Book Discussion: The Sense of an Ending

Questions:

What are your thoughts on the book? Did you enjoy it?

Do you think it would have worked better as a full length novel rather than a novella?

How does the book depict youth?

• This was another of our fears: that Life wouldn’t turn out to be like Literature.  Look at our parents—were they the stuff of Literature?  At best, they might aspire to the condition of onlookers and bystanders, part of the social backdrop against which real, true, important things could happen.  Like what? The things Literature was all about: love, sex, morality, friendship, happiness, suffering, betrayal, adultery, good and evil, heroes and villains, guilt and innocence, ambition, power, justice, revolution, war, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, the individual against society, success and failure, murder, suicide, death, God.  (p. 16)

The concept of memory comes up often in the book. How reliable is ones memory? What might influence your memories of the past?

• The less time there remains in your life, the less you want to waste it.  That’s logical, isn’t it?  Though how you use the saved-up hours . . . well, that’s another thing you probably wouldn’t have predicted in youth.  For instance, I spend a lot of time clearing things up—and I’m not even a messy person.  But it’s one of the modest satisfactions of age.  I aim for tidiness; I recycle; I clean and decorate my flat to keep up its value.  I’ve made my will; and my dealings with my daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren and ex-wife are, if less than perfect, at least settled.  Or so I’ve persuaded myself.  I’ve achieved a state of peaceableness, even peacefulness.  Because I get on with things.  I don’t like mess, and I don’t like leaving a mess.  I’ve opted for cremation, if you want to know.  (p. 75)

Veronica accuses Tony of being cowardly, while Tony considers himself peaceable. Whose assessment is more accurate?

How did you interpret Veronica's actions when they meet again as older adults?

Why does Mrs. Ford make her bequest to Tony, after so many years?

Do you think it was fair of Veronica to show Tony that letter he wrote almost 40 years ago. Do the actions of our youth hold merit forever?

Why did Adrian commit suicide? 

What is the significance of the title?

Book Discussion Questions:

What did you think of the book?

Was this your first experience reading a graphic novel?

Have you had a similar discussion with your parents and/or children about aging
and long-term care plans? What was the result? At what age do you think parents
and children should have this conversation?

Did you enjoy Chast’s technique of telling her story through illustrations? Why or why not? Were there scenes in the book that you thought were more or less effective because they were depicted in cartoons rather than in straightforward
text? Which ones, and why?

Which parts of the memoir made you laugh? Which made you cry? Did Chast’s use
of humor surprise you? Do you think it’s necessary or inappropriate to approach
this type of subject with humor?

Have you considered your own end-of-life plans? Why or why not? Was the book
informational for you, and if so, what did you learn? Has reading this book changed
your thinking about your own end-of-life care?

What is the greatest loss that George and Elizabeth experience
as they age?

Were there scenes in the book that you found exasperating?

Book Discussion: Lila

Lila by Marilynne Robinson- Abandoning her homeless existence to become a minister's wife, Lila reflects on her hardscrabble life on the run with a canny young drifter and her efforts to reconcile her painful past with her husband's gentle Christian worldview.

Reverend Ames is 70 at the time of his son's birth (explained in the book Gilead)

http://images.macmillan.com/folio-assets/rgg-guides/9780374187613RGG.pdf

Questions:

What were your impressions of the book?


How did your perception of Doll shift throughout the novel? Why did she rescue Lila?

 As she copies difficult passages from the Bible, Lila continually returns to questions about human suffering and misfortune. What is your response to this debate? How does Lila’s practical wisdom compare to the philosophical wisdom of Ames and Boughton?

What lies at the heart of Lila and Ames’s decision to marry? What needs and longings do they share?

What is the significance of Doll’s knife—both literally (as a weapon) and as a metaphor?

 Which of the novel’s Bible quotations resonated most strongly with you? How were you taught to approach a sacred text?

Does the age difference between Lila and Ames create an imbalance in their marriage?

What beliefs does Doll instill in Lila about nurturing a child?

What were Lilas barriers to trust?
How do you build trust with another person, is it as simple as sharing all that you know-especially our most vulnerable moments?

What did you think of the ending?

Staff Picks

Book Discussion: The Dinner by Herman Koch

Over the course of a meal at a fashionable Amsterdam restaurant, two couples move from small talk during the appetizer to weightier issues. While discussing their sons -- who have done something terrible -- we learn more about what ties the families together, and what seems to be a skewering of upper-class values turns into something far more serious. -- Description by Shauna Griffin, taken from Novelist

Discussion Questions:

The author has set the novel over a meal in a classy restaurant. What do you think he is trying to
illustrate by this choice?

The novel opens with Paul’s commentary on how much Serge irritates him. What accounts for their attitude toward each other? Does Paul’s animosity run deeper than typical sibling rivalry?

