Homestead by Melinda Moustakis

What is this novel about?

learning to trust, the wild inside us, sense of self
How did you find the pacing of this book?

Do you think you would have been able to homestead in Alaska?

How do you understand Marie and Lawrence’s decision to get married? What are their expectations of the marriage? How do those expectations hold up once they are actually living together?

What do Marie and Lawrence each hope for from the homestead? What does it represent to them?

Homestead is structured around the seasons, with each chapter taking place over the course of a month. How do the cycles of a year shape the novel’s form and plot?

Discuss Marie’s relationship with her sister, Sheila. How are their lives similar and different, especially their marriages?

Discuss the portrayal of Alaska in this novel. Did it surprise you or change the way you think about the state? If so, how? How much of the story is tied into the landscape. Would this story have worked in a different setting?

Homestead is set in the 1950s, when there were often strict gender norms that shaped one’s place in the world. How do Marie and Lawrence conform to those norms, and how do they thwart them? Were there any aspects of their characterizations that surprised you?

Both Marie and Lawrence express ownership/command of the land in different ways.“shadows of mountains beyond the dark line of the low and unseen water, and a stretch of dusky sky, a pale yellow and lavender, and a thick stir of clouds with sweeps of fire and fireweed, and who could say this was not meant for her?” How do their perspectives differ?

Over the course of two years, Marie and Lawrence witness the push for Alaskan statehood and are in Anchorage when the official announcement comes through. How are their lives affected by statehood? Discuss the ways in which the political and the domestic are woven together in this novel.

Why do you think Marie named their baby after herself.

Lawrence is haunted by his experiences during the Korean War, and compares his night terrors to a swarm of mayflies. What effect did military service have on him? How does it influence his relationship with Marie?

Why does Lawrence decide to sign the deed without Marie, despite his promise? Do you sympathize at all with his action?

How do you understand Marie’s decision to forgive Lawrence and continue their life together? What do you think the future holds for them?

Book Discussion: Moonrise Over New Jessup

How did you find the pacing of the book?

Though Alice, her friends, and family refer to New Jessup as a “town,” it was never formally incorporated as a municipality after the 1903 riot. Technically, this would make it a Black settlement. Why do you think it was important to Raymond and the rest of the members of the New Jessup NNAS to incorporate New Jessup into its own city?

Why do you believe that Raymond wanted Alice to stop working outside the home? What as your reaction when he had her fired?

Alice mentions wanting to vote, but that she is unwilling to “wear out her shoe leather” just to cast a ballot for the same candidates that are always on the ballot. Why do you think she took this position?

The townsfolk reject the NNAS in their town and the efforts to bring integration to New Jessup. Why do you think this is? Are there issues today that people are resistant to "agitate?"

Percy and Raymond were both resistant to coming home to New Jessup after spending time in the larger world. Raymond ultimately moves back and after a point so does Percy despite claiming he wouldn't. What drew him home?

Why do you think Raymond considers the theft of his sister Regina’ shoes the worst part of the altercation at the Montgomery bus station?

What do you think happened to Alice's sister Rosie? What does she represent in the story?

What role does sisterhood and the black female identity play in the novel?

What are the costs of integration for the black community?

In the novel Red Lining, the act of refusing a bank loan to those who live within a certain geographic area is mentioned as a different way to segregate in more liberal parts of the country. In our modern day society what are some ways we still segregate?

Towards the end of the novel Patience challenges Alice when her and Raymond visit DC. Does Patience make any valid points about Alice's position on equal rights and segregation?

Where there some exceptionally poignant moments in the book that effected you?

What are your thoughts on the author's writing style?

Book Discussiom: Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin

 Do you have any theories on how the affliction started in the first place?

How are the townsfolk able to live without understanding the affliction?

The people of the town speculate as to why certain mothers may have disappeared. Why did the mothers disappear? Was there a common bond amongst them?

What notions of motherhood does this book bring up? Does it challenge any of your own views on motherhood?

When did you first realize Ruth’s true identity?

Discuss the townswomen’s practice of pricking their mates with a silver hairpin, which they always have in their hair, during sex, and then sucking their blood from the wound. Does this practice exist in isolation, or does it impact other aspects of the story?

What do the childless women in the town represent? What is their place in the town? In the story? What questions does this book provoke about women who lie outside a given norm?

Mr. Philips says he wonders whether the town exists “because we require it.” What does he mean by this, and is it true?

What role does photography play in the book?

Do you believe Vera made the right decision in leaving?

In what ways did motherhood change Vera?

