Book Discussion: Welcome to Braggsville

Discussion Questions:

At Berkeley, the students are encouraged to utilize "performative intervention" to shock onlookers into engaging with uncomfortable topics they might otherwise ignore. Do you think this type of political performance is a worthwhile and eye-opening approach, or is it too avant-garde to ever be useful?

Louis' brand of humor frequently makes light of issues around race and culture, but he isn't characterized as a racist. Under what circumstances do you think it's "okay" to joke about race?

 In the aftermath of the “Incident at Braggsville,” the Davenports come under scrutiny, and it's suggested that D'aron may have masterminded the entire event. Does this warped interpretation of the facts parallel the way real news is reported through media channels today?

 The militia touts itself as a well-meaning group of concerned citizens, but their stronghold on the city is extreme, as evidenced by the abrupt shift in the way the Davenports are treated after D'aron visits the hunting lodge. Have you ever belonged to a group in which the majority's viewpoints were so strong you felt you could not disagree with them?

Book Discussion: City of Thieves

Book Discussion Questions:

• Did you like this book?
• What is the significance of the fictitious grandfather?
• Did you ever feel like you were reading a memoir or work of non-fiction?
• David wants to hear about his grandfather’s experiences firsthand.
•  Why is it important for us to cultivate and preserve our oral histories? 
• Do you have a relative or friend whose story you believe should be captured for posterity?
• From the cannibals in the market to the sex slaves in the farmhouse, there are numerous illustrations of the way in which war robs us of our humanity. In your opinion, what was the most poignant example of this and why?
• Why is Leningrad important?
• info about Leningrad: The siege of Leningrad was statistically important for the Nazis and the Soviets because Leningrad is one of the most important cultural hubs of Russia and the Soviet Union. Before 1917, Leningrad (then called St. Petersburg) was the capital of the Russian empire, and even though the capital was moved to Moscow, the Soviet government considered Leningrad one of the hearts of the Soviet revolution — hence its renaming to honor Vladimir Lenin. The Nazis, who saw Communism and Bolshevism as a direct threat (and also part of an alleged international Jewish conspiracy), were interested in taking Leningrad for both its strategic military importance and its power to break Soviet morale. 
• What role does hunger serve in this story?
• Kolya tells Lev that the government should “put the famous on the front lines” (p. 67) rather than use them as the spokespeople for patriotic propaganda. Do you agree or disagree? 
• Can you think of any contemporary instances of this practice?
• What is the tension between the city and the countryside?
• Do you think Markov’s denouncer should have remained silent about the partisan’s presence
• Did either of them deserve to die?
• Even moments before Lev pulls his knife on the Sturmbannführer, he thinks: “I had wanted him dead since I’d heard Zoya’s story. . . . [But] I didn’t believe I was capable of murdering him” (p. 228). Do you think everyone—given the right motivation—is capable of killing another human being? Could you?
• Lev takes an instinctive dislike to Kolya yet comes to consider him his best friend. What was the turning point in their relationship?
• Did you think the boys were actually going to be successful in finding the dozen eggs?
• Why did Koyla have to end up dieing?
• How important is the "frame" at the beginning of the novel where the writer introduces his grandparents and has the grandfather (Lev) begin telling his story? Would you have liked the book to come back to that frame at the end?
• What parts of the novel had the biggest emotional effect on you

Interesting Facts:

• David Benioff wrote the screenplay for the films Wolverine, Brothers and the Kite Runner among others. He is the co-creator, writer and show runner for Game of Thrones.
• David is married to the actress Amanda Peet

-Codex Vitae: Life Code or "Ancient text about one's life"
-Geritszoon might be Times New Roman                                                                                              
-Gertiszoon was a real man but his name was Francesco Griffo 
-The cover of this book glows in the dark
-Manutius's printing seal is a dolphin and an anchor. In the book the bar they go to in NYC is named the Dolphin and the Anchor
-Penumbra (n) The partially shaded outer region of the shadow cast by an opaque object. (Astronomy)

On the bottom of page 284 Clay sends Kat a text after their date that simply says "25,000 miles" What does this mean?

What does this novel say about the idea of immortality? What are ways you think we can be immortal in our day and age?

If you were to file a codex vitae, capturing all you’ve learned throughout your life, what would it contain? Do you journal or keep a diary?

What were your initial theories about the bookstore’s mysterious patrons and their project? What
did you predict Manutius’s message would be?

 If you try to picture it, what literacy will look like five hundred years from now, what do you see?

As Clay and the team of Google decoders take on the same challenge, what do they discover about the relative strengths of the human brain and technology?