In the beginning of the novel Paul talks about his idea of happiness and quotes from Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. What do you think he means when he says that ‘unhappiness can’t stand silence-especially not the uneasy silence that settles in when it is all alone’? -PAGE 6, top 1/2 of page

How does Paul's narration of the story influence the reader's perspective?

Did your feelings about certain characters change as the novel progressed?

How and to what extent do you think Michel is influenced by his father’s rage?

Do you think people can be born with a propensity for violence and evil, or are they more likely to be 
shaped by early life, family and circumstances?

Do Michel and Rick represent the indifference of their generation, or are teenagers more socially conscious in the Information Age?

Ultimately, who is to blame for the homeless woman’s death? What does the novel indicate about the responsibilities (or irresponsibility) of the upper class?

In what way do the courses of a meal— from aperitif to digestif— echo the experience of savoring a suspenseful novel? As the waiter described each delicacy in The Dinner, did the food appeal to you, or did you share Paul’s belief that it was pretentious?

Serge Lohman is willing to sacrifice his entire political career in light of the crime that his son has committed. What do you think his real motive is? Why does his wife so vehemently oppose his decision?

What commentary does the novel offer about the author’s homeland? What aspects of The Dinner would change if it were set in Washington, DC, rather than in the Netherlands?

Fun Facts:

The Dutch adaptation of the film came out in 2013. There is discussion of Cate Blancett making her directorial debut with the American version.

Book Discussion: This is How You Lose Her

Presents a collection of stories that explores the heartbreak and radiance of love as it is shaped by passion, betrayal, and the echoes of intimacy.

Honors:
National Book Award Nominee for Fiction (2012), OCM Bocas Prize Nominee (2013), The Story Prize Nominee (2012), Andrew Carnegie Medal Nominee for Excellence in Fiction (2013), ALA Notable Book for Fiction (2013)

Press:
NYTimes
NPR Interview
Dictionary of Dominican Slang

Questions:

What was your overall impression of the book. Which story did you like best?

Some have described Diaz's language as "Spanglish." But he also uses a healthy dose of idioms from other parts of culture, from hip-hop to academia. What other cultural lingo does Diaz draw from, and what is the effect of his "multilingualism"? Does it make for greater realism...or humor...or what? Does it cause difficulties for you, the reader? 

Have you read another book that had different languages or slang heavily integrated into the writing?

What did you think of the short story layout of the book, was it a good storytelling tool?

One of the quotes from the book is “And that's when I know it's over. As soon as you start thinking about the beginning, it's the end.” Have you ever found that to be true in a relationship?

Yunior says of himself, "I’m not a bad guy.... I’m like everybody else: weak, full of mistakes, but basically good." Do you agree with his self-assessment...or is he letting himself off the hook too easily? Isn't his description applicable to anyone?

Diaz has expressed that he was encouraged growing up to not view women as fully human and slightly inferior to men. Much seems to be made of his male Dominican values as they relate to women. But realistically, are these values much different from those expressed from average American males? 

Diaz writes in the book "the half-life of love is forever." Do you think this is true for you? If you have been in love, does that love ever completely go away (even after the relationship has ended?)

A  pattern of infidelity runs throughout the stories. Why is Yunior compulsively unfaithful to women?  Would you consider Yunior an addict with regard to his relationships (or lack thereof) with women? For example, he exhibits cyclical behaviors that cause him pain yet he never talks about/ deals with why he does what he does.

Talk about the family's reaction to their new home in the U.S. What would it be like to find yourself in a totally new culture faced with an different language?

Talk about the final story of this book, "The Cheater's Guide to Love." What is Yunior coming to realize? In what way has he changed or matured?

 What did you think of the ending? was it appropriate considering the subject matter or did you find it ant-climactic?

Book Discussion: California by Edan Lepucki

Author's Website
About the Author: Ms. Lepucki is a graduate of Oberlin College and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and is the founder and director of Writing Workshops Los Angeles. She is also known in book circles as a writer for The Millions, a highbrow literary website.
About her Colbert Bump

Read-a-Likes
Find Me by Laura Van Den Berg
World Made by Hand by Howard James Kunstler
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Toward the End of Time by John Updike
Into the Forest by Jean Hegland

Discussion Questions:

What do you think happened to cause the breakdown of modern society in this novel?
What made the Miller's commit suicide?
Have you ever had a relationship that could withstand the pressures of isolation that Frida and Cal's marriage is subject to?
What does the group stand for? What are they opposed to?
When Frida and Cal left their homestead what kind of world did you expect them to find?
How realistic is the authors vision of the future?  Do you think society will devolve this way?
How does the author depict gender roles in the novel? Do you think these roles make sense given the nature of the society?