Chinn Book Chats

Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen Characters

2011-08-25T13:17:00.003-07:00

Bonnie Lamb
Max Lamb
Edie Marsh
Snapper (Lester Maddox Parsons)
Avila
Augustine
Felix Mojack, Augustine’s dead uncle
Skink, aka Captain, Ex-Governor Clinton Tyree

Tony Torres
Neria Torres, Tony’s wife
Jim Tile, state trooper and Skink’s friend
Brenda Rourke, Tile’s girlfriend and fellow state trooper
Ira Jackson, mob thug
Beatrice Jackson, Ira’s deceased mother
Donald and Marla, Jackson’s dachshunds
Levon Stichler, trailer owner conned by Torres
Gil Peck, finds Torres in satellite dish
Fred Dove, Torres’ insurance man
Dennis Reedy, insurance supervisor
Pete Archibald, Max’s ad agency cohort
Bill Knapp, Max’s nemesis at ad agency

Sgt. Cain Darby, National Guardsman who catches Gil Peck
Gil Whitmark and Mrs. Whitmark, pay $7,000 to Snapper for roof
Keith Higstrom, incompetent hunter killed by Cape buffalo
Paul Pick-Percy, cannibal that Avila does not want as jail roommate
Webo Drake and Jack Fleming, fleeing the Keys
David and Margo, license plate couple

Jasmine (Morganna) and Bridget (Daphne), “ladies” who hang out with Snapper
Celeste, grad student who likes Neria Torres’ boyfriend
Charles Gabler, Neria’s professor boyfriend
Clyde Nottage, Jr., chairman of tobacco company
Dr. Caulk, his doctor
Sunny Shea, Snapper’s dead partner
Christophe Michel, structural engineer
Brickhouse, homicide detective
Any Kennedy
Matthew Luke, out of state worker who follows Neria down the Turnpike

Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen

2011-08-25T13:17:00.001-07:00

Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen Discussion Questions

2011-08-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

1 Why does Max want to go to Miami? Do you think his actions are justified?

2 Why does Skink kidnap Max and put a shock collar on him?

3 Discuss the character of Skink? Is there a method to his madness or is he
Just mad?

4 What motivates Tony Torres and Avila? Are there others like them in the story?

5 How are Skink and Snapper similar? How are they different? Was Snapper influenced by his early upbringing?

6 Why does the author have so many characters? What does this suggest?

7 Do you like Augustine as a character? What about his hobby of skull-juggling?

8 How are Donald and Marla, the dachshunds, important as characters in the book? How about the wild animals and reptiles that are running around loose?

9 Cite some incidents in the book that may be based on fact.

10 Do you feel that Max really loved Bonnie? Did Bonnie love Max? When and how did she begin questioning her choice of a husband?

11 Describe the character of Edie Marsh.

12 Is Jim Tile believable as a Florida state trooper?

13 Do you think Fred Dove’s insurance supervisor, Dennis Reedy, was really fooled by Edie and Snapper’s insurance scam? Why did he write checks to them?

14 What is Carl Hiaasen trying to teach us by using satire and black humor?

15 Do you get any sense of a message from the author about Floridians and also those who show up during a time of disaster?

16 Who was your favorite character? Which character did you dislike the most?

My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira Characters

2011-08-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

Mary Sutter: A young mid-wife from Albany, NY whose only dream is to become a doctor.
Amelia Harriman Sutter: Mary's mother who is also a mid-wife; widow of Nathaniel Sutter, railroad magnate
Jenny Sutter: Mary's twin sister
Christian Sutter: Mary's brother
Thomas Fall: Next door neighbor to the Sutters in Albany, NY; previous beau to Mary and later Jenny’s husband
Bonnie Miles: Pregnant woman whose baby was delivered by Mary.
Jake Miles: Estranged husband of Bonnie Miles and soldier in the Union Army.
Dr. James Blevins: 25th Regimental Surgeon and admirer of Mary
Sarah, James estranged wife
Colonel Townsend, Commander of the Albany Regiment
Dr. William Stipp: Surgeon in charge of the Union Hotel hospital who agrees to apprentice Mary.
Genevieve, Dr. Stipp’s deceased wife
Lilianna, friend of Dr. Stipp’s left behind when Texas seceded
John Hay: Secretary of War to President Lincoln
Dorothea Dix: Social reformer appointed Female Superintendent of Army Nurses by President Lincoln
General Irvin McDowell: Commanding officer of NE Virginia Northern Forces
General Winfield Scott: Commander of Northern forces during the early years of the Civil War.
General George McClellan: Commander of the Army of the Potomac
Peter Marteli, hospital patient, Mary and Stipp grow attached to him

My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira Discussion Questions

2011-08-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

1. The end of My Name Is Mary Sutter is both satisfying and surprising. What was your response to the conclusion of each character's story?

2. Women's rights have greatly expanded since Mary's time, but do you believe that women are still limited by prejudice as to what they can or should do professionally? Do you believe men and women should have different roles or responsibilities within society?

3. Beyond Mary, which character did you find the most interesting? Why? Which character did you find the least interesting?

4. Blevens explains that he cannot accept Mary as an apprentice because of the Civil War. Do you believe he would have taken her on had the the war not begun? Why?

5. As a woman and midwife, Mary has a particular kind of medical knowledge; Blevens and Stipp have another. What are the values and limitations of each? How does Mary eventually blend the two?

6. Describe Mary and Jenny's relationship. What type of tensions exist? Consider the relationship from both women's perspectives.

7. "From labor to death, she thought, despite every moment at the breast, every reprimand, every tender tousle of hair, every fever fought, every night spent worrying, it came to this: you couldn't protect your children from anything, not even from each other" (p. 43). Do you believe Amelia is right? What experiences from your own life make you feel this way?

8. How is Dr. Blevens affected by his experiences during the Civil War?

9. From Jake to Thomas to William Stipp, there is a wide range of male characters in the novel. What type of masculinity does each demonstrate?

10. Have you ever struggled with the same kind of professional or personal obstacles that Mary does? How did you handle it? What did you learn from the experience?

Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao--Discussion Questions--by Junot Diaz

2011-06-09T16:36:00.000-07:00

1. Throughout the novel, Spanish words and phrases appear unaccompanied by their English translations. What is the effect of this seamless blending of Spanish and English ? Why does Díaz not italicize the Spanish words (the way foreign words are usually italicized in English-language text)?

2. The book centers on the story of Oscar and his family—and yet the majority of the book is narrated by Yunior, who is not part of the family. and even calls himself “The Watcher.” Why does Díaz utilize an outsider to narrate the book, and why does he wait so long at the beginning of the book to reveal who the narrator is?

3. Diaz, in the voice of the narrator, often employs footnotes to explain the history or context of a certain passage or sentence in the main text. Why do you think he chose to convey historical facts and anecdotes in footnote form? Did this help or distract in your reading of the novel?

4. In many ways, Yunior and Oscar are polar opposites. While Yunior can get as many women as he wants, he seems to have little capacity for fidelity or true love. Oscar, by contrast, holds love above all else—and yet cannot find a girlfriend no matter how hard he tries. Is it fair to say that Yunior is Oscar’s foil—underscoring everything Oscar is not—and vice versa? Or are they actually more alike than they seem on the surface?

5. The narrator says “Dominicans are Caribbean and therefore have an extraordinary tolerance for extreme phenomena. How else could we have survived what we survived?” (p. 149). What does he mean by that? Could Oscar’s obsession with science fiction and the “speculative genres” be seen as a kind of extension of his ancestors’ belief in “extreme phenomena”? Was that his method of coping?

6. Yunior characterizes himself as a super macho, womanizing jock-type—and yet in narrating the book, his writing is riddled with reference to nerdy topics like the Fantastic Four and Lord of the Rings. In other words, there seems to be a schism between Yunior the character and Yunior the writer. Why do you think that is? What could Díaz be trying to say by making Yunior’s character so seemingly contradictory?

7. Oscar’s obsession with fantasy and science fiction becomes isolating, separating him from his peers so much so that he almost cannot communicate with them. How are other characters in the book—for instance, Belicia growing up in the Dominican Republic, or Abelard under the dictatorship of Trujillo, similarly isolated? And how are their forms of isolation different?

8. We know from the start that Oscar is destined to die in the course of the book—the title suggests as much, and there are references to his death throughout the book (“Mister. Later [Lola would] want to put that on his gravestone but no one would let her, not even me.” (p. 36)). Why do you think Díaz chose to reveal this from the start? How does Díaz manage to create suspense and hold the reader’s attention even though we already know the final outcome for Oscar? Did it actually make the book more suspenseful, knowing that Oscar was going to die?

9. The author, the primary narrator, and the protagonist of the book are all male, but some of the strongest characters and voices in the book (La Inca, Belicia, Lola) are female. Who do you think makes the strongest, boldest decisions in the book? Given the machismo and swagger of the narrative voice, how does the author express the strength of the female characters?

10. There are a few chapters in the book in which Lola takes over the narration and tells her story in her own words. Why do you think it is important to the novel to let Lola have a chance to speak for herself? Do you think Díaz is as successful in creating a female narrative voice as he is the male one?

11. How much of her own story do you think Belicia shared with her children? How much do you think Belicia knew about her father Abelard's story?

12. The image of a mongoose with golden eyes and a man without a face appear at critical moments and to various characters throughout the book. What do these images represent? Why do you think Díaz chose these images in particular? When they do appear, do you think you are supposed to take them literally? For instance, did you believe that a mongoose appeared to Belicia and spoke to her? Did she believe it?

13. While Oscar’s story is central to the novel, the book is not told in his voice, and there are many chapters in which Oscar does not figure at all, and others in which he only plays a fairly minor role. Who do you consider the true protagonist of the novel? Oscar? Yunior? Belicia? The entire de Leon and Cabral family? The fukú?

14. Oscar is very far from the traditional model of a “hero.” Other characters in the book are more traditionally heroic. La Inca rescues young Belicia; Abelard tries to protect his daughters. In the end, do you think Oscar is heroic or foolish? And are those other characters—La Inca, Abelard—more or less heroic than Oscar?

15. During the course of the book, many of the characters try to teach Oscar many things—especially Yunior, who tries to teach him how to lose weight, how to attract women, how to behave in social situations. Do any characters not try to teach Oscar anything, and just accept him as who he is? How much does Oscar actually learn from anyone? And in the end, what does Oscar teach Yunior, and the other characters if anything?

Questions adapted from http://us.penguingroup.com/

Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao--Characters-- by Junot Diaz

2011-06-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

Oscar Wao aka Oscar de Leon, our hero

Lola, Oscar’s older sister

Hypatia Belicia Cabral de Leon (Beli), Oscar & Lola’s Mami

Tio Rudolfo, Oscar’s uncle

Tia Rubelka, Oscar’s aunt

La Inca, Oscar’s & Lola’s grandmother (Myotis Toribio)

Yunior/ Narrator, Oscar’s roommate, Lola’s sometime boyfriend

Maritza Chacon & Olga Polanco, Oscar’s elementary school “girlfriends”

Nelson Pardo, tough guy & Maritza’s next boyfriend

Al & Miggs, Oscar’s only friends

Ana Obregon, girl Oscar likes in his SAT class

Manny, Ana’s abusive boyfriend

Aldo, Lola’s boyfriend who lives at the Jersey Shore with his 74 year old father

Karen, Lola’s Goth friend in high school

Rosio, Lola’s soccer playing friend in the DR

Max Sanchez, Lola’s Dominican boyfriend who’s killed in an accident

Wei, Chinese girl at Beli’s fancy school in DR

Dorca, daughter of La Inca’s maid and admirer of Beli

Jack Pujols, handsome boy at Beli’s school & object of her desire

Rebecca Brito, Jack’s fiancée

Juan Then and his brother, Jose, owners of Palacio Peking where Beli works
Other employees—Lillian (waitress), Indian Benny (waiter), Marco (cook) and later Constantina (waitress) and Beli’s friend

Beli’s two “boyfriends, Fiat dealer and Archimedes (Archie)

The Gangster/ Dionisio, Beli’s serious boyfriend and Trujillo’s brother-in-law

La Fea, Trujillo’s horrid sister

Man with No Face, a portent of bad news for the Cabrals

The Elvises, thugs sent by La Fea to do away with Beli

Mongoose, a creature that comes to the Cabrals in their times of great suffering

De Leon, father of Oscar & Lola

Melvin, Yunior’s friend

Suriyan, Yunior’s girlfriend Yunior’s other girls: Awilda, Lily, etc.

Jenni Munoz, a Goth Rutgers’ girl, aka La Jablesse

Abelard Luis Cabral, Belicia’s father & successful physician in DR

Socorro, Abelard’s wife, Beli’s mother & a nurse

Jacquelyn & Astrid, their two daughters

Lydia Abenader, Abelard’s mistress

Marcus Roman, Abelard’s longtime neighbor and friend

Trujillo, aka El Jefe, the dictator of the Dominican Republic

Fuku v. Zafa

Nataly, Oscar’s fellow teacher at Don Bosco

Pedro Pablo, O’s cousin in DR

Tio Carlos Moya, O’s uncle in DR

Ybon Pimentel, semi retired prostitute and Oscar’s true love

Clives, taxi driver who rescues Oscar
The Capitan, Ybon’s boyfriend

Solomon Grundy & Gorilla Grod, O’s assassins

Cuban Ruben, Lola’s husband

Isis, Lola’s daughter with Cuban Ruban

Other government officials, politicians, and historical figures pertinent to the DR—too numerous to name here

Upcoming Books Chinn Chats meets on Mondays once a month, usually the second Monday of the month at 1:00 p.m.
July 11 My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

August 8 Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen

Sept. 12 Room by Emma Donoghue
October 17 Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

Nov. 14 Leap of faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor

Later: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and
Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Other Suggestions???

Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake--Characters--by Aimee Bender

2011-05-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

Rose Edelstein, Psychic protagonist

Lane Edelstein: Rose's ditzy mother

Paul Edelstein: Rose's uninvolved father

Joseph Edelstein: Rose's older brother, “genius” with issues

Grandma, Lane’s mother who sends them quirky gifts

Carl, Paul’s college roommate

Cindy, Carl’s girlfriend

Sharlene, Lane’s college roommate

George Malcolm: Joseph's only friend and Rose’s heartthrob

Eddie Oakley: Rose’s dodge ball rival

Eliza: Rose's best friend

Sherrie, another friend of Rose’s from high school

Larry: Lane’s paramour and president of carpentry company

Peter: fellow worker and Rose’s date

Madame and Monsieur Dupont, Restaurant Owners

Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake--Questions--by Aimee Bender

2011-05-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

1. Rose goes through life feeling people’s emotions through their food. Many eat to feel happy and comforted. Does this extreme sensory experience bring any happiness to Rose or only sadness?

2. What does Rose mean when she says her dad always seemed like a guest to her? How does this play out in the rest of the novel?

3. “Mom's smiles were so full of feeling that people leaned back a little when she greeted them. It was hard to know just how much was being offered.” What does Rose mean and how does this trait affect the mother’s relationships?

4. Why do you think the dad like medical dramas but hate hospitals?

5. Rose says, “Mom loved my brother more. Not that she didn’t love me-- I felt the wash of her love everyday, pouring over me, but it was a different kind, siphoned from a different, and tamer, body of water. I was her darling daughter; Joseph was her it.” Do you think Rose is right in her estimation and why do you think the mother might feel this way?

6. What does the grandmother suggest when she tells Rose “you don’t even know me, How can you love me?” How has the grandmother’s relationship with Rose’s own mother affected the family dynamic?

7. What is Joseph trying to accomplish by drawing a ‘perfect’ circle when it, by very definition, is impossible? How does George’s idea to create wallpaper out of the imperfections affect him? How does validation and affection through art recur in the novel and what does it signify?