How did you react to Gerritszoon’s “message to eternity ( Thank you, Teobaldo: You are my greatest friend: This has been the key to everything),” revealed in the closing passages? How
can his wisdom apply to your life?

• Clay's friends were the key to him decoding Gerritszoon's message

Why did the publisher choose the design of the cover of the book?

• Glow in the dark, modern, handwritten font

Clay grapples with the fact that e-books could make brick-and-mortar bookstores unnecessary. How have your community’s bookstores fared in recent years? Did the novel reassure you about the role of technology in the lives of book lovers?

Are Penumbra and his colleagues motivated only by a quest for immortality? If not, what are the other rewards of their labor-intensive work?

Book Discussion: Her: a memoir

Her: a memoir by Christa Paravanni


Discussion Questions:

1. Is anyone here a twin or have twins in their family?

• What is your observation of this book? 
• Did you relate to Christa and Cara's relationship?

2. Did you like this memoir?

• Did it remind you of any other memoirs you have read?
• What did you think about her writing style and the way she broke -up the book?

3. Christa mixes in excerpts from Cara’s writings throughout the book. How did this help in your understanding of Cara?

4. What was Christa's most admirable quality? Cara's?

5. What makes the relationship between identical twins unique from that of just siblings, or even fraternal twins?

• Do you think that identical twins are biologically prone to think and feel the same way, or is it something that evolves from their inextricably knit experiences?

6. Art is a significant part of the sisters’ lives. What do you think it meant for them to be able to create works of art in the midst of their tumultuous lives?

• Do you or have you ever found art to be able to help you through a difficult time in your own life?

7. What is the importance of home and location in the sisters’ lives?

• How did their constant displacement as children affect their idea and need for a home as adults? 
• What does “home” mean to you?

8. The book is mostly comprised of Christa’s memories of her life with her sister. Christa says that it’s  hard to tell if her memories are true without Cara; that she is “the sole historian left to record [their] lives.” Think back on the memories you have of growing up. How do we distinguish truth from mere memories? And does truth matter when it comes to your own experiences, or is it the things you take from those moments that really count?

9. Do you think the body is a mere vehicle for the person or is it a part of your whole self?

• Do you think it is possible to detach yourself from your body? 
• After Cara suffered a horrific rape, how was she changed? 
• What seems to have happened to her connection with her body? 

10. There are times in the book when Cara tries to overcome her addictions. Do you think addiction is genetic?

• Are certain personality types more prone to addiction? 

11. What do you make of Christa’s conversation with the psychic?

• Do you believe in the supernatural and that we can communicate with those who have passed? 
• Do you think that Christa’s visions of Cara were actually visits from another world, or were they illusions of dreams and grief?

12. Christa’s connection to her husband, Anthony, was unlike any other she had with a man. They both experienced much heartache and pain throughout their lives. Why do you think Christa was so drawn to him from the start?

• Are the best matches the ones who are as equally broken as we are?

Book Discussion: Station Eleven

Discussion Questions:

What is the metaphor of the Station Eleven comic books? How does the Undersea connect to the events of the novel?

Who was your favorite character and why? Did you have a least favorite character other than the prophet?

Why are some characters referred to by their name, and other's just by the instrument they play. For example: the clarinet

The author weaves so many story lines together and connects them all in the end. What were some storylines or little details you enjoyed seeing her link together?

In the case of the story, is it better to have known a way of life and to lose it or to have never known it at all?

 On page 278 Clark recalls with Garrett a time before the flu when they would abbreviate in emails and use idioms like "shoot off an email" and how silly it all seems now. Can you think of something you or society used to do 20 years ago that seems silly now?

Arthur Leander dies while performing King Lear, and the Traveling Symphony performs Shakespeare’s works. On page 57, Mandel writes, "Shakespeare was the third born to his parents, but the first to survive infancy. Four of his siblings died young. His son, Hamnet, died at eleven and left behind a twin. Plague closed the theaters again and again, death flickering over the landscape." How do Shakespearean motifs coincide with those of Station Eleven, both the novel and the comic?

 Certain items turn up again and again, for instance the comic books and the paperweight—things Arthur gave away before he died, because he didn’t want any more possessions. And Clark’s Museum of Civilization turns what we think of as mundane belongings into totems worthy of study. What point is the author making?

 Throughout the novel, those who were alive during the time before the flu remember specific things about those days: the ease of electricity, the taste of an orange. In their place, what do you think you’d remember most?

Jeevan stands out as a central character who ends up disconnected from the overall narrative. Why do you think Mandel chose to devote so much space to him?

The prophet seems to have great control in the novel. Could you see yourself following someone like him in similar circumstances.

Did you have any ideas about why symphony members, and then the entire symphony itself, disappeared from the road?

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?