 

Book Discussion: Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

A woman in upstate New York who works transcribing therapy sessions for a sex coach becomes infatuated with one of his clients, a repressed married woman from Switzerland who has a refreshing attitude towards trauma.

Have you ever been to Hudson, NY? How would you describe it? Similar or different from the author?

What does the beehive inside the house represent? Is there a metaphor buried there? (maggots at the heart of the hive)

In the beginning of the book we learn that Greta was diagnosed with Emotional Attachment Disorder by a therapist. (a behavioral disorder that effects the ability to form and maintain relationships.) In what ways does this manifest in her relationship with Big Swiss?

When speaking with OM about her trauma Big Swiss says on page 8 "I'm not attached to my suffering. I'm not attached to what happened to me. I don't believe it explains everything about me, because I haven't made it part of my identity. I'm a worker, not a wallflower. I would never call myself a "survivor" I'm just -not one of those trauma people." Is trauma something you think a person can ever get over? Does making trauma part of your identity hold you back or fuel you?

On page 79 Big Swiss says she accepts some responsibility for her attack because she went to his house on his own volition and ignored her instincts.  Does society condition victims to think they were players in their own trauma? What are your thoughts on this? 

On p. 247 Greta mentions Big Swiss might have something to teach her about living. To "eradicate self-pity and replace it with something productive." How do you think one can actually accomplish that?

Did you find OM an effective therapist?

Big Swiss was not able to orgasm for her whole life until the mid-point of the book. She describes masturbating to images of flowers. Is this just a metaphor or do you think there is something deeper there?

What do you think drew Big Swiss to Greta?

Throughout their affair what traits or behaviors do Greta and Big Swiss bring out in each other?

Was Greta obscuring her true identity from Big Swiss an ethical violation? How would you have handled it if you were Greta?

On page 216 at the dinner party with Luke Big Swiss says that the Swiss "like to keep each other in check. Americans could never handle that, because they're such infants, and so easily rattled. They can't ride the train without getting their feelings hurt. They can't walk down the street without being offended." Do you think this is true of Americans? If so why is that?

There are times that Greta seems to be hostile or antagonizing to Big Swiss. Where does that behavior come from? P. 232 Big Swiss tells her her tough girl routine is transparent.

What did you think of the ending?

Book Discussion: Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez

Mayor describes how he’s bullied at school and his general feelings of not fitting in. How do you think this draws him to Maribel? What do they have in common that perhaps those around them, including their parents, cannot see on the surface?

How is the scene where the Riveras sit down for a dinner of oatmeal a turning point for the family and for the book? Discuss the role of food in the novel, especially how it evokes memories of home and establishes a sense of community. Are there any food traditions in your own family?

What are some key differences in the way that the women in the novel respond to challenges of assimilation compared to the men? How does Alma’s point of view highlight these differences?

How does Garrett cast a threatening shadow over several characters’ thoughts and actions? Did your opinion of him change after you learned about his home environment? How much blame can, or did, you ascribe to him for what happens to Arturo?

Do you, the members of your family, or your friends have stories of moving to another country to start a new life? Did any of the stories in the novel resonate with those you know?

How did you feel about the different narrators. Do you think the author needed to have all of them?

What was the author's message with this novel?

Book Discussion: The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

Finalist for the Man Booker Prize
Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal

In an interview with the New Yorker the author states in regards to studying incarceration “I wanted to have a life that would include people that the State of California has rendered invisible to others.”  How did reading about the incarcerated characters in the book effect your life since you read it?

The overwhelming majority of people, and certainly middle-class people, will never spend a single day of their lives in jails and prisons. Should those who don’t have that dark destiny worry for those who do? What impression do you have, after reading The Mars Room, about individual agency, and who goes to prison in this country and who doesn’t?

What role does gender play throughout the novel? What differences did you see between the experiences of incarcerated men and incarcerated women? How did gender factor into Romy’s trial and sentencing?

The Mars Room comes from the name of the strip club where Romy works before she is incarcerated. What does the phrase “Mars Room” bring to mind? What do these two worlds—a central California women’s prison and a San Francisco strip club—share?

“Sammy was my big sister and I was Button’s, and Conan was something like the dad. We had a family” (page 241). In order to cope with their difficult surroundings the women of Stanville create familial bonds with each other. Do these women nurture one another or is their “family” more of an alliance of protection? What are the benefits of a “family” arrangement? The risks?

After recounting an emotional story from childhood, Conan says, “There are some good people out there . . . some really good people” (page 252). Which acts of generosity stand out to you in the novel?  Would many of these characters’ lives have been different with more, or greater, acts of generosity?