8. Why does George suddenly conclude Rose’s gift isn’t really a problem and stops investigating it?

9. What is the significance of the mother’s commitment to carpentry (compared to other, short-lived hobbies)? How does this play out in the rest of the novel?

10. What is the impact of Rose's discovery about her father's skills? Did this change the way you see the father?

11. Joseph is described as a desert and geode while Rose is a rainforest and sea glass. Discuss the implications.

12. Why does Rose want to keep the thread-bare footstool of her parents’ courtship instead of having her mother make her a new one?

13. Are the family dinners—with Joseph reading, the dad eating, Rose silently trying to survive the meal and the mom talking non-stop—emblematic of the family dynamic? How has it evolved over the years?

14. How did you experience the scene in Joseph's room, when Rose goes to see him? What did that experience mean to Rose? Is there any significance to Joseph choosing a card table chair?

15. What does the last image about the trees have to do with this family? How do you interpret the last line of the novel?

From: LitLovers

Little Bee by Chris Cleave--Characters

2011-04-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

Little Bee: A refugee who escaped from her country Nigeria, and came to Essex, in the United Kingdom.

Sarah: English fashion magazine editor whose life is tied to Little Bee due to an unusual encounter.

Andrew O’Rourke: Sarah's husband who was a a columnist for The Times.

Nkiruka: Little Bee's sister.

Charlie: Andrew and Sarah's four-year-old son.

Yevette: Jamaican girl who was released along with Little Bee from the Immigration Detention Centre.

Mr. Ayres: Farmer that Little Bee encounters after leaving the detention center.

Albert: Farmer that Little Bee encounters after leaving the detention center.

Lawrence: Sarah's Lover

Linda: Lawrence's wife

Clarissa: A feature editor who works with Sarah.

The Hunters: Group of Nigerian rebels

From: Shelfari.com

Little Bee by Chris Cleave--Discussion Questions

2011-04-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

1. Why are language and dialect so important to Little Bee?

2. How does Little Bee survive her time in the detention center?

3. How is Little Bee's identity shaped by her refugee status?

4. How are people treated in the refugee detention center? What did Little Bee mean when she said a bottle of nail polish saved her life there?

5. Little Bee tells the reader, "We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived" (p. 9). Which characters in the story are left with physical scars? Emotional scars?

6. Little Bee says of horror films, "Horror in your country is something you take a dose of to remind yourself that you are not suffering from it" (p. 45). Do you agree? Was reading this novel in any way a dose of horror for you? How did it help you reflect on the presence or lack of horror in your own life?

7. Little Bee figures out the best way to kill herself in any given situation, just in case "the men come suddenly." How do these plans help Little Bee reclaim some power? Were you disturbed by this, or were you able to find the humor in some of the scenarios she imagines?

8. How does Little Bee experience grief?

9. Why did Sarah have an affair with Lawrence? Do you agree with Sarah that the affair was a “minor transgression”? How did falling in love with someone else help Sarah become herself? What role did Andrew play in perpetuating Sarah’s affair?

10. How does Sarah deal with grief over Andrew's death?

11. When Little Bee finds that Andrew has hanged himself she thinks, "Of course I must save him, whatever it costs me, because he is a human being." And then she thinks, "Of course I must save myself, because I am a human being too" (p. 194). How do the characters in the story decide when to put themselves first and when to offer charity?

12. What does the idea of Africa mean to Sarah initially, and after Little Bee's arrival?

13. Why does Little Bee talk about how she would have to explain things to “the girls back home”?

14. How do you feel about Andrew’s actions on the Nigerian beach?

15. How did it affect your reading experience to have two narrators? Did you trust one woman more than the other? Did you prefer the voice of one above the other?

16. Why is Sarah so much harder to like than Little Bee?

17. What does Udo changing her name to Little Bee symbolize for you? How does her new name offer her protection? Do you think the name suits her?

18. Is the ending meant to be tragic or hopeful?

Questions from: Novelist, LitLovers, and website of Chris Cleave (with some modifications)

Books for Discussion 2011

2011-03-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

Discussed

Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman

Upcoming

April Little Bee by Chris Cleave

May Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

June Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

July My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

August Stormy Weather by Carl Hiassen

(Subject to change, if necessary)

I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman--Discussion Questions

2011-03-07T13:35:00.000-08:00

1. Describe Eliza as an adult and as a teenager. How has she changed? What of her personality is the same? How did the trauma of her kidnapping impact her relationship with her parents, her sister, her husband, her children?

2. What did Eliza have in common with Walter's other victims? How was she different? Why didn't Walter kill her too?

3. When she visits the parents of Walter's last victim, Eliza cant help but think of their daughter and her role—or lack of it—in her death. "She hadn't killed Holly, but she hadn't saved her, either. Was that the same thing? She had resolved to live. Was her decision to live the same as willing Holly to die? She had chosen to live, which she believed meant doing whatever Walter said. Holly was the one who had fought and run." Discuss the questions Eliza raises about her own culpability. Does Eliza share any blame for Holly's death?

4. How would you characterize the relationship between Walter and the teenage Elizabeth? What about his relationship with the adult Eliza?

5. How did knowing Walter as intimately as she did save Eliza's life? Which person knew the other better? Did she owe Walter his life—or anything at all—since ultimately, he spared hers? Did he know her as well as he thought? Was he surprised by the outcome when she finally visited? Were you?

6. What does Walter want from Eliza? Why does she agree to see him? What does she want from him?

7. Walter mused about the trial that convicted him. "Shouldn't his victims have the final say? But there was Elizabeth. He hadn't been lying when he said he felt the greatest guilt toward her. What he did to her—that was a betrayal. The others, he didn't know them, they weren't real to him. But Elizabeth had been his co-pilot, his running buddy. His Charley to his Steinbeck." Why did Walter feel guilty about Elizabeth? How did he betray her?

8. Eliza had felt protected by the invisibility with which she cloaked herself, taking her husband's name, moving abroad for several years. Can we ever truly hide from those who want to find us? What is the emotional cost if we try? What was the cost for Eliza?

9. Eliza wished her son could stay young and innocent for years. "But she knew there was no spell, no magic, that could keep a child a child, or shield a child from the world at large. In fact, that was where the trouble almost always began, with a parent trying to out-think fate. Stay on the path. Don't touch the spindle. Don't speak to strangers. Don't pick the rose." Why does Eliza think this way? What does she mean by "that was where the trouble almost always began"? Do you agree with her assessment? Are we overprotective of our children? How can we gird them for the perils the world offers?

10. When she was asked if Walter deserved to die, Eliza responds, "It doesn't matter what I think. He was sentenced for the murder of Holly Tackett, and her parents made it clear that they approved of the death penalty. I wasn't consulted." Do you think Walter deserved to die? Why is it so difficult for Eliza to offer her opinion? Do you think she feels guilty for surviving?

11. Eliza's sister Vonnie accuses her of "existing...You let life happen to you. You live the most reactive life of anyone I know. If there's one thing I would have learned from your experience, I think it would be to never let anyone else take control of my life." Is Vonnie correct in her assessment? Has Eliza learned this lesson?

Printed from Oprah.com on Thursday, February 17, 2011

I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman--Characters

2011-03-07T13:28:00.000-08:00

Eliza Benedict (previously Elizabeth Lerner)
Peter Benedict, her husband
Iso (Isobel), their 13 year old daughter
Albie, their 8 year old son
Reba, their dog

Inez and Manny Lerner, Eliza’s parents
Vonnie, Eliza’s sister

Roxanne Stoddard, Iso’s principal

Walter Bowman, kidnapper, rapist, murderer
Some of his victims:
Maude
Holly Tackett
Kelly and Dillon

Belle, Walter’s sister

Barbara LaFortuny, Walter’s advocate
Tuwan Jones, Barbara’s 14 year old attacker

Jared Garrett, journalist

Jefferson D. Blanding, Walter’s attorney

Trudy and Terry Tackett, Holly’s parents

The Help by Kathryn Stockett--Discussion Questions

2011-02-07T11:50:00.000-08:00

1. Why does Skeeter want to write The Help?

2. Does Skeeter understand racism differently than the other white characters?

3. How does Skeeter's gender affect her?

4. Does it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart’s faults so that she can get married, and that it’s not until he literally gets up and walks away that the engagement falls apart?

5. What motivates Hilly, and why is she important to the other characters?

6. Hilly is cruel to Aibileen and her own help, as well as to Skeeter once she realizes that she can’t control her. Yet she’s a wonderful mother. Do you think that this duality of personality is plausible?

7. What does the friendship between Hilly and Skeeter reveal about Jackson society?

8. Like Hilly, Skeeter’s mother is a prime example of someone deeply flawed yet somewhat sympathetic. She seems to care for Skeeter— and she also seems to have very real feelings for Constantine. Yet the ultimatum she gives to Constantine is untenable; and most of her interaction with Skeeter is critical. Do you think Skeeter’s mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character?

9. What role does Elizabeth play in the story?

10. The author manages to paint Aibileen with a quiet grace and an aura of wisdom about her. How do you think she does this?

11. How does Aibileen see the children that she raises?

12. If Aibileen hadn’t been fired, do you think Mae Mobley would have grown up to be less racist than her mother, Elizabeth? Do you think racism is inherent or taught?

13. Do you believe that Minny was justified in her distrust of white people?

14. How did working for Celia and Johnny change Minny?

15. What does Celia reveal about Jackson society?

16. Why did the Help decide to tell their stories?

17. From the perspective of a twenty-first century reader, the hair shellac system that Skeeter undergoes seems ludicrous. Yet women still alter their looks in rather peculiar ways as the definition of “beauty” changes with the times. Looking back on your past, what’s the most ridiculous beauty regimen you ever underwent?

18. What do you think happened to Aibileen after the story ended?

19. Who was your favorite character? Why?

(Some questions taken from publisher and also from Novelist)

Major Characters from The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2011-02-07T11:43:00.000-08:00

Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, Ole Miss grad and would-be writer

Charlotte, her demanding, overbearing mama

Carlton Phelan, Skeeter’s father owns a cotton farm

Carlton Phelan (Jr.?), Skeeter’s brother, attends LSU Law School

Aibileen Clark, first narrator who works as maid and nanny for the Leefolts

Treelore Clark, her deceased son who had the idea

to write about working for a white employer

Clyde, Aibileen’s missing husband

Minny Jackson, the “sassy” narrator who works for Hilly, then Celia

Leroy ,Minny’s abusive husband

Sugar and Kindra, two of Minny’s five children

Hilly Holbrook, Junior League President and childhood friend of Skeeter and Elizabeth

William, Hilly's husband

Celia Foote, newcomer and Minny’s boss

Johnny Foote, Celia’s husband and ex-boyfriend of Hilly

Elizabeth Leefolt, Raleigh’s wife, mother of Mae Mobley and “Li’l Man” (Ross)

Constantine Banks, Skeeter’s beloved childhood maid

Lullabelle, near white-looking daughter of Constantine

Elaine Stein, “Missus Stein,” a Harper & Row editor

Yule Mae Crookle, Hilly’s college-educated maid who goes to jail

Senator “Stoolie” Whitworth

Stuart Whitworth, Senator’s son and short term fiancé of Skeeter’s

Pascagoula, new maid of the Phelans

Gretchen, younger maid who tells off Skeeter and Aibileen

Reverend Johnson, minister at church Aibileen, Minny and other maids attend

Mister Golden, newspaper man who hires Skeeter to do Miss Myrna

Many additional characters

Characters in Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler

2011-01-05T08:17:00.000-08:00

Liam Pennywell, almost 61 and former teacher aka Poppy

Millie, Liam’s deceased first wife

Barbara, Liam’s ex and second wife
Howie, (Howard Neal), Barbara’s boyfriend
Madigan, Barbara’s deceased second husband

Liam’s daughters:

Xanthe (Millie was her mother)

Louise ( Barbara is her mother)
Dougall, her husband and Jonah, their son
Deirdre, Jonah’s babysitter and “Chicken Little,” her boyfriend

Kitty (Barbara is her mother)
Damian, her boyfriend

Dr. Morrow, neurologist Liam consults and the father of Liam’s former student Buddy

Verity, Dr. Morrow’s receptionist

Mr. Ishmael Cope, owner of Cope Development

Eunice Dunstead, Mr. Cope’s rememberer and Liam’s romantic interest
Mrs. Samuel Dunstead, Eunice’s mother
Norman Simmons, Eunice’s husband

Bob Hunstler, Liam’s neighbor who called the police
Mrs. Bootsie Twill, mother of Lamont Edward Twill who attacked Liam

Bard Pennywell, Liam’s father

Esther Jo Baddingly Pennywell, the other woman who is now married to Bard

Julia Royall, Liam’s sister

Bundy, Liam’s good friend and fellow teacher

Miss Sarah, lead teacher at nursery school

Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler--Discussion Questions

2011-01-03T11:23:00.000-08:00

1. When Anne Tyler was just starting to write Noah's Compass , a journalist asked her what it was about. She replied, "I'd like to write about a man who feels he has nothing more to expect from his life; but it's anybody's guess what the real subject will turn out to be in the end." Did that turn out to be the real subject of the book?

2. What does the title mean?

3. After reading the first chapter, did you have any idea where the story would lead?

4. On page 26, Tyler writes, "The distressing thing about losing a memory, he thought, was that it felt like losing control." Why is Liam so interested in control?

5. Is this really the first memory he's lost?

6. At the top of page 49, Liam thinks about his true self, and how it seemed to have disappeared after the incident. What does Liam consider to be his "true self"? Is he right?

7. Why does Liam become so obsessed with Ishmael Cope?

8. Discuss Liam's attitude toward women. Does he treat his blood relatives differently from Barbara and Eunice? Why or why not?

9. Why does Liam's initial impression of Eunice transform into something completely different? Why does he keep their relationship a secret from his daughters?

10. What does religion represent in the novel?

11. On page 186, Eunice insists, "I'm not … devious, Liam!" What does she mean by this? Does she actually believe it?

12. What does the palm-reading scene on page 204-5 tell us about Liam? What point is Tyler making?

13. Reread Barbara's description of Liam on page 224. Is it accurate? Why or why not?

14. Ultimately, why does Liam turn Eunice away, soon after telling her, "You're the woman I love, and life is too short to go through it without you!" (page 230)?

15. When does Liam stop wishing he could remember the break-in? Why?

16. On page 243 Liam wonders, "Why was it that he had known so many sad women?" How would you answer this question?

17. What is the meaning of the Epictetus quote on page 266? What does Liam intend by reciting it?

18. Discuss the ending. Is Liam happy?

List of Books Read by Our Reading Group

2010-12-02T16:33:00.000-08:00

2008

Run by Ann Patchett

Last Empress by Anchee Min

Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg

Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

Saturday by Ian McEwan

Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

2009

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

In the Woods by Tana French

Away by Amy Bloom

Lottery by Patricia Wood

Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

The Commoner by John Schwartz

White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Color of Water by James McBride

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

2010

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo

Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

2010-12-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

1. Much of The Postmistress is centered on Frankie’s radio broadcasts --- either Frankie broadcasting them, or the other characters listening to them. How do you think the experience of listening to the news via radio in the 1940s differs from our experience of getting news from the television, the internet, or a newspaper today. Do you think there is something that the human voice conveys that the printed word cannot?

2. “Get in. Get the story. Get out.” That is Murrow’s charge to Frankie. Does The Postmistress make you question whether it’s possible to ever really get the whole story? Or to get out?

3. When Thomas is killed, Frankie imagines his parents sitting miles away, not knowing what has happened to their son and realizes there is no way for her to tell them. Today it is rare that news can’t be delivered. In this age of news 24/7, are we better off?

4. Seek Truth. Report it. Minimize Harm. That is the journalist’s code. And it haunts Frankie during the book. Why wasn’t Frankie able to deliver the letter or tell Emma about meeting Will? For someone whose job was to deliver the news, did she fail?

