Hicks has said, "good writing is about transformation." We see transformation in Carrie, Zachariah and in their relationship, in John, in his and Carrie's relationship, in Mariah and her relationship with Carrie. Are we left with any sense that Mr. Baylor ever comes to any real peace about what has happened? 14. What does Carrie mean when she says the following to Zachariah: "You are my key. You will explain things I have not been able to understand…I want you to explain to me why I wanted you to live and why I was able to make you live. Because I don't understand, not really, and the answer is very important to me." What is Carrie not able to understand about herself, and what answer does she think Zachariah will be able to provide? 15. Carrie takes Eli into her home and he quickly assumes the role of a surrogate son and Winder's surrogate brother. How do Carrie's actions speak to her changing perceptions of family? Has her work running the hospital changed her maternal instincts or is she simply responding to the nature of war? 16. At the town party, Carrie remarks about how she doesn't fit in with the other women; Mrs. McEwen pokes fun of her efforts and jokingly calls her "St. 17. In 1894, after John has died, and Mariah, Carrie and Zachariah are all elderly, why does Zachariah not profess his love for Carrie more overtly? Over time, did his love become more of respect and admiration for her heroism, or are his feelings for her just as romantically intense? |
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June 3 Novel Ideas Selection
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell (Questions courtesy of ReadingGroupGuides.com) 1. One of the most uniques aspects of this novel is its ability to take the reader directly into the live of the student-heroes Tom and Paul (as well as Gil and Charlie), and then in a sentence place readers in the middle of Renaissance intrigue. Did you think tensions among the Princeton students and their mentors and rivals mirror those of the men centuries ago protecting the secrets? How were the conflicts similar, or different? Did you find that these character relationships drove the narrative as much as the decoding of the fascinating book, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (pronounced Hip-ner-AH-toe-mak-ee-a Poh-LI-fi-ly)? |
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May 6 Novel Ideas Selection:
The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold (Questions courtesy of ReadingGroupGuides.com)
1. After the conversation with her father about "almost moons," Helen says, "I knew I was supposed to understand something from my father's explanation, but what I came away with was that, just as we were stuck with the moon, so too we were stuck with my mother" (page 134). What did Helen's father intend to say with his example of "almost moons"? Did you think his metaphor was apt? 2. The Almost Moon opens with a startling confession. After the first several pages, why did you think Helen killed her mother? Did you feel sympathy for her at that point? As you learned more about Helen's relationship with her mother -- and her mother's overall mental state -- did your feelings about Helen change? Did you think she was more justified to act as she did, or did you lose sympathy for her? 3. In chapters two through four and chapter eleven, Helen flashes back to memories from her past. In the first section, she is slowly removing her mother's clothes to bathe her. In the second, she is posing for art students. What do you think Sebold is implying about the relationship of the body to memory? Can you think of other instances in the text when the tactile leads Helen into a greater understanding or awareness of her past or that of another?
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