Straining the edges of a reader’s compassion perhaps is the character Doc, the “dirty cop” who had been involved with Betty LaFrance and is eventually strangled by his cellmate. Why do you think Kushner included him and his story in the book? Does he achieve a kind of unexpected likability, and if so, how?

Serenity Smith is a transgender woman whose presence generates an outsized reaction from the women of Stanville. Discuss the controversy among the prisoners concerning this character. How do their surroundings contribute to their reaction to her? And what does Serenity’s predicament say about the structure of prison? What is society to do with people who cannot assimilate into the caged spaces allotted for them?

What was the authors intent in including the Ted Kaczynski (uni bomber) excerpts in the book?

Gordon Hauser can be seen in different lights. Was he a predator, or was he a man who meant well but could not resist temptation? Discuss the effects of his actions on Romy.

 In the final moments of the book, Romy is in the forest, bathed in light: “I emerged from the tree and turned into the light, not slow. I ran toward them, toward the light” (page 336). There is something both heavenly and hellish in this description. Discuss the dichotomies: Is the scene ultimately despairing or hopeful?

Book Discussion: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

• With her it’s as if a text was written so that we can identify the characters, the narrator, the setting, the plot, the time of the story, and so on. I don’t think it has ever occurred to her that a text is written above all to be read and to arouse emotions in the reader. Can you imagine, she has never even asked us the question: “Did you like this text/this book?” And yet that is the only question that could give meaning to the narrative points of view or the construction of the story… (p153) 
• Did you like this book? 
•  Why or why not? 
•  And do you agree with Paloma that this question is central to discussing or thinking about a book?

• Much has been made of the book’s philosophical bent. Some feel that the author’s taste for philosophy and her having woven philosophical musings into her characters’ ruminations, particularly those of Renée, hampers the plot; others seem to feel that it is one of the book’s most appealing attributes. 
• What effect did the philosophical elements in this book have on you and your reading?
• Can you think of other novels that make such overt philosophical references?

• How is identity also a theme throughout The Elegance of the Hedgehog? Think about how Renée might define herself as well as Paloma’s observations about the people around her

• In what ways is Paloma still a child? Would you say she is neglected?

• Were there any of Paloma’s “Profound Thoughts” or “Journal of the Movement of the World” entries to which you found yourself especially responding?

• Both Renée and Paloma use stereotypes to their benefit, hiding behind the perceptions others have of their roles. While we are accustomed to thinking of people as victims of stereotypes, is it possible that sometimes stereotypes can be useful?
•  When, under what circumstances, and why, might we welcome an interpretation based on stereotypes of our actions or of who we are? 
• Have you ever conformed to some stereotype in order to hide a part of yourself?

• How do you explain Paloma's preoccupation with movement? How does it relate to her life? 

•  Paloma, tells us that she plans to commit suicide on the day of her thirteenth birthday because she cannot tolerate the idea of becoming an adult, when, she feels, one inevitably renounces ideals and subjugates passions and principles to pragmatism. Must we make compromises, renounce our ideals, and betray our youthful principles when we become adults? 
• If so, why? 
• At the end of the book, has Paloma re-evaluated her opinion of the adult world or confirmed it?

• Japanese culture is a sub-theme in this novel. As evidenced in its literature, art, and film, Japanese culture gives great attention to detail, subtle changes, and nuances. On page 152 Renee muses about the sliding doors in two Ozu films. She says " I was fascinated by the way the Japanese use space in their lives, and by these doors that slide and move quietly along invisible rails, refusing to offend space. For when we push open a door, we transform a place in a very insidious way."
• How essential is Kakuro’s being Japanese to his role as the character  that reveals others’ hidden affinities? 
• Or is it simply his fact of being an outsider that matters? 
• Could he hail from Tasmania and have the same impact on the story? 
• Is Ozu a fully-realized character, or is he primarily a catalyst for the two women?

• According to Renee how can an encounter with pure beauty change one's life? Do you agree? How would you explain this? 
• At the end of the story Jean Arthens tells Renee that the Camellias saved him. She tells him a camellia can change fate (p295)
• Renee often mentions the power and beauty in language. Where there passages in the book that you found particularly beautiful and/or moving?

• How did you react to the shocking event at the end? Why do you think the author chose this development and had it unfold in this way? Would you have preferred a happier ending?

• Did any of Renée’s parting words resonate with you? What of Paloma’s epiphany and, similarly, her last paragraph?

• Did the book inspire you to explore literature, art, film, music, manga, language, or philosophy?