5. If you were Iris, would you have delivered the letter? Why or why not? Was she wrong not to deliver it? What good, if any, grew up in the gap of time Emma didn’t know the news? What was taken from Emma in not knowing immediately what happened?

6. In the funk hole, Will says that “everything adds up”, but Frankie disagrees, saying that life is a series of “random, incomprehensible accidents”. Which philosophy do you believe? Which theory does The Postmistress make a better case for?

7. After Thomas tells his story of escape, the old woman in the train compartment says “There was God looking out for you at every turn.” Thomas disagrees. “People looked out. Not God.” He adds, “There is no God. Only us.” How does THE POSTMISTRESS raise the questions of faith in wartime? How does this connect to the decisions Iris and Frankie make with regard to Emma?

8. Why do you think Maggie’s death compels Will to leave for England? 9. The novel deals with the last summer of innocence for the United States before it was drawn into WWII and before the United States was attacked. Do you see any modern-day parallels?

10. Is there a case to be made that the The Postmistress is not about the 1940’s so much as it uses the comfortable distance of that time and place in order to ask questions about war?

11. We know that Emma was orphaned, that Will’s father had drinking problems, that Iris’s brother was killed in the First War, and that Frankie grew up in a brownstone in Washington Square. How do these characters’ backgrounds shape the decisions that they make?

12. Early in the novel, Frankie reflects on the fact that most people believed that “women shouldn’t be reporting the war.” Do you think that Frankie’s gender influences her reporting? How does Frankie deal with being a female in a male-dominated field? And do you think female reporters today are under closer scrutiny because of their gender?

13. Why does Otto refuse to tell the townspeople that he’s Jewish? Do you think he’s right not to do so?

14. Why is the certificate of virginity so important to Iris? What does it tell us about her character?

15. When Frankie returns to America, she doesn’t understand and finds it impossible to grasp that people are calmly going about their lives while war rages in Europe. What part does complacency play in The Postmistress? 16. Discuss the significance of the Martha Gellhorn quote at the beginning of the book, “War happens to people, one by one. That is really all I have to say, and it seems to me I have been saying it forever.” What stance towards war, and of telling a war story does this reveal?

Characters from The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

2010-12-02T15:58:00.000-08:00

Main Characters

Frances (Frankie) Bard, girl reporter

Iris James, Postmistress in Franklin, Mass.

Others in Franklin, Mass.

Harry Vale, owner of Harry’s garage and a watcher for German subs
Mr. Flores, bus driver
Dr. Will Fitch, local physician
Emma Fitch, Will’s bride
Otto Schelling, an Austrian—everyone assumes he’s German
Marta, Otto’s wife somewhere in Europe
Florence Cripps, owner of the biggest B & B in town
Johnny Cripps, Florence’s son
Marnie and Frank Niles, other locals
Maggie and Jim Tom Winthrop and four little boys (Maggie dies in childbirth with Dr. Fitch in attendance)
Manny Alvarez’s cousin, a fisherman, and his little son who wears Will’s old overalls

In London

Edward R. Murrow, Frankie’s boss
Harriet Mendelsohn, Frankie’s roommate and fellow journalist
Jim Dowell (Harriet’s “friend”) and Dusty Parkhurst, London reporters
Billy, six year old neighbor of Frankie’s (his mother is killed in the Blitz)
Mrs. Phillips, Dr. Fitch’s landlady

Others

Numerous refugees recorded on disc by Frankie including Thomas Kleinmann, who saved Frankie from being shot only to die himself

Max Preston, Frankie’s boss at the New York Tribune

Jim Holland, journalist in Europe

Martha Gellhorn, a famous WWII reporter who tells the girls at Smith College to “Pay Attention”

Questions on Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

2010-11-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

1. Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali have known one another for a time. What is it about this one moment, when he opens the door to her at the story's onset that makes him fall in love with her? What importance does romantic love have in this story?

2. How would you describe Major Pettigrew? In what way do we see him as "typically English"?

3. Reading and love of books play a defining role in how we are to perceive characters in this book. Talk about the differences in reading habits among Roger, Mrs. Ali, and Mr. Pettigrew.

4. How does Helen Simonson portray Americans in this novel? Is it a fair depiction...or over-drawn?

5. How are outsiders treated in this village...and who are considered outsiders?

6. Do the villagers and the Major himself think they are racist towards the Pakistani community? What about the ladies of the golf club?

7. Do the Pakistani characters experience their treatment by the British characters as racism?

8. Talk about some of the book's humorous plot ingredients: the gun squabble, the aristocrat who loves to hunt, the golf club and its costume party tradition.

9. The Major struggles to find footing in his relationship with his adult son, Roger. Discuss the trickiness of being a parent to an adult child, and alternatively, an adult child to an aging parent. How does the generation gap come to impact the relationship?

10. A crucial theme of the book is that of obligation. What are the differences between the Pettigrews’ familial expectations and those of the Alis’?

11. What do the Major’s Churchill guns represent?

12. How does Amina change through the course of the story? How does Abdul Rahid change?

Questions taken from Novelist, Reading Group Choices, and LitLovers

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson--Characters

2010-11-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

Major Ernest Pettigrew
Nancy, Major’s deceased wife
Roger, their son
Sandy Dunn, Roger’s fiancée
Bertie, Major’s deceased brother
Marjorie, Bertie’s wife
Jemima, their daughter and Anthony, her husband
Gregory, Jemima’s son

Mrs. Jasmina Ali, local shopkeeper and the Major’s love interest
Ahmed, her deceased husband
Abdul Wahid, their nephew
Amina, Abdul Wahid’s ex-girlfriend and mother of George

Ladies of the village

Alice Pierce, Major’s next door neighbor, protestor, and friend to Mrs. Ali
Daisy Green, leader of the group and the Vicar’s wife (Vicar is Father Christopher)
Alma Shaw, married to Alec, the Major’s good friend
Grace DeVere, single
Gertrude, Lord Dagenham’s niece
Solicitors Tewkesbury and Teale—now just Mortimer Teale who married Tewkesbury daughter, Elizabeth
Dame Eunice, a ewe on the 13th hole at the golf course

Old Mr. Percy, likes young women
Lord Dagenham, the lord of the village
Frank Ferguson, a rich American from N.J.
Sterling, Frank Ferguson’s assistant
Hugh Whetstone, another club member

Major Preston, Major Pettigrew’s former commanding officer now in a nursing home and his wife, Helena

Mrs. Augerspier, owner of cottage that Sandy and Roger want to buy

Mr. and Mrs. Rasool, owners of the Taj Mahal restaurant and their parents aka Mr. and Mrs. Rasool

Saadia Khan, decorator, wife of Dr. Khan and acquaintance of Mrs. Ali
Noreen, Amina’s aunt and sometime fellow worker
Thomas, the little boy who keeps screaming about the ducks
Matron

Morris the gamekeeper
Norman Smithers (Crazy Norm) who is Roger’s boss

Mr. and Mrs. Jakes, occupants of table six at the club (he does weed control)
George Tobin, had been banned from the club

Dawid (Dave) Ali, Jasmina Ali’s brother- in- law and father of Abdul Wahid
Sheena, Dave’s granddaughter?
Mummi, Dave’s mother

Characters from Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

2010-10-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

Julia Jarmond, journalist
Bertrand, her husband
Zoe, her daughter

Mame, Bertrand’s grandmother aka Madame Tezac
Andre, Mame’s late husband
Edouard, Bertrand’s father
Colette, Bertrand’s mother
Cecile and Laure, Bertrand’s sisters
Amelie, Bertrand’s girlfriend

Charla, Julia’s sister
Ben, Charla’s ex-husband and Barry, her current husband

Cooper and Alex, Charla’s kids and Zoe’s cousins
Heather and Sean Jarmond, Julia’s parents

Evan Frost, the boy next door

Isabelle, Julia’s close friend in Paris
Herve and Christopher, other close friends
Guillaume, friend of Herve and Christopher

Joshua, Julia's boss
Bamber, Julia's coworker and photographer
Allesandra, features editor

Neil, Julia’s New York boyfriend

Sarah Starzynski, aka Sirka
Michel, her 4 year old brother
Wladyslaw and Rywka, Sarah's parents

Rachel tries to escape from camp with Sarah
Jules and Genevieve Dufaure hide Sarah
Alan and Henriette, son and daughter-in-law of the Dufaures
Gaspard and Nicholas, the grandsons of Jules and Genevieve
Nathalie, granddaughter of Gaspard

Richard J. Rainsferd, Sarah’s husband
Mara, Mr. Rainsferd’s second wife
Ornella Harris, Mara’s daughter

William Rainsferd, Sarah and Richard’s son

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay--Discussion Questions

2010-10-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

1. How are you affected by the two alternating stories — that of Sarah's in the past, and Julia's in the present?

2. Which “voice” did you prefer: Sarah’s or Julia’s? Is one more authentic than the other? If you could meet either of the two characters, which one would you choose?

3. How does the apartment on la rue de Saintonge unite the past and present action --- and all the characters --- in Sarah’s Key?

4. Why are Bertrand and his family hostile to Julia when she learns about the former occupants of the Marais apartment?

5. de Rosnay’s novel is built around several “key” secrets which Julia will unearth. For example, what is the secret about Sarah that Edouard has kept from his family? Discuss some of the other secrets.

6. Is Julia's desire to find Sarah and somehow rectify old wrongs believable?

7. Was William Rainsferd's reaction to Julia's information surprising?

8. 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?

9. Were there early clues to forecast Sarah's decision to hide her identity? What will likely happen between Julia and William?

10. 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 discovery allows William Rainsferd finally to conclude that his mother's death was a suicide?

11. 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?

12. 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?

13. 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?

14. What are the major themes of Sarah’s Key?

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford--Questions and Characters

2010-09-07T10:51:00.000-07:00

1. Father-son relationships are a crucial theme in the novel. For example, how is the relationship between Henry and his father different from that between Henry and Marty? What accounts for the differences?

2. Why doesn't Henry's father want him to speak Cantonese at home? How does this square with his desire to send Henry back to China for school? Isn't he sending his son a mixed message?

3. If you were Henry, would you be able to forgive your father? Does Henry's father deserve forgiveness?

4. From the beginning of the novel, Henry wears the "I am Chinese" button given to him by his father. What is the significance of this button and its message, and how has Henry's understanding of that message changed by the end of the novel?

5. Why does Henry provide an inaccurate translation when he serves as the go-between in the business negotiations between his father and Mr. Preston? Is he wrong to betray his father's trust in this way?

6. The US has been called a nation of immigrants. In what ways do the families of Keiko and Henry illustrate different aspects of the American immigrant experience?

7. What is the bond between Henry and Sheldon, and how is it strengthened by jazz music?

8. Henry's mother comes from a culture in which wives are subservient to their husbands. Given this background, do you think she could have done more to help Henry in his struggles against his father? Is her loyalty to her husband a betrayal of her son?

9. Compare Marty's relationship with Samantha to Henry's relationship with Keiko. What other examples can you find in the novel of love that is forbidden or that crosses boundaries of one kind or another?

10.. Does Henry give up on Keiko too easily? What else could he have done to find her?

11. What about Keiko? Why didn't she make more of an effort to see Henry once she was released from the camp?

12. Do you think Ethel might have known what was happening with Henry's letters?

13. The novel ends with Henry and Keiko meeting again after more than forty years. Jump ahead a year and imagine what has happened to them in that time. Is there any evidence in the novel for this outcome?

14. What sacrifices do the characters in the novel make in pursuit of their dreams for themselves and for others? Consider the sacrifices Mr. Okabe makes, for example, and those of Mr. Lee. Both fathers are acting for the sake of their children, yet the results are quite different. Why?

15. Was the US government right or wrong to "relocate" Japanese-Americans and other citizens and residents who had emigrated from countries the US was fighting in WWII? Was some kind of action necessary following Pearl Harbor? Could the government have done more to safeguard civil rights while protecting national security?

16. Should the men and women of Japanese ancestry rounded up by the US during the war have protested more actively against the loss of their property and liberty? Remember that most were eager to demonstrate their loyalty to the US.

Copyright 2009, JamieFord.com. All rights reserved.

Characters

Henry Lee and Family
Ethel, his wife
Marty, his son
Samantha, Marty’s fiancée
Henry’s mother and father
Auntie King and husband Herb

Sheldon, Henry’s jazz musician friend (plays the sax)
Oscar Holden, famous jazzman who plays piano at Black Elks Club
Bud, owns Bud’s Jazz Records

Chaz Preston, elementary school bully
Denny Brown, Will Whitworth and Carl Parks, three other bullies
Charles Preston, Chaz’s father

Keiko Okabe, Henry’s friend (later known as Kay Hatsune)
Mr. and Mrs. Okabe, Keiko’s parents
Keiko’s brother

Mrs. Beatty, Rainier Cafeteria Supervisor

Palmyra Pettison, new owner of Panama Hotel

Upcoming Books

Chinn Chats meets on Mondays once a month, usually the second Monday of the month at 1:00 p.m.

October 18 (third Monday of the month) Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

November 8 Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

December 13 The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

OR

Noah’s Compass by Ann Tyler

Physick Book of Deliverance Dane --Characters

2010-08-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

1681 and Later

Peter Petford
Martha, his daughter
Jonas Oliver, Peter’s neighbor and magistrate
Major Samuel Appleton, Esq. and judge
Lt. Davenport, jury foreman
Other Jurors and a clerk

Deliverance Dane, (Livy), suing Peter Petford for slander
Nathaniel, Deliverance’s husband
Mercy (aka Marcy) Dane Lamson, their daughter
Jedediah Lamson, Mercy’s husband
Prudence Bartlett, Mercy’s daughter
Josiah Bartlett, Prudence’s husband

Samuel Parris, Salem minister
Betty, his daughter who is ill or “bewitched”
Abigail Williams, his servant who is bewitched
Tituba, Rev. Parris’ slave, confesses to being a witch
Dr. Griggs, couldn’t figure out what was wrong with Betty

Sarah Bartlett, comes to ask Deliverance for physick
Mr. Saltonstall, Salem attorney
Robert Hooper, gentleman who purchases Deliverance’s receipt book (almanack) from Prudence
The girls say their tormentors were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, & Tituba

Imprisoned:
Dorcas Good, 4 year old
Sarah Good, her mother
Goody Osborne
Deliverance Dane
Others

Bridget Bishop, was hanged as a witch
Goody Josephs, takes Deliverance to examine her at Goody Hubbard’s house before trial
William Stoughton, Lieutenant Governor
Ann Putnam, one of the accusers
Judges

Hung as Witches: Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, Sarah Wildes, Elizabeth Howe, and Deliverance Dane

1991

Connie (Constance) Goodwin, doctoral candidate in colonial history
Manning Chilton, her prestigious advisor
Thomas, Connie’s thesis student
Liz Dowers, Connie’s roommate
Professors on Connie’s committee: Larry Smith, Harold Beaumont, and Janine Silva
Arlo, Connie’s dog
Grace Goodwin, Connie’s mother who lives in New Mexico
Leonard Jacobs, “Leo,” Connie’s deceased father
Granna, Sophia, Grace’s deceased mother and Connie’s grandmother
Lemuel, Granna’s husband
Samuel Hartley, “Sam,” a steeplejack who becomes Connie’s boyfriend
Policemen
Pagan woman at Lilith’s Garden Store
Laura Plummer, librarian at Salem Athenaeum
Mr. Beeton, curator at Sackett’s Auction House
Junius Lawrence, man who bought Salem Athenaeum collection in 1877
Linda and Michael Hartley, Sam’s parents

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe--Discussion Questions

2010-08-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

1. The story follows several sets of mothers and daughters: Connie and Grace, Grace and Sophia, Deliverance and Mercy, Mercy and Prudence. How are these mother/daughter relationships different? How are they the same? Did you identify with one set more than the others?

2. Many of the characters in the book, like Manning Chilton and Prudence Bartlett, are heavily constrained by their social class. How are characters in the novel constrained or defined by their social position? Do the twentieth-century characters have more freedom than the seventeenth and eighteenth century characters, or less?

3. Most of the main characters in Physick Book are women. How have women's roles changed from the seventeenth century to the twentieth century? What about their obligations? Their opportunities?

4. Connie is a historian, who likes to interpret the past in light of the present. Sam, however, is a preservationist: he likes to keep the past intact, at the expense of the present. Do you see a difference between Connie's and Sam's feelings about the past?

5. How do some of the buildings, like Saltonstall Court, the Harvard Faculty Club, and the Milk Street house, function as de facto characters in the story?

6. Discuss the role of Arlo in the novel. Do you think Arlo exists? Can he exist without Connie? What does Arlo imply about relationships in general?

7. What role does religion play in Physick Book? Is Christianity contradictory or complementary to magic in this story?

8. Do you think magic, as represented in this book, exists in the real world? If so, how do you think it manifests itself?

9. Some characters in Physick Book, like Connie, have their ambition rewarded, but others, like Manning Chilton, are thwarted. Is ambition a virtue, or a vice?

10. Deliverance has a chance to escape with her daughter the night before she is set to be put to death. Why does she make the choice that she makes?

11. Near the end of the story, we learn that having the talent for witchcraft comes at a pretty steep price. Would you like to be a witch, as represented in Physick Book? Why or why not?

12. Physick Book is the latest entry in a long bibliography of writing about witchcraft at Salem. Why do you think we are still so enthralled by this moment in history? What does Salem have to teach us about our culture today?

13. Historians differ on what precisely caused the Salem witch panic to grow so disproportionately relative to other colonial-era witch trials. Some blame infighting between a rural town and its bustling seaport; some point to the violence of the Indian wars along the Maine frontier; some even blame the hallucinatory effects of moldy rye. What do you think was the ultimate cause of the Salem panic?
© 2009 VOICE
everywomansvoice.com

More Discussion Questions

I:/Reference/Book Club/Physick Book/Physick Book Discussion Questions.doc/5-10-10/Jane Easterly
(Some questions taken from http://katherinehowe.com/readers/)

1. Did you like the book? Why or why not?

2. Did you find the characters believable? Which of the characters did you like the most? Which did you dislike?

3. Did you find the dialog in the story realistic?

4. What did you think of the plot line development? How credible did the author make the plot? Did the plot take turns you did not expect, or did you find it predictable?

5. In the chapters set in the past, did the author convey the era well? Did it feel like the author did her homework?

6. Any comments about the way the book ended?

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout--Questions

2010-07-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

1. In “ Pharmacy,” why does Henry K. care so much for Denise? How does Olive feel about Denise? Why does Henry encourage Denise to marry Jerry?

2. How does Kevin (in “Incoming Tide”) typify a child craving his father’s approval? Are his behaviors and mannerisms in any way like those of Christopher Kitteridge? How does Olive’s discussion with Kevin show another side of Olive? Comment on the ending.

3. Why is Angie so rattled when Simon shows up at the Warehouse Bar and Grill (in “The Piano Player”). Is Angie any better off at the end of this story than at the beginning?

4. In “A Little Burst,” why do you think Olive is so keen on having a positive relationship with Suzanne, whom she obviously dislikes?

5. Does it seem fitting to you that Olive would not respond while others ridiculed her body and her choice of clothing at Christopher and Suzanne’s wedding?

6. Why do you think Olive took some of Suzanne’s possessions?

7. Why does Nina elicit such a strong reaction from Olive in “Starving”? What does Olive notice that moves her to tears in public?

8. What does Olive mean when she says, “We are all starving.”

9. Why did witnessing this scene turn Harmon away from Bonnie?

10. In “A Different Road,” Strout writes about Olive and Henry: “No, they would never get over that night because they had said things that altered how they saw each other” (p. 124). What is it that Olive and Henry say to each other while being held hostage in the hospital bathroom that has this effect?

11. Who was more successful dealing with Blue-Mask, Henry or Olive?

12. In “Winter Concert,” how is the Houlton’s relationship affected by their encounter with the Lydias (Alan and Donna Granger)?

13. In “Tulips” and in “Basket of Trips,” Olive visits people in difficult circumstances (Henry in the convalescent home, and Marlene Bonney at her husband’s funeral) in hopes that “in the presence of someone else’s sorrow, a tiny crack of light would somehow come through her own dark encasement” (p. 172). In what ways do the tragedies of others shine light on Olive’s trials with Christopher’s departure and Henry’s illness?

14. In “Ship in a Bottle,” Julie is jilted by her fiancé, Bruce, on her wedding day.. When talking to her younger sister Winnie, Julie quotes Olive Kitteridge as having told her seventh-grade class, “Don’t be scared of your hunger. If you’re scared of your hunger, you’ll just be one more ninny like everyone else” (p. 195). What is Julie’s point in bringing this up, and how does it apply to Julie and Olive?

15. In “Security,” do you get the impression that Olive likes Ann, Christopher’s new wife? Why does she excuse Ann’s smoking and drinking while pregnant with Christopher’s first child)? Why does she seem so accepting initially, and what makes her less so as the story goes on?

16. Was Christopher justified in his fight with Olive in “Security”? Did he kick her out, or did she voluntarily leave? Do you think he and Ann are cruel to Olive?

17. Do you think Olive is really oblivious to how others see her– especially Christopher? Do you think she found Christopher’s accusations in “Security” shocking or just unexpected?

18. What’s happened to Rebecca at the end of “Criminal”? Where do you think she goes, and why do you think she feels compelled to go? Do you think she’s satisfied with her life with David? What do you think are the reasons she can’t hold down a job?

19. What elements of Olive’s personality are revealed in her relationship with Jack Kennison in “River”? How does their interaction reflect changes in her perspective on her son? On the way she treated Henry? On the way she sees the world?

20. Do you like Olive as a person?

21. Why does Henry tolerate Olive as much as he does, catering to her, agreeing with her, staying even-keeled when she rants and raves?

22. How would you say Olive changed as a person during the course of the book?

Characters from Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

2010-07-07T09:43:00.000-07:00

Olive Kitteridge, main character who appears throughout the stories

Henry, Olive’s husband

Christopher, their son

Pharmacy

Henry K.

Mrs. Granger, previous pharmacy employee

Denise Thibodeaux, Henry’s latest employee, a mousy girl

Henry Thibodeaux, Denise’s husband

Jim O’Casey, a teacher who drives Olive and Christopher to school and is later killed in a traffic accident

Tony Kuzio, Henry T.’s best friend and killer

Slippers, Denise’s kitten

Jerry McCarthy, 18 year old pharmaceutical delivery guy who later marries Denise

Incoming Tide

Kevin Coulson, a physician and previous resident, one of Olive’s students

Patty Howe, nee Crane, a waitress who Kevin knew

Dr. Murray Goldstein, Kevin’s mentor when K was studying to be a psychiatrist

Clara Pilkington, Kevin’s ex-girlfriend, somewhat demented

Olive, of course

The Piano Player

Angela O’Meara, plays the piano at the Warehouse Bar and Grill

Malcolm Moody, her paramour

Joe, the bartender and Betty, the waitress

Walter Dalton, a bar regular

Simon, once a piano player at the bar and ex-boyfriend of Angie’s

Angie’s mother

A Little Burst (The Wedding)

Christopher Kitteridge, podiatrist

Suzanne Bernstein (Dr. Sue), his first wife

Olive and her dress

Starving

Harmon, ran hardware store

Bonnie, Harmon’s wife and mother of their four sons

Daisy Foster, widow and “friend” of Harmon’s (her deceased husband was Copper)

Kevin, one of their sons

Cliff Mott, a hardware store regular

Timothy Burnham, young man from New Hampshire who is the cousin of a local

Nina White, his girlfriend with anorexia

Victoria, friend who runs off with Tim

Muffin Luke, had put Nina on probation in the hospital for cutting her muffin

Olive—“We’re all starving.”

A Different Road

Cynthia Bibber, a friend

Andrea, her daughter and social worker

Bill and Bunny Newton, good friends of the Kitteridges

Karen Newton, their daughter, had an affair, and they don’t like her husband, Eddie

Hospital: the nurse, the doctor, and the robbers, Blue-Mask and Pig-Face

Winter Concert

Jane and Bob Houlton, looking at Christmas decorations on the way to a concert
Jane was school nurse at Olive’s school

The Lydias (really Alan and Donna Granger), bad parents of Lydia and Patty

Tulips

Roger and Louise Larkin, hide out in their house because their son murdered a girl
Louise, was a guidance counselor at Olive’s school and “a little off”

Mary Blackwell, an x-ray technician who said Louise had been to a mental hospital in Boston

Doyle Larkin, the son and murderer

Basket of Trips

Marlene Bonney, the grocer’s widow

Molly Collins, a friend

Eddie Jr., Marlene’s son

Lee Ann and Cheryl, Marlene’s daughters

Kerry Monroe, Marlene’s drunken cousin

Ship in a Bottle

Anita Harwood, best looking mother around, but she “talks crazy”

Jim Harwood, her janitor husband who’s working on a boat in his spare time

Julie, the older daughter who is supposed to marry Bruce

Winnie, the younger sister

Uncle Kyle, a doctor

Security

Ann, Christopher’s pregnant second wife—they live in N.Y.

Theodore, Ann’s preschooler and Annabelle, her baby

Sean O’Casey, their “Christian” neighbor and his parrot

Olive comes to help out

Arthur, Christopher’s therapist

Aunt Ora, Olive’s old aunt

Criminal

Rebecca Brown

David, her current boyfriend

Jace, her old boyfriend

Aunt Katherine, Rebecca’s aunt

Charlotte Brown nee Caskey, Rebecca’s mother

River

Jack Kennison, widower who befriends Olive

Bunny, good friend of Olive’s

Olive

Christopher and Olive’s little grandson

Half Broke Horses Questions for Discussion

2010-06-07T09:27:00.000-07:00

1. Jeannette Walls has said that she tried writing this book in the third person but that it didn’t work for her. Do you think you are closer to Lily because you get her story in her own voice? Did you “see” Lily Casey Smith as real?

2. When Lily’s father dies, she and Rosemary drive his body from Tucson back to the ranch in West Texas. Rosemary is embarrassed to be seen driving with a corpse and ducks down in the car when they stop at a red light (pg. 198). “Life’s too short, honey,” Lily tells Rosemary, “to worry what other people think of you.” What does Lily’s reaction to this behavior show about her character? Does she give much credence to what other people think of her? What effect do you think her mother’s attitude had on Rosemary?

3. Following Helen’s suicide, Lily says, “When people kill themselves, they think they’re ending the pain, but all they're doing is passing it on to those they leave behind” (pg. 113). Do you agree with this statement?

4. Lily seems willing to sacrifice everything to defend her principles and the rights of others. On more than one occasion, she is fired from a teaching position for refusing to back down from what she believes in. Do you applaud Lily’s moral conviction in these instances? Or did you hope that Lily would learn to compromise?

5. Lily has high expectations for her children, from sending them off to boarding school despite their protests to enforcing strict rules for keeping animals as pets. When Rosemary falls in love with a wild horse and asks her mother if she can keep it, Lily replies, “The last thing we need around here is another half-broke horse” (pg. 190). How might this statement apply to Lily’s children as well? Are Lily’s expectations of her children particularly high or rather a reflection of the times? Why do you think this phrase was chosen as the title of the book?

6. When a group of Brooklyn ladies visits the ranch, Rosemary and Lily take them for a car ride they’ll never forget. Lily concludes their encounter by saying, “You ride, you got to know how to fall, and you drive, you got to know how to crash” (pg. 175). How does this statement apply to Lily’s life as a whole?

7. Discuss Lily’s husband Jim. How does his personality complement her strong nature?

8. While attempting to prevent the ranch from flooding, Lily tells Rosemary, “Do the best you can...That's all anyone can do.” Her instructions are echoed by Jim's declaration: “We did a good job—good as we could” (pg. 152). Why do you think Lily and Jim have both adopted this philosophy? To which other instances in their lives are they likely to have applied this rationale?

9. Lily comes off as tough and resilient, but there are moments in this book of vast heartbreak, where you see her façade crack. How does the author handle the death of Lily’s friend in Chicago? Her first husband’s duplicity? Her sister’s suicide? Her suspicions of her husband Jim?

10. Walls calls Half Broke Horses a “true life novel.” In her author’s note, she explains why. Do you agree with this label? What do you think of the “true life” genre?

11. “Helen’s beauty, as far as I was concerned, had been a curse, and I resolved that I would never tell Rosemary she was beautiful” (pg. 119). Examine Lily’s relationship with her daughter Rosemary. How does Lily try to compensate for the actions of her mother?

Characters from Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

2010-06-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

Lily Casey Smith

Buster, her brother

Helen, her sister

Daisy, Lily’s mother

Adam Casey, Lily’s dad

Robert Casey, Dad’s pa

Apache, ranch hand

Lupe, household helper

Mr. Clutterbuck, buys and sells eggs

Mother Albertina, mother superior at girl’s school Lily attends

Zachary Clemens and his wife and his daughter, Dorothy—hired help

Old Man Pucket,, shot the Great Danes

Patches, Lily’s horse

Priscilla Loosefoot, Navajo woman who goes through Lily’s saddlebags

Mr. MacIntosh, school superintendent at Red Lake

Minnie Hanagan, Lily’s friend in Chicago

Ted Conover, Lily’s “husband” in Chicago

Margaret, Ted’s real wife

Rooster, Lily’s friend in Red Lake

Jim Smith, Lily’s husband

Lot Smith, Jim Smith’s father who had 8 wives and 52 kids

Father Cavanaugh, priest in Red Lake

Granny Combs, the midwife who delivered Rosemary

Rosemary, Lily and Jim’s daughter

Little Jim, Lily and Jim’s son

Mr. Lee, Chinese neighbor and bootlegger

Camel Brothers, sheep owners who got Lily and Jim a place running a ranch

Mei-Mei, Rosemary’s lamb

Old Jake, helper at new ranch

Poms, Englishmen who own the Arizona Inc. Ranch

Uncle Eli, Mormon elder and no fan of Lily’s

Deputy Johnson, father of Johnny Johnson (Lily’s classroom nemesis)

Mrs. Hutter, Lily’s friend who sews, cooks, and has lady visitors from Brooklyn

Socks and Blaze, two of the Smith’s horses

Fidel Hanna, Havasu cowhand who’s sweet on Rosemary

Clarice Pearl and Marion Finch investigate living conditions of Havasu kids

Suit, the Poms’ lawyer; Gaiters, movie director who wants to buy ranch; Boots, a rodeo cowboy who ends up running the ranch (called Show Time)

Ernestine, Rosemary’s art teacher

Rex Walls, “The Flyboy,” who marries Rosemary

Gus, an old Air Force friend of Rex

Diane, Little Jim’s wife

Jeannette, Rosemary’s third girl, writer of this book

Discussion Questions for That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo

2010-05-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

1. What does Jack Griffin want?

2. In reference to his parents' ongoing but fruitless search for a Cape Cod beach house, Griffin muses, “Perhaps . . . just looking was sufficient in and of itself” (page 9). Is looking enough? Which characters prove or disprove this point of view?

3. One page 16, Griffin points out to his mother that she and his father used to sing “That Old Cape Magic” on the Sagamore Bridge, “as if happiness were a place.” Is it possible for happiness to be a place? Can a place save a relationship?

4. Griffin poses a question to himself: “Why was he more resentful of Harve and Jill, who really wanted to understand how he made his living, than his own parents, who had never, to his knowledge, seen a single film he had anything to do with” (page 49)? Griffin doesn't admit to an answer, but what do you think the answer is?

5. In “The Summer of the Brownings,” young Griffin refuses to spend his last night on the Cape with Peter, even though the decision only serves to hurt everyone. Can you point to other incidents in which Griffin exercises his perverse desire to hurt himself and others?

6. Why is Griffin so apprehensive of commitment? What is he afraid of losing?

7. Griffin notes that “his wife's natural inclination was toward contentment” (page 105). What is Griffin's natural inclination?

8. Is Griffin afraid of being happy? Is being the happy the same as “settling”?

9. How has Griffin's cynicism caused him to misinterpret the intentions of those around him?

10. Why does it take so long for Griffin to dispose of his parents' remains?

11. Why does Griffin feel the need to carry on internal conversations with his mother?

12. How does Griffin's relationship with his parents lead to the dissolution of his marriage to Joy?
13. Why does Griffin insist on staying in L.A., away from Joy?

14. Griffin uneasily considers the parallels between Joy's attachment to himself and Tommy and Laura's attachment to Andy and Sunny. How do these similar triangles play out?

15. This book dances around the concept of responsibility: filial responsibility, marital responsibility, and personal responsibility, to name a few. What do Russo's characters feel about responsibility?(Questions issued by publisher.)

Photo from Chris Seufert's photostream on flickr.

Characters in That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo

2010-05-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

Jack Griffin, former screenwriter and college professor

Joy Griffin, Jack’s wife and admissions dean

Laura, their daughter

Andy, Laura’s husband

Joy’s Family

Parents: Harve and Jill ( Dot, Harve’s second wife)
Sisters Jane and June Twin brothers, Jared and Jason

Griffin’s Family

His Mother and His Father, both English professors
Bartleby, Mother’s second husband
Claudia, Father’s second wife

Tommy, Griffin’s screenwriting partner in LA
Elaine, Tommy’s ex-wife
Sid, Griffin’s former agent, now deceased

The Brownings—mother, father, little girl and son, Peter

Sunny Kim, Laura’s friend who’s had a crush on her since middle school
Kelsey Apple, Laura’s best friend in middle school in LA (had a boyfriend Robbie)
Jonathan, Laura’s high school boyfriend

Marguerite and Henry, previously married couple who attend Kelsey’s wedding and befriend Griffin (Marguerite later becomes Griffin’s girlfriend)

Brian Fynch, Dean of Admissions, Joy’s boss and friend

Tony Loveli, driver of other car in parking lot accident with Griffin

Books Discussed at Chinn Chats through April 2010

2010-04-19T07:36:00.000-07:00

Run by Ann Patchett
Last Empress by Anchee Min
Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg
Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Saturday by Ian McEwan
Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
In the Woods by Tana French
Away by Amy Bloom
Lottery by Patricia Wood
Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
The Commoner by John Schwartz
White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Color of Water by James McBride
Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

2010-03-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

We're scheduled to discuss A Reliable Wife

on Monday, April 12 at 1:00 p.m.

The discussion questions and character list are in the blog's

January listings.

Click on January in the lower

right hand screen to find the information.

Still Alice--Discussion Questions-- by Lisa Genova

2010-03-01T14:20:00.000-08:00

1. When Alice becomes disoriented in Harvard Square, a place she's visited daily for twenty-five years, why doesn't she tell John? Is she too afraid to face a possible illness, worried about his possible reaction, or some other reason?

2. After first learning she has Alzheimer's disease, "the sound of her name penetrated her every cell and seemed to scatter her molecules beyond the boundaries of her own skin. She watched herself from the far corner of the room" (pg. 70). What do you think of Alice's reaction to the diagnosis? Why does she disassociate herself to the extent that she feels she's having an out-of-body experience?

3. Do you find irony in the fact that Alice, a Harvard professor and researcher, suffers from a disease that causes her brain to atrophy? Why do you think the author, Lisa Genova, chose this profession? How does her past academic success affect Alice's ability, and her family's, to cope with Alzheimer's?

4. "He refused to watch her take her medication. He could be mid-sentence, mid-conversation, but if she got out her plastic, days-of-the-week pill container, he left the room" (pg. 89). Is John's reaction understandable? What might be the significance of him frequently fiddling with his wedding ring when Alice's health is discussed?

5. When Alice's three children, Anna, Tom and Lydia, find out they can be tested for the genetic mutation that causes Alzheimer's, only Lydia decides she doesn't want to know. Why does she decline? Would you want to know if you had the gene?

6. Why is her mother's butterfly necklace so important to Alice? Is it only because she misses her mother? Does Alice feel a connection to butterflies beyond the necklace?

7. Alice decides she wants to spend her remaining time with her family and her books. Considering her devotion and passion for her work, why doesn't her research make the list of priorities? Does Alice most identify herself as a mother, wife, or scholar?

8. Were you surprised at Alice's plan to overdose on sleeping pills once her disease progressed to an advanced stage? Is this decision in character? Why does she make this difficult choice? If they found out, would her family approve?

9. As the symptoms worsen, Alice begins to feel like she's living in one of Lydia's plays: "(Interior of Doctor's Office. The neurologist left the room. The husband spun his ring. The woman hoped for a cure.)" (pg. 141). Is this thought process a sign of the disease, or does pretending it's not happening to her make it easier for Alice to deal with reality?

10. Do Alice's relationships with her children differ? Why does she read Lydia's diary? And does Lydia decide to attend college only to honor her mother?

11. Alice's mother and sister died when she was only a freshman in college, and yet Alice has to keep reminding herself they're not about to walk through the door. As the symptoms worsen, why does Alice think more about her mother and sister? Is it because her older memories are more accessible, is she thinking of happier times, or is she worried about her own mortality?

12. Alice and the members of her support group, Mary, Cathy, and Dan, all discuss how their reputations suffered prior to their diagnoses because people thought they were being difficult or possibly had substance abuse problems. Is preserving their legacies one of the biggest obstacles to people suffering from Alzheimer's disease? What examples are there of people still respecting Alice's wishes, and at what times is she ignored?

13. "One last sabbatical year together. She wouldn't trade that in for anything. Apparently, he would" (pg. 223). Why does John decide to keep working? Is it fair for him to seek the job in New York considering Alice probably won't know her whereabouts by the time they move? Is he correct when he tells the children she would not want him to sacrifice his work?

14. Why does Lisa Genova choose to end the novel with John reading that Amylix, the medicine that Alice was taking, failed to stabilize Alzheimer's patients? Why does this news cause John to cry?

15. Alice's doctor tells her, "You may not be the most reliable source of what's been going on" (pg. 54). Yet, Lisa Genova chose to tell the story from Alice's point of view. As Alice's disease worsens, her perceptions indeed get less reliable. Why would the author choose to stay in Alice's perspective? What do we gain, and what do we lose?

Characters in Still Alice by Lisa Genova

2010-03-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

Dr. Alice Howland, Harvard professor of cognitive psychology
Dr. John Howland, Alice’s husband and science professor
Tom, their son and medical student
Anna, their daughter, an attorney
Charlie, Anna’s husband
Charlie and Anna have twin babies, Allison Anne and Charles Thomas
Lydia, their younger daughter and actress
Malcolm, Lydia’s boyfriend
Anne, name of Alice’s deceased sister

Eric Wellman, head of psychology dept. at Harvard
Marjorie, his wife
Dan, Alice’s fourth year grad student
Beth, Dan’s new wife
Marty, prof who takes over Alice’s teaching responsibilities

Bob and Sarah, friends of John and Alice

Dr. Tamara Moyer, Alice’s primary care doctor
Dr. Davis, Alice’s doctor at the Memory Disorders Unit
Denise Daddario, social worker at MDU
Stephanie Aaron, genetic counselor at MDU

Evelyn, resident with Alzheimer’s at nursing home Alice visits
Lauren, Alice’s neighbor (Alice is in her kitchen by mistake)

Alice’s support group: Mary (57), Cathy (48), and Dan (53)

Christina, 5 year old friend of Alice’s that she dreams about

Reliable Wife Postponed

2010-02-18T11:31:00.000-08:00

Our Feb. 8 discussion of Reliable Wife was snowed out! We have rescheduled it for April 12.

On March 8, we're slated to discuss Still Alice by Lisa Genova.

Coming February 8, A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

2010-02-01T12:03:00.000-08:00

Chinn Chats meets on Mondays once a month,

usually the second Monday of the month at 1:00 p.m.

February 8 A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

March 8 Still Alice by Lisa Genova

April 12 That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo

May 10 Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Discussion Questions for A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

2010-01-28T13:41:00.000-08:00

1. The novel’s setting and strong sense of place seem to echo its mood
and themes. What role does the wintry Wisconsin landscape play? And
the very different, opulent setting of St. Louis?

2. Ralph and Catherine’s story frequently pauses to give brief, often horrific
glimpses into the lives of others. Ralph remarks on the violence
that surrounds them in Wisconsin, saying, “They hate their lives. They
start to hate each other. They lose their minds, wanting things they
can’t have” (page 205). How do these vignettes of madness and violence
contribute to the novel’s themes?

3. Catherine imagines herself as an actress playing a series of roles, the one
of Ralph’s wife being the starring role of a lifetime. Where in the novel
might you see a glimpse of the real Catherine Land? Do you feel that you
ever get to know this woman, or is she always hidden behind a facade?

4. The encounter between Catherine and her sister, Alice, is one of the pivotal
moments of the novel. How do you view these two women after reading
the story of their origins? Why do the two sisters wind up on such different
paths? Why does Catherine ultimately lose hope in Alice’s redemption?

5. The idea of escape runs throughout the novel. Ralph thinks, “Some
things you escape . . . You don’t escape the things, mostly bad, that just
happen to you” (pages 5–6). What circumstances trap characters permanently?
How do characters attempt to escape their circumstances?
When, if ever, do they succeed? How does the bird imagery that runs
through the book relate to the idea of imprisonment and escape?

6. “You can live with hopelessness for only so long before you are, in
fact, hopeless,” reflects Ralph (page 8). Which characters here are truly
hopeless? Alice? Antonio? Ralph himself? Do you see any glimmers of
hope in the story?

7. Why, in your opinion, does Ralph allow himself to be gradually poisoned,
even after he’s aware of what’s happening to him? What does this
decision say about his character?

8. Why does Catherine become obsessed with nurturing and reviving the
“secret garden” of Ralph’s mansion? What insights does this preoccupation
reveal about Catherine’s character?

9. Does Catherine live up in any way to the advertisement Ralph places
in the newspaper (page 20)? Why or why not?

10. Did you have sympathy for any of the characters? Did this change as
time went on?

11. At the onset of A Reliable Wife the characters are not good people. They
have done bad things and have lived thoughtlessly. In the end how do
they find hope?

12. The author directly or indirectly references several classic novels—by
the Brontë sisters, Daphne du Maurier, and Frances Hodgson Burnett,
among others. How does A Reliable Wife play with the conventions of these
classic Gothic novels? Does the book seem more shocking or provocative
as a result?

Characters from A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

2010-01-28T12:27:00.000-08:00

Ralph Truitt

Catherine Land, Ralph’s “mail-order” bride

Ralph's mother

Larsen and Mrs. Larsen, Truitt’s employees

Emilia, Ralph’s wife from Italy

Edward, a dissolute friend of Ralph’s in Europe

Andrew, Ralph’s dull, pious brother

Antonio (Andy) aka Tony Moretti, Ralph and Emilia’s son?

Francesca (Franny), Ralph and Emilia’s daughter

Mr. Malloy and Mr. Fisk, Pinkerton agents investigating Antonio

Alice, Catherine’s disturbed sister

Harriet Reno, friend of Catherine’s in her former life

Uncle Skip, married man who “kept” Catherine

India, Catherine’s plain “cousin”

Elsie Carruthers, Antonio's friend from Chicago

Mrs. Violet Alverson, a young widow

Characters from The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

2010-01-07T10:32:00.000-08:00

The Club Members

Georgia Walker, owner of Walker and Daughter knitting shop
Dakota Walker, her 12 year old daughter and baker of goodies
Anita Lowenstein, Georgia’s mentor and knitting instructor
Peri Gayle, fashionista, shop employee
Lucie Brennan, super knitter and video maker
Darwin Chiu, grad student who tells it like it is and is trying to learn to knit
K.C. Silverman, New Yorker who’s tired of her advertising job, knits and talks
Cat Phillips, (aka Cathy Anderson), an old friend of Georgia’s and a consumer of knitwear designs

Others

James Foster, Dakota’s long absent father who returns to New York
Marty Popper, deli owner in Georgia’s building and fan of Anita’s
Stan (Anita’s long deceased husband)

Tom and Bess Walker, Georgia’s parents
Donny Walker, Georgia’s brother
Grandmother (Gran) Walker, Georgia’s grandmother in Scotland

Adam Phillips, Cat’s rich husband
Dan Leung, Darwin’s doctor husband
Rosie, Lucie’s mother who wants Lucie to get married and have a baby
Will, the biological father of Lucie’s baby
Elon, Darwin’s one-night stand

Anita’s Children: Nathan (the worrier) and wife Rhea who live in Atlanta; David, the “torturer” of Nathan (lives in Zurich); Benjamin, the most easy going of sons and a resident of Israel

Lillian and Joe Foster, parents of James and grandparents of Dakota

Dr. Paul Ramirez, Georgia’s onco-gynecologist

Discussion Questions for the Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

2009-12-31T09:52:00.000-08:00

1. Why does Georgia reject her parents’ offer to house her and Dakota?

2. The role of friendships among women is a central theme of The Friday Night Knitting Club. Some friendships develop easily, like K.C. and Georgia’s, while others begin on unsure footing, like Darwin and Lucie’s. Cat’s insecurities create conflicted feelings about drawing Georgia closer. Discuss the emotional baggage and issues of class that challenge trust between various women in the knitting club.

3. Georgia has a history of being burned by the people closest to her. Cat’s decision to attend Dartmouth meant breaking a pact of friendship, and James abandoned her for another woman. Leading up to forgiveness, do you think there are moments when her defenses against intimacy and protectiveness of Dakota are excessive?

4. What does Anita see in Georgia that gives her the confidence to invest? Why does Georgia trust Anita, given her past relationships that went awry?

5. Lucie’s decision to become pregnant without telling the man she conceives with is a choice that flies in the face of social convention and her mother’s expectations, to say nothing of her Catholic upbringing. What factors led to her choice? How does the whole of Georgia’s experience as a single mother support or undermine her decision?

6. Entrepreneurs, single moms, and a seventy-something undergoing a sexual reawakening—the women of the knitting club are hardly traditional, although a highly traditional woman's craft is what brings them together each Friday. Eventually Darwin decides to write her thesis about the positive impact of knitting in the lives of modern women rather than criticizing it as a "throwback" that prevents women from focusing their energy on professional success. In your opinion, which is the more feminist interpretation?

7. Georgia gets defensive when James asserts that he has things to teach Dakota about race that Georgia could never teach her. Is her indignation totally justified in light of James’s delinquency as a father, or is there some truth to his claim?

8. How does Dakota’s major act of rebellion (her attempt to go to Baltimore) alter Georgia and James’s playing field? Do you agree with Georgia’s decision on an initial trip to Scotland over a trip to Baltimore?

9. Before Georgia gives James a second chance, she claims to harbor "hatred lite" toward him, reasoning that she’d always heard the opposite of love is hate. When Cat’s lawyer informs her that Adam wants to settle and be done with her, she’s unexpectedly hurt because he’s letting her walk away without a fight. Given Cat’s reaction, how does indifference factor into the love/hate equation?

10. When Cat responds to Georgia’s sincere questions about her college experience at Dartmouth by saying, "It wasn’t like you think," what does she mean?

11. Things get interesting in Scotland when Georgia’s Gran offers her loving but firm analysis of the women's lives. She points out that Cat is capable of handling stress but hasn’t tried, and that Georgia’s spent too much time ruminating on the past. Her advice: mistakes are made; the important thing is to decide how to react to what people offer, because you can’t make them change. How do the women accept this advice in each of their lives?

12. If Georgia had opened the letters she received from James in a timely fashion, how might things have been different?

13. While James and Dakota are in Baltimore visiting his parents, Georgia decides to tell the club that she has cancer. Why does she share her news with the knitting club before she tells her immediate family?

14. When Georgia gets diagnosed, she worries that a show of weakness will be unacceptable to Dakota, James, and others who know and love her as a pillar of strength. How do her loved ones prove her wrong?

15. In your opinion what is the main lesson of The Friday Night Knitting Club?

Upcoming Books- -Jan. thru March

2009-12-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

Chinn Chats meets on Mondays once a month, usually the second Monday of the month at 1:00 p.m.

January 11

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

February 8

The Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

March 8

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Characters from Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

2009-12-03T12:42:00.000-08:00

Prior Geoffrey of St. Augustine’s, Barnwell Abbey
Prior Joan of St. Radegund’s convent
Henry II, King of England and a Plantagenet
Aaron of Lincoln, a prominent Jewish leader

Simon of Naples, a “fixer” for the King of Sicily
Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar (aka Dr. Trotula and the Mistress of the
Art of Death)
Gershom, her foster father in Salerno
Gordinus the African, Adelia’s teacher
Mordecai, secretary to the King of Sicily
Mansur, a Saracen and Adelia’s assistant
Margaret, deceased nurse of Adelia
Gyltha, Adelia’s cook and keeper
Ulf, Gyltha’s grandson
Two Matildas, serving maids
Safeguard, Adelia’s fragrant dog

Roger of Acton, religious fanatic and opportunist (also Prioress’s cousin)
Brother Ninian and Brother Gilbert and Brother Swithin
Sir Gervase, Prior’s knight
Sir Joscelin, Prioress’s knight

Sir Rowley Picot, tax collector for Henry II and, later, Adelia’s lover

Murdered children: Little St. Peter (Peter Trumpington)
Ulric
Mary
Harold
(Harold and Peter were Ulf’s friends)

Chaim Leonis, murdered Jew and father of the bride
Miriam, his murdered wife
Martha, the laundress, saw body of Peter
Old Benjamin, the absent landlord of house where Adelia, Mansur and Simon are
staying
Hugh, the best wolf hunter in Cambridge
Agnes, the eel sellers wife and mother to Harold
Sheriff Baldwin
Yehuda Gabirol, married Chaim’s daughter
Mistress Dina, Chaim’s daughter
Simon, Dina’s baby’s name
Benjamin…Moshe, aka Old Benjamin knew Simon’s father
Rabbi Gotsce, rabbi in charge at castle

Pipin, Rowley’s squire
Rowley had been on the Crusades with Guiscard, one of Henry’s uncles
King Amalric tried to keep Christians in check in Holy Land
Mur-ad-Din, his Arab opponent
Hakim, Arab compatriot, sent Rowley two hostages
Ubaud, Hakim’s nephew and Ubayed, Hakim’s son
Rakshasha, the evil one, a demon’s name

Old Walt, shepherd who found dead sheep
Lady Baldwin, the sheriff’s wife
Master DeBarque, a banker who refuses Adelia a loan after Simon’s death
Edric, Adelia’s errand guy

Sister Odilia, nun dies of cholera
Sister Veronica, youngest and sweetest until she is discovered
Sister Agatha
Sister Walburga, with Veronica, delivers food to anchorites

Hubert Walter, Henry’s clerk who is at the convocation
Bishop of Norwich, organized the convocation (one of the lords spiritual)

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin: Discussion Questions

2009-12-03T11:14:00.000-08:00

Although the majority of Mistress of the Art of Death is written in the third person, the novel opens and closes in a kind of collective first-person voice, describing what "we" have seen and heard. Whom or what do you think this voice is supposed to represent? Is it the voice of the reader, the author, history itself—or something else entirely?

2. Adelia encounters many people who are, as she describes to Brother Gilbert, "hateful"—Roger of Acton, Prioress Joan, Sir Gervase—while the two who are ultimately revealed as the killers come across as genteel, even virtuous. Does this dichotomy hold any symbolic meaning?

3. Adelia falls in love with Rowley Picot but rejects his proposal because she fears it would mean the end of her work. Do you think she made the right decision? Given that Picot "wanted her as she was," could they have created an arrangement that would have allowed them to marry while still giving Adelia her freedom?

4. In describing Jerusalem, Picot reflects, "That's what you don't expect—how tangled it all is....You think...God bless, that fellow kneeling to a cross, he's a Christian, he must be on our side—and he is a Christian, but he isn't necessarily on your side, he's just as likely to be in an alliance with a Moslem prince." In what ways does the "tangled" Middle East of the twelfth century seem similar to the troubled region of today? In what ways is it different? Does this depiction of Jerusalem a thousand years ago shed any light on the predicament there now?

5. Ariana Franklin has said that she intended her depiction of Henry II to serve as a kind of rebuttal to the harsh judgment history has made of him. How did you react to Henry as a character? Is he likable? Did he come across as truly progressive, or merely expedient? If you were familiar with him before reading this book, has your opinion of him changed?

6. Some of the superstitions presented in the book—such as the idea of medicine as "witchcraft"—seem ludicrous by today's standards. Imagine today's society as viewed from a vantage point of a thousand years in the future: What commonly held beliefs do you think would seem ridiculous? Whom can you picture as modern-day Adelias—people whose ideas are seen today as incorrect, even outrageous, but who will be looked back at as ahead of their time?

7. Adelia is horrified by the fate of Sister Veronica, and goes so far as to petition King Henry to have her released. Do you think her punishment was just? If not, what do you believe would have been the appropriate punishment for her crimes?

8. Despite his position as King of England, Henry is unable to intervene in the cases of Roger of Acton and Sister Veronica because his power is subject to the approval of the Catholic Church. Do you see any benefit, in the larger scheme, to this arrangement? Does it provide a necessary check to Henry's powers, or does it hold the greater good hostage?

Upcoming Books--Dec. thru Feb.

2009-11-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Books

Chinn Chats meets on Mondays once a month, usually the second Monday of the month at 1:00 p.m.

December 14

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

January 11

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

February 8

The Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

Characters from Color of Water by James McBride

2009-11-04T09:20:00.000-08:00

Rachel Shilsky, aka Ruchel Zylska, Ruth McBride, and Ruth Jordan

Family and friends from her life before Dennis McBride:

Rabbi Fishel Shilsky, Rachel's father, aka Tateh

Hudis, Rachel's mother, aka Mameh

Gladys, her sister, aka Dee-Dee

Sam, her brother

Bubeh, her grandmother

Zaydeh, her grandfather

Mameh's Sisters and Ruth's Aunts

Laura, married to Paul
Mary (owned leather factory), was married to Isaac, and had two daughters, Lois and Enid
Betsy (Betts) lived with Bubeh and arranged for Ruth's abortion

Frances, Ruth's friend in Suffolk, Va

Peter, Ruth's boyfriend in Suffolk

Rocky, owner of barbershop in Harlem where Ruth worked

In New York

Andrew McBride, aka Dennis and Ruth's first husband

Hunter Jordan, Ruth's second husband

Ruth's twelve children: Oldest to youngest

Dennis, Rosetta, William, David, Helen, Richie, Dorothy, James*, Kathy, Judy, Hunter, and

Henry

Jacqueline, aka Jack, stepsister

Other Friends and Relatives

Nash and Etta, Andrew (Dennis) McBride's parents

Rev. Owens (Whosoever Baptist Church) and Rev. Abner Brown (Metropolitan Church in Harlem)

In Kentucky when James visited: Jack's husband, Big Richard; Chicken Man and others who hung out by the Vermont Liquor Store

David and Anna Dawson, rich people who employed James and helped him go to Europe with jazz band

Aunt Candis, Dennis' aunt, close friend of Ruth's after Dennis died

Linwood Bob Hinson, Dennis' cousin and look-a-like

Halina Wind, another Jewish mother

David Preston, her son and friend of James

Stephanie, James' wife, and Azure and Jordan, their two kids

When James went to Suffolk

Eddie Thompson, laughs when he finds out James is Rabbi Shilsky's grandson

Mrs. Claxton, woman Rabbi ran off with

Aubrey Rubenstein, family took over Shilsky's store

Gerry Jaffe, ran Jaffe's slaughterhouse

Ruth lives with Kathy and her two kids, Maya and Gyas in Ewing, N.J.

Various other friends and relatives

The Color of Water; a Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother QUESTIONS

2009-10-28T08:57:00.001-07:00

1. Discuss Ruth McBride's refusal to reveal her past and how that influenced her children's sense of themselves and their place in the world. How has your knowledge—or lack thereof—about your family background shaped your own self-image?

2. The McBride children's struggle with their identities led each to his or her own "revolution." Is it also possible that that same struggle led them to define themselves through professional achievement?

3. Several of the McBride children became involved in the civil rights movement. Do you think that this was a result of the times in which they lived, their need to belong to a group that lent them a solid identity, or a combination of these factors?

4. "Our house was a combination three-ring circus and zoo, complete with ongoing action, daring feats, music, and animals." Does Helen leave to escape her chaotic homelife or to escape the mother whose very appearance confuses her about who she is?

5. "It was in her sense of education, more than any other, that Mommy conveyed her Jewishness to us." Do you agree with this statement? Is it possible that Ruth McBride Jordan's unshakable devotion to her faith, even though she converted to Christianity from Judaism, stems from her Orthodox Jewish upbringing?

6. "Mommy's contradictions crashed and slammed against one another like bumper cars at Coney Island. White folks, she felt, were implicitly evil toward blacks, yet she forced us to go to white schools to get the best education. Blacks could be trusted more, but anything involving blacks was probably substandard... She was against welfare and never applied for it despite our need, but championed those who availed themselves of it." Do you think these contradictions served to confuse Ruth's children further, or did they somehow contribute to the balanced view of humanity that James McBride possesses?

7. While reading the descriptions of the children's hunger, did you wonder why Ruth did not seek out some kind of assistance?

8. Do you think it was naïve of Ruth McBride Jordan to think that her love for her family and her faith in God would overcome all potential obstacles or did you find her faith in God's love and guidance inspiring?

9. How do you feel about Ruth McBride Jordan's use of a belt to discipline her children?

10. While reading the book, were you curious about how Ruth McBride Jordan's remarkable faith had translated into the adult lives of her children? Do you think that faith is something that can be passed on from one generation to the next or do you think that faith that is instilled too strongly in children eventually causes them to turn away from it?

11. Do you think it would be possible to achieve what Ruth McBride has achieved in today's society?

Upcoming Books

2009-09-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

Chinn Chats meets on Mondays once a month, usually the second Monday of the month at 1:00 p.m.

November 9

The Color of Water: a Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride

December 14

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

White Tiger by Aravind Adiga CHARACTERS

2009-09-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

Balram Halwai; narrator, driver, and entrepreneur

Balram's other names: the White Tiger, Munna (Boy) and Country-Mouse, and Ashok Sharma

Vikram Halwai, Balram's father

Kusum, Balram's grandmother

Kishan, Balram's brother

Balram's many aunts and uncles and cousins

Mr. Wen Jiabao, Premier of China

Mr. Ashok, Balram's boss and the Stork's son

Pinky Madam, Ashok's wife

Four landlords: Buffalo, Stork, Wild Boar and Raven

Vijay, the admired bus conductor

Ram Bahadur, the Stork's Nepali guard

Ram Persad, the Stork's number one driver

Mukesh Sir (aka the Mongoose), the Stork's son and Ashok's brother

Cuddles and Puddles, the two Pomeranian dogs belonging to Ashok

Great Socialist, corrupt political leader

Vitiligo-Lips, another driver and Balram's friend in Delhi

Uma, Ashok's old girlfriend

Minister's assistant, Mukesan

Dharam, a boy relative sent to Balram for training

Various ladies of the evening

Mohammed Asif, driver who runs over boy on bike

White Tiger by Aravind Adiga Discussion Questions

2009-09-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

1. The author chose to tell the story from the provocative point of view of an exceedingly charming, egotistical admitted murderer. Do Balram's ambition and charisma make his vision clearer? More vivid? Did he win you over?

2. Why does Balram choose to address the Premier? What motivates him to tell his story? What similarities does he see between himself and the Premier?

3. Because of his lack of education, Ashok calls Balram "half-baked." What does he mean by this? How does Balram go about educating himself? What does he learn?

4. Balram variously describes himself as "a man of action and change," "a thinking man," "an entrepreneur," "a man who sees tomorrow," and a "murderer." Is any one of these labels the most fitting, or is he too complex for only one? How would you describe him?

5. Balram blames the culture of servitude in India for the stark contrasts between the Light and the Darkness and the antiquated mind set that slows change. Discuss his rooster coop analogy and the role of religion, the political system, and family life in perpetuating this culture. What do you make of the couplet Balram repeats to himself: "I was looking for the key for years / but the door was always open"?

6. Discuss Balram's opinion of his master and how it and their relationship evolve. Balram says "where my genuine concern for him ended and where my self-interest began, I could not tell" (160). Where do you think his self-interest begins?

7. Compare Ashok and his family's actions after Pinky Madam hits a child to Balram's response when his driver does. Were you surprised at the actions of either? How does Ashok and his family's morality compare to Balram's in respect to the accidents, and to other circumstances?

8. Discuss Balram's reasons for the murder: fulfilling his father's wish that his son "live like a man," taking back what Ashok had stolen from him, and breaking out of the rooster coop, among them. Which ring true to you and which do not? Did you feel Balram was justified in killing Ashok? Discuss the paradox inherent in the fact that in order to live fully as a man, Balram took a man's life.

9. Balram's thoughts of his family initially hold him back from killing Ashok. What changes his mind? Why do you think he goes back to retrieve Dharam at the end of the novel? Does his decision absolve him in any way?

10. The novel offers a window into the rapidly changing economic situation in India. What do we learn about entrepreneurship and Balram's definition of it? 11. The novel reveals an India that is as unforgiving as it is promising. Do you think of the novel, ultimately, as a cautionary tale or a hopeful one?

Updated List of Books Discussed at Chinn Chats

2009-09-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

Run by Ann Patchett

Last Empress by Anchee Min

Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg

Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

Saturday by Ian McEwan

Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

In the Woods by Tana French

Away by Amy Bloom

Lottery by Patricia Wood

Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

The Commoner by John Schwartz

The Commoner by John Schwartz: Blurb

2009-09-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

When Haruko, a commoner, marries Shige, the Crown Prince of Japan, she leaves behind her family and her identity. As the interloper, she is met with suspicion and condescension from the royal court, and, most especially, her mother-in-law.

Haruko survives a nervous breakdown and later encourages Keiko, another commoner, to become the bride of Yasu, the emperor-to-be son of Haruko and Shige.

Based on the true life story of the beautiful commoner Michiko and the Crown Prince Akihito who married in 1959, this thoughtful novel is beautifully written but lacks depth of characterization.

Characters from The Commoner by John Schwartz

2009-09-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

Haruko, first commoner to become Empress of Japan

Haruko’s parents: Father , Tsuneyasu Endo, the wealthy owner of a sake company And Mother, Kikuko

Taka, their faithful servant

Miko Kuroda, Haruko’s best friend, (Squid on a Stick)

Kenji, Miko’s brother ( has burns from atomic bomb explosion)

Reverend Mother Clapp, nun and headmistress at Sacred Heart School (Haruko's school)

Crown Prince Shige, marries Haruko and becomes emperor

Shige’s Parents: the Empress, the mother-in-law “from hell” And the Emperor

Shige's two sisters, Midori and Takako (married to farmer)

Mrs. Pine, Shige's Quaker tutor

Dr. Takeshi Watanabe, Shige’s advisor for life

Igawa, manservant of Crown Prince

Mado, chamberlain of Crown Prince

Grand Steward Minamoto, reports to Shige about items of importance

Later

Abigail, Miko's roommate in New York

Simon, Miko's first husband and brother of Abigail

Bertram Thomas, Miko's second and very rich husband

Mrs. Oshima, chief lady in waiting and Haruko's nemesis

Okubo, Haruko’s driverYasuhito, “Yasu,” aka Prince Tsuyo, Shige’s and Haruko’s son

Kumiko, daughter of Shige and Haruko, called Kumi

Seiji Ohno, civil servant married to Kumi

Keiko Moro, marries Yasu

Reiko, daughter of Keiko and Yasu

The Commoner by John Schwartz: Discussion Questions

2009-09-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

1. Because Haruko is a commoner, not a peeress, the Crown Prince chooses to break with tradition in selecting her to be his bride. Why does Haruko’s father tell Dr. Watanabe that Haruko would be a “humiliation to Japan”? What is Dr. Watanabe’s response? How is this break with tradition later echoed in the marriage of Haruko’s own son?

2. Before her wedding, Haruko stares at her own face in a mirror that once belonged to her grandmother. When she light–heartedly asks her father if he will be happy when she is gone, he replies with great seriousness. Later, when Haruko returns to her parents’ home for a visit, Haruko’s father excuses himself from the table. Haruko finds him staring at the mirror she has left behind. Why does Haruko state, “We both understood that an evening like this was impossible and would never happen again”? What is the significance of the mirror Haruko chose not to include in her trousseau?

3. As Haruko prepares for her wedding, she observes, “At every turn, sometimes subtly and sometimes crudely, the same lesson was driven home: the world would greet me with abject deference not because I deserved it or wished it but because of my station, which in all things would stand above me, and indeed would outlast me.” What is Haruko’s attitude toward assuming her position in the royal family? Why do her parents ultimately urge her to accept her new life with courage?

4. How does Haruko experience the wedding ceremony inside the Kashikodokoro? How does she feel as she joins the Crown Prince in the shrine? Why does Haruko believe the crows on the roof of the shrine mock “the foolishness of men”?

5. What causes Haruko’s “breakdown”? Why is Yasu kept from her during this time? How does Haruko’s visit at her parents’ home affect her?

6. When Yasu first proposes marriage to the accomplished Keiko Mori, she refuses him. Haruko meets with Keiko and tells her that if Keiko marries Yasu, Haruko will do everything she can to protect her within the royal family. Haruko relates, “Riding home alone from our secret meeting late that afternoon, some gathering sense of responsibility for this young woman’s future happiness clung to me; and it felt not like triumph, but already, somehow, like remorse.” Describe Haruko’s inner conflict over Keiko’s decision. Feeling as she does about her own life, why do you suppose Haruko is willing to persuade Keiko to accept Yasu’s proposal?

7. How does Miko’s visit affect Haruko? Why does Miko confess that after seeing Haruko’s photograph in a magazine years ago, Miko had been a coward? Why does Haruko say, “Talking with you now is like remembering how to eat”?

8. As they watch their son’s wedding ceremony on television from their residence, how do Shige’s and Haruko’s reactions differ? How does Haruko feel about her husband’s indifference? Do you believe she truly loves him?

9. After the birth of her daughter, Keiko takes refuge in Karauizawa. When Yasu undertakes a trip to Europe without her, the royal family claims Keiko is suffering from an “adjustment disorder.” How does Keiko respond when Haruko visits her at Karauizawa and tells her, “You must take Reiko away from here and never come back.” Do you believe this is good advice? After convincing Keiko to marry Yasu in the first place, why is Haruko now suggesting Keiko flee? What does this tell you about Haruko’s state of mind?

10. In the closing pages, Haruko’s driver Okubo hands her an envelope marked with two cranes in flight. What does Haruko learn about where her daughter–in–law and granddaughter have gone? How does she feel about their disappearance? Describe the significance of this event for Haruko. To what degree does the book’s ending resolve Haruko’s own internal conflict?

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson--Characters

2009-07-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

Lands

Sisters: Olivia; Julia; Sylvia (later known as Sister Mary Luke) and Amelia (Millie)
Rascal, their dog
Blue Mouse, Olivia’s favorite toy
Henry, Amelia’s non-existent boyfriend
Andrew Vardy, Amelia’s colleague

Parents: Rosemary and Vincent
Annabelle, deceased baby
Sammy, Victor’s old golden retriever
Ellen, Victor’s mother Oswald, Victor’s father
Mrs. Gordon, their horrid housekeeper
Binky Rain, their elderly neighbor who takes in cats

Wyres

Theo Wyre, attorney
Laura, his favorite daughter
Jennifer, his other daughter
Valerie, his deceased wife
Moira, his receptionist
Cheryl, his secretary
Emma Drake, an old friend of Laura’s
Stan Jessop, Laura’s teacher
Kim, his wife (she’s later known as Kim Strachan)
Nina, their baby
Stuart Lappin, the Jessops’ weird neighbor

Michelle Fletcher and Family

Keith, Michelle’s husband
Tanya, their baby
Shirley Morrison, Michelle’s sister

Later: Michelle reinvents herself as Caroline Edwards
Jonathan Weaver,her husband
James and Hannah, his two kids
Jemima, his ex-wife
John Burton, the new vicar that Caroline decides she loves

Jackson Brodie, Private Detective

Early Life :
Fidelma, his mother Robert, his father
Francis, his brother Niamh, his sister who was murdered

As an Adult:
Josie, Jackson’s ex-wife
Marlee, their daughter
David Lastingham, Josie’s live-in boyfriend
Deborah Arnold, Jackson’s nasty secretary
Sharon, his endodontist
Howell, his friend
Retd. Supt. Marian Foster—had investigated Olivia’s disappearance years ago

Jackson’s clients:
Steve Spencer—Jackson is investigating his wife, Nicola, a flight attendant
Binky Rain—thinks her black cats are being stolen
Quintus, Binky’s nasty great nephew
Theo Wyre—wants to find Laura’s murderer
Amelia and Julia Land—want to know what happened to Olivia
Shirley Morrison, wants him to find Tanya, Michelle’s baby (now grown)

Lily-Rose, the yellow-haired girl (Tanya?) and friend of Theo's

Case Histories Discussion Questions by Kate Atkinson

2009-07-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

1. It's quite clear to the three eldest Land girls that their baby sister Olivia is their parents' favorite child. Do all parents have a special affection for a particular son or daughter? How does Victor and Rosemary's fondness for Olivia affect the personalities and lives of her sisters?

2. Theo idealizes Laura and he is protective of her to a fault --- it's as if he is amazed that such a perfect woman could be the product of a man as imperfect as he. How do Theo's insecurities about himself distort his perception of Laura? How is her untimely death more devastating to Theo and the reader because of her apparent flawlessness? How would Theo's tragedy be different if Laura were different?

3. Michelle derives very little pleasure or joy from motherhood. For her, playing wife and mommy is an almost unbearable burden. Is Michelle a bad mother? Is her attitude toward parenthood any different from Victor and Rosemary's, or does she only manage it more poorly?

4. When we first meet Jackson, he's sitting in a used sports car, smoking a cigarette, listening to a ladies' radio program, thinking about his beloved daughter and his selfish ex-wife, all while spying on a woman. What kind of first impression does he make on the reader? Is the complexity of his personality endearing, perplexing, or off-putting? How does this first encounter make more sense as the novel progresses?

5. While Amelia and Julia think Olivia might still be alive, poor Theo knows for certain that Laura is dead. At one point, Jackson R admires Theo, thinking: "Just carrying on living required a kind of strength and courage that most people didn't have." Do you agree? Is not knowing the fate of a loved one preferable to being aware of his or her death simply because it allows room for hope? Or does not knowing present a new kind of grief that precludes any opportunity for closure and healing?

6. Amelia can't bring herself to tell Julia about the night she caught Victor molesting Sylvia. How might sharing this knowledge change their pursuit of Olivia? How might it change their relationship?

7. At times, Case Histories can be quite gruesome, the tragedies its characters face quite devastating --- and yet Kate Atkinson maintains a sense of humor throughout the book. Is this humor inappropriate, or is there an element of the comic in even the most traumatic of human experiences? How does the humor affect the suspense and mystery?

8. Case Histories has three unsolved crimes and has a private eye as hero. Kate Atkinson is known as a 'literary writer' and won the Whitbread Prize for her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum. How is Case Histories different from a traditional detective novel - or is it?

9. The three cases that open Case Histories are at first quite separate, and leave you wondering how Atkinson is going to pull it all together into one story. You might discuss whether she is successful at doing that - and how.

10. Case Histories deftly weaves three plot lines into one narrative. Which of the three, if any, do you think could have been its own novel? Which characters would you like to know more about? Why?

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson-- Blurb

2009-07-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

When private detective Jackson Brodie investigates three cold cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge. Case 1: Baby sister Olivia goes missing, and 30 years later, two sisters discover a shocking clue to her disappearance. Case 2: Theo dotes on his loving daughter Laura until an incident at his law firm alters everything. Case 3: Michelle, unhappy with a demanding husband and a needy baby, feels desperate until a fit of rage provides an escape.

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea--Blurb

2009-07-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

A bold new Arabic author spins a tale of four young women from the elite classes of Riyadh society. Originally banned in Saudi Arabia, the novel reveals the lives of the female characters, Gamrah, Michelle, Sadeem, and Lamees through their e-mails sent in an online chat group. This coming of age story which has been compared to Sex and the City is really a story of young women coming to terms with the clash between the encroaching West and their ancient traditions.

Girls of Riyadh--Characters

2009-07-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

Four main characters (the Girls)

Sadeem—very pretty and sophisticated, business student

Gamrah—closest to Sadeem—from ultraconservative family, no longer a student

Lamees—Closest to Michelle—her family originally from Jeddah (liberal), medical school

Michelle (Mashael)—lived in America, her mother is American, computer science student

Seerehwenfadha7et: name of the mail group and our narrator

Auntie Um Nuwayyir, divorced woman who has “salon” for the girls
Nuri, Um Nuwayyir’s son

Gamrah

Rashid, Gamrah’s groom, then husband
Kari, a Japanese woman who is Rashid’s lover
Saleh, Gamrah and Rashid’s son
Naflah and Hessah, Gamrah’s sisters
Khalid, Hessah’s husband (he’s mean)
Nayif and Nawwaf, Gamrah’s younger brothers
Sultan (al-Internetti), a chat pal of Gamrah’s—Gamrah sends him a photo of Rashid’s sister Ghada (it’s supposed to be Gamrah)
Abu, wants to marry Gamrah but only if she leaves Saleh at home

Sadeem

Waleed, Sadeem’s contractual husband who divorces her
Aunt Badriyyah, Sadeem’s aunt
Tariq, Badriyyah’s son, Sadeem’s cousin; her aunt wants her to marry him
Tahir, a Muslim-Pakistani friend of Sadeem’s at the bank in London where they work
Firas, Tahir’s friend and eventually Sadeem’s “boyfriend”

Lamees

Tamadur, Lamees’ “proper” twin who is jealous of Lamees
Dr. Hasim Hijazi, Lamees’ and Tamadur’s father
Dr. Fatin Khalil, their mother
Ms. Elham, Lamees’ high school principal
Arwa, a “scary” girl who goes to Lamees’ school
Fatimah, the Shiite, Lamees new friend at college
Ali, Fatimah’s brother and friend of Lamees
Fadwa, Lamees’ childhood friend
Sarah the Princess, another friend of Lamees
Ahmed, third year medical student who chats with Lamees on internet
Nizar, summer male medical student that Lamees likes

Michelle

Faisal, Michelle’s “boyfriend” whose mother won’t allow their marriage
Matti, Michelle’s first cousin in San Francisco
Meshaal (Michael), Michelle’s brother
Jumana, a friend in Dubai
Hamdan, producer of TV show in Dubai
Shaikhah, Faisal’s bride

*Some minor characters do not appear on this list.

Discussion Questions for Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

2009-06-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

1. Gamrah’s mother believes that “woman is to man as butter is to sun.” Do all the men in this novel have a corrupting influence on the women who love them?

2. In what ways are Michelle, Gamrah, Lamees and Sadeem restricted by tradition and how do they work around it?

3. This story of young women looking for love has been compared to books like Bridget Jones’s Diary and Sex and the City. In what ways does Girls of Riyadh’s geographic and social context set it apart from its Western counterparts?

4. When she discovers her husband’s secrets, Gamrah desperately attempts to hold her marriage together. Do you think she is a victim of circumstance or is she guilty of dishonesty in her own right?

5. What role does the widow Um Nuwayyir play for the girls? Is she a positive or negative model for them?

6. What are Michelle, Sadeem, Gamrah and Lamees’s individual relationships to religion and religious law? How do they differ?

7. After a couple of romantic disappointments, Michelle realizes she can never replace her true love with another man. Do you agree with this conclusion and do you view her ending as a happy one?

8. Does this novel have a moral point of view and if so, what is it?

9. During the scene where Lamees graduates from medical school, the narrator describes her joy of “having it all”: love, a career, a new baby on the way. How did Lamees manage to pull off this feat --- was it skill or simply luck?

10. The narrator says early on that every one of her friends “lives huddled in the shadow of a man, or a wall, or a man who is a wall.” Is this true for all of the characters, and is it true even at the end of the story?

Let's Discuss--Art of Racing in the Rain

2009-06-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

We talked about this title at our last Chinn Chats. Here are a few comments on the discussion questions posted on this site.

1. Viewing the world through a dog's eyes makes for a greater appreciation of being human because:

Humans have opposable thumbs.
Humans have a small tongue so they can speak.
Humans can be organized, like Eve.

2. Enzo's observations provide insight into his world view."The visible becomes inevitable." With a disease diagnosis for him and for Eve, their ends will come. "No race has ever been won in the first corner..." You must persist in the race and not spin out. One who drives smart will always win in the end. Enzo applies this to Denny whose life and fight for the custody of Zoe are synonymous with driving a race the right way.

3. What does the zebra symbolize? The zebra is something inside of us. Our fears, our own self- destructive nature; the worst part of us when we are face to face with our worst times. Enzo knows it is the demon who will sign over Zoe to her grandparents, so he must save Denny from doing this. After Enzo gets revenge on the Evil Twins, he growls at the second zebrawho knows not to "mess with" Enzo.

4. The novel from Denny's point of view would not be as entertaining as from Enzo's point of view. The story, as told by a dog, offers a completely unique perspective on the happenings.

5. Enzo, as a human soul trapped in a dog's body, is ready to be a man. Enzo believes in reincarnation and karma. When the soul has learned everything it can, the body's work is finished. All is not lost when someone dies. His soul passes on to another--as in the little boy Enzo who admires Denny at the end of the book. Enzo (the dog) knows that the Evil Twins will eventually get what they deserve. In the meantime, with the help of "King Karma," Enzo sees that they have bad dreams of being chased by a pack of wild dogs.

6. Most people think their dogs are unique. This story may have given us more to think about along these lines. For example, my dog, a 13 year old borzoi is definitely "channeling" one of the czarinas in her everyday life.

7. There are numerous parallels between the art of racing and the art of living.
Things change as quickly on a race course as they do in life. We are the creators of our own destiny--"that which you manifest is before you." You anticipate what will happen, and do something before it happens. The test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles. "The race is too long to finish first, first you must finish."

8. Denny admires the life of Ayrton Senna. He and Senna both race well in the rain. They are both flawed heroes, and flaws are the true nature of heroes. Senna cared for his fellow drivers, created a safety group, and raced even when he didn't want to.He was a true champion, as Denny is.

Hope these comments will help get your discussion going. Let's hear your comments.

Books Discussed at Chinn Chats Meetings

2009-06-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

Run by Ann Patchett
Last Empress by Anchee Min
Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg
Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Saturday by Ian McEwan
Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
In the Woods by Tana French
Away by Amy Bloom
Lottery by Patricia Wood
Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein Characters

2009-06-01T07:49:00.000-07:00

CHARACTERS

Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Denny Swift, race car driver
Enzo, his dog who wants to be a man
Eve, Denny’s wife
Zoe, their daughter
Denny’s parents

Mike and Tony, Denny’s two good friends

Maxwell and Trish, Eve’s parents aka the Terrible Twins
Annika, 15 year old relative of Eve and Denny’s accuser

Mark Fein, Denny’s attorney
Mr. Lawrence, Denny’s second lawyer

Craig, Denny’s boss
The Zebra, the enemy

Various Race Car Drivers

Ayrton Senna, a charismatic, daring fellow
Michael Schumacher, remote and perfect driver
Emerson Fittipaldi (Emmo), never took unnecessary risks
Luigi Chinetti, drove 23 ½ hours of 24 at 1949 LeMans

Don Kitch, Pacific Raceways owner and Denny’s boss when he teaches

Luca Pontoni, Ferrari official who wants Denny to test cars for him in Italy

Five year old boy named Enzo in Imola, Italy

Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein Discussion Questions

2009-05-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

1. Some early readers of the novel have observed that viewing the world through a dog's eyes makes for a greater appreciation of being human. Why do you think this is?

2. Enzo's observations throughout the novel provide insight into his world view. For example:
"The visible becomes inevitable.""Understanding the truth is simple. Allowing oneself to experience it, is often terrifically difficult.""No race has ever been won in the first corner; many races have been lost there."
How does his philosophy apply to real life?

3. In the book's darkest moments, one of Zoe's stuffed animals—the zebra—comes to life and threatens him. What does the zebra symbolize?

4. Can you imagine the novel being told from Denny's point of view? How would it make the story different?

5. In the first chapter, Enzo says: "It's what's inside that's important. The soul. And my soul is very human." How does Enzo's situation—a human soul trapped in a dog's body—influence his opinions about what he sees around him? How do you feel about the ideas of reincarnation and karma as Enzo defines them?

6. Do you find yourself looking at your own dog differently after reading this novel?

7. In the book, we get glimpses into the mindset and mentality of a race car driver. What parallels can you think of between the art of racing and the art of living?

8. The character of Ayrton Senna, as he is presented in the book, is heroic, almost a mythic figure. Why do you think this character resonates so strongly for Denny?

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, Discussion & Characters

2009-05-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

Are the characters stronger as a result of having to adjust to new cultures,
habits, etc.?

I. Unaccustomed Earth
Characters:
a. Ruma
b. Akash
c. Adam
d. Ruma’s father
e. Mrs. Bagshi

Questions
a. What is the reason for Ruma’s underlying unhappiness?
b. When her father visits Ruma, in what ways does he seem different to her?
c. In what ways do Ruma and her father fail to communicate? Give specific
examples. Would each of them be happier if this distance were breached?
d. Do you see any significance in the father’s creation of the garden?

II. Hell and Heaven
Characters
a. Pranak (Praku)
b. Boudi
c. Shyamal Da
d. Deborah
e. narrator

Questions
a. Why does Praku depend so upon the narrator’s parents?
b. What develops between the mother and Praku ?
c. How does the mother react to Praku’s engagement and later marriage?
d. What might the author be saying when she writes of the divorce?

III. A Choice of Accommodations
Characters
a. Amit
b. Pam
c. Megan

Questions
a. Describe Megan’s feelings as she meets Amit’s friends at the wedding.
b. Describe Amit’s feelings at the wedding.
c. In what ways do Amit and Megan fail to communicate with each other?
d. “ Actually, it was after the second child that our marriage sort of disappeared. “
Explain
e. Is this a happy marriage? Why or why not?

IV. Only Goodness
Characters
a. Sudha
b. Rahul
c. Roger

Questions
a. “...she was determined that her little brother should leave his mark as a child in
America.” Explain
b. Contrast Sudha and Rahul.
c. “ thinking of the fledgling family that had cracked open that morning, as typical
and terrifying as any other.” Is Lahiri saying that all families are destined to “crack
open”? How does this sum up the story? What other family has cracked open?

V. Nobody’s Business
Characters
a. Sang
b. Paul
c. Heather
d. Farouk
e. Deirdre

Questions
a. Why does Sang resent the phone calls from the men?
b. What indications that Paul is falling in love with Sang do you find?
c. What kind of person is Sang?
d. How do you explain Sang’s attacking Paul, accusing him of making up things
about Deirdre? How do her charges affect him?
e. “There was nothing Farouk could do to stop him. Not with this woman at his
side.” What do you think he plans to do?

VI. Hema and Kaushik

a. Once in a Lifetime
1. Contrast the two families described in this story.
2. What does Hema learn is the reason for the Choudhuri’s rather strange
behavior, i.e., the wife’s failure to help in the cooking, the husband’s indulgence of
his wife’s whims, etc.
3. Describe the affect on Hema of the Choudhuri’s living with them?

b. Year’s End
1. Describe Kaushik’s character? Is he more matter of fact than Hema? Is he
emotional?
2. Describe Kaushik’s reaction to his father’s remarriage. Is it justified? Natural?
3. Describe Kaushik’s frame of mind regarding the Christmas tree/ celebration.

c. Going Ashore
1. Describe Hema. Is she a happy person? Does the fact that, at 37, she still
finds it necessary to hide some aspects of her life from her parents tell you
anything about her character?
2. Why does the thought of her upcoming marriage to Navin bring her
unhappiness?
3. “…she refused to hope for a thing that was unchangeable.” Explain
4. Describe her affair with Kaushik. Why do you think she refuses his request
that she accompany him to Hong Kong?
5. “...We had been careful, and you had left nothing behind.” What is your
opinion of ending the story with these words? What is the emotional impact, or is
there one? If not, why not?

General questions to consider after reading this novel.

1. With the exception of Rahul, each of the characters in these stories is
professionally and financially successful, yet each is unhappy. What do you think
Lahiri is saying about happiness?
2. Who is responsible for our happiness? Should we blame someone else for our
unhappiness, if we in fact are unhappy, or are we each responsible?
3. After reading these stories, do you think that Lahiri agrees with Hawthorne?
Why? Why not?
4. In thinking about the characters in these stories, what traits do you find each has
in common with the others?

http://www.wellesley.mec.edu/whs/pages/engdept/Study_Guides/Unaccustomed_EarthStudyGuide.pdf

Lottery--Let's Discuss Those Questions Continued

2009-05-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

These "answers" are not definitive.

9. Two of Perry's vocabulary words are used frequently:

He is an auditor. An auditor is one who listens. Perry listens to what everyone says about him. His cousin-brothers and their wives ignore the fact that Perry is listening. They seem to think he can't understand anything they are saying. He listens to Gary, Keith, and the lawyer chatting about him. By listening, Perry gains time to think and to decide how he will deal with things that come up--like what to do with his money.

He likes the word echt which means real or true or genuine. Perry knows many things to be true. Money has made the "slow part of me not so important." According to Gram, when people say it's to your advantage, they'll take advantage of you. Also, a "trust is something you don't."

10. By the end of the story, Perry recognizes his family as " jackals with pointy teeth. " He knows he will never get rid of the family until he gives them the money. Perry has his secret savings account, Cherry, a job he loves, friends, and enough money. Since people should get what they want, and his family wants money; he hands over lottery winnings that are left.

11. Winning the lottery has changed Perry's life. People now pay more attention to him. His friends are still his friends, but he is able to help them. Without the winnings, he probably wouldn't have Cherry. Gary wouldn't have been able to expand his business and hire Cherry.
Perry is the same loving person he was before he won the lottery, but financial independence has made his life more pleasant. By the end of the book, you can see that Perry has a lot of "emotional intelligence" even if his IQ is below normal.

Lottery--Let's Discuss Those Questions

2009-05-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

These "answers" to the discussion questions are in no way definitive, authoritative or correct. They are personal observations gleaned from my reading and the discussion by our book group, Chinn Chats.

Please, give us your thoughts on the discussion questions.

1. "Simple declarative sentences," a first person narrator, and Perry's concrete view of things take the reader inside a mentally challenged mind.

2. Retarded is an inappropriate word to describe the developmentally disabled person because of the word's many negative connotations. Perry is constantly called retarded. It is very important to him to have an IQ technically high enough so he can call himself "slow." He cites the convict who wanted to be executedrather than admitting that hewas "retarded" with an IQ of 69. Perry said the other students made fun of him and called him retarded, because they didn't know his class was "special."

3. Gram warns that David is weak, and the "weak are more dangerous in the end." David is constantly attacked by John and Elaine. They make fun of him for failing the bar exam. Finally, they allow him to watch over the family trust, because they assume he's too unimaginative to do anything underhanded with it. Perry learns that David is "dangerous." David absconds with the funds and sends Perry a postcard from "paradise."

4. Gram prepares Perry for life in several ways: They make a list of people he can trust; she insists he learn new words every day to improve his vocabulary, and she tells him to spend half, save half, and never tell anyone about his savings account.

5. Keith and Cherry are both underdogs like Perry. Keith probably has PTSD from the Vietnam War, he drinks too much, and he lost his wife and kids. Cherry is abused by her father, and calls herself fat and ugly. Neither can tolerate the mistreatment of Perry. Basically, they're all societal outcasts.

6. Perry is a lovable character. Gram is almost too good to be true. Gigi, the pink poodle, is amusing as she likes to bite when she doesn't get petted. The family is hopeless. No one seems to care about Perry. That is why Cherry, Keith, and, to some extent, Gary, are his true family.

7. Perry has a way of getting to the real center of the issue with his literalism. Keith says "Elaine is a bitch on wheels," but Perry "doesn't see any roller skates."Per's concrete thinking, however, can cause some misinterpretation. He understands Power of Attorney as just Power, as from the Incredible Hulk. He equates money laundering with washing the money to get it clean.

I'll post more questions later.

Lottery by by Patricia Wood Characters

2009-04-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

Perry L. Crandall, age 32

Perry’s relatives:

Gram, his grandmother (Dorothea Crandall)
Gramp, deceased grandfather
John, cousin brother
David, cousin brother
CeCe, John’s wife
Elaine, David’s wife
Louise, Perry’s mother
Gigi, the poodle

Perry’s friends

Keith, Perry’s best friend
Gary, owner of Holsted’s Marina & Perry’s friend and boss
Cherry, works at Marina Handy Mart
Sandy, Gary’s wife
Kelly and Meagan, Gary’s daughters
Also
Miss Elk, Perry’s favorite teacher
Manuel, works at Holsted’s Marina
Tom Tilton, Gary's lawyer
Keith’s boat, Diamond Girl & Keith’s truck, Yo

At Bingo:

Sister Mary Joan
Sister Mary Margaret
Chuck, the jerk

Others:

Margery, the lottery lady
Mr. Jordan, president of Everett Federal
Kenny, nasty kid from Perry’s childhood

Patrick, TV salesman
Shirley Nelson, his cashier
Marleen Rafters, reporter
Mike Dinelli, John and David’s “financial advisor”

Last
Keith Perry George Crandall, Baby Keith
Bounce, the puppy

In the Woods by Tana French Characters

2009-04-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

Rob Ryan, detective (aka Adam Ryan, child victim)
Cassie Maddox, detective and Rob’s partner
Sam O’Neill, detective who works with Rob and Cassie
O’Kelly, their boss
Sophie Miller, crime scene tech
Cooper, medical examiner
Various other policemen
Heather, Rob’s roommate
Redmond O’Neill, Sam’s uncle
Terence Andrews, suspect in harassing phone calls
Legion, psychopath who sabotaged Cassie in college
Various other policemen

Katy Devlin, murder victim
Rosalind, her older sister
Jessica, her twin sister
Jonathan Devlin, father
Margaret Devlin, mother
Auntie Vera
Two cousins
Mrs. Pamela Fitzgerald, 88 year old neighbor
Simone Cameron, Katy’s ballet teacher
Karen Daley, Rosalind’s friend
Christina, Marianne, and Beth; Katy’s three friends

Archaeologists:
Director Hunt
Mark
Melanie (Mel)
Sean
Damien
Ian and Others

Jamie Rowan, child victim 20 years ago
Alicia Rowan, Jamie’s mother
Peter Savage, child victim 20 years ago
Angela and Joseph Savage, Peter’s parents & Tara, his sister
Dets. Kiernan and McCabe, investigated the disappearance of Adam, Jamie, and Peter
Cathal Mills, Shane Waters, and Jonathan Devlin, teenagers in the woods
Sandra Scully, rape victim
Willy Little, boy everyone teased
Charlie, Rob (Adam’s) boarding school friend

In the Woods by Tana French Discussion Questions

2009-04-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

1. What do the woods represent symbolically in Tana French's novel? Does their significance change as the story progresses?

2. The loss or absence of stable families is a recurring motif in In the Woods. How do French's characters, particularly Ryan, attempt to compensate for this absence?

3. Does the Irish setting of In the Woods contribute significantly to the telling of the story, or do you find French's novel to be about humanity on a more universal level?

4. How does Ryan's experience In the Woods at the age of twelve affect his ability to function as a detective? Is it always a hindrance to him, or are there ways in which it improves and deepens his insights?

5. Cassie Maddox, Ryan's partner, is perhaps the most consistently appealing character in the novel. What are her most attractive qualities? What are the weaker points of her personality? Does Ryan ever fully appreciate her?

6. After sleeping together, Ryan and Cassie cease to be friends. Why do you think the experience of physical intimacy is so damaging to their relationship? Are there other reasons why their friendship falls apart?

7. Ryan states that he both craves truth and tells lies. How reliable to you find him as a narrator? In what ways does the theme of truth and misrepresentation lie at the heart of In the Woods?

8. Imagine that you are Ryan's therapist. With what aspects of his personality would you most want to help him come to terms? Do you think there would be any way to lead him out of ìthe woods?

9. How convincing is French's explanation of the motivating forces that lead to Katy's murder—forces that come close to a definition of pure evil? Are such events and motivations ever truly explicable?

10. The plan to build the new motorway, trampling as it does on a past that some regard as sacred, is an outrage to the archaeologists who are trying to preserve an ancient legacy. How does this conflict fit thematically with Ryan's own contradictory desires to unearth and to pave over his past?

11. Do you have your own theories about the mysteries that remain unsolved at the end of In the Woods? What are they?

12. What were your thoughts and emotions upon finishing In the Woods? If this book affected you differently from other mysteries you have read, why do you think this was true?

Lottery by Patricia Wood Discussion Questions

2009-04-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

1. Discuss the author’s use of language. What techniques does she employ to take the reader inside a mentally challenged mind?

2. At several points in the novel, various characters use the word “retarded.” How do you feel about this word and other words we use to describe the mentally and physically challenged?

3. Gram tells Perry that his brother David is weak, and that “the weak are more dangerous in the end.” Discuss the character of David and his interactions with Perry. Is Gram’s warning justified?

4. Perry calls Gram “a good teacher. She didn’t mind that I was slow, but lots of people do.” How do Gram’s lessons prepare him for the challenges he faces throughout the novel?

5. Keith and Cherry, Perry’s closest friends, have both lived traumatic lives—Keith served in Vietnam, Cherry has been abused by her father. Why do these characters form such a close bond with Perry? In what ways do their life experiences inform their relationships with him?

6. Which character are you most drawn to? Why?

7. Perry views things in highly literal terms, as illustrated when he refuses to spread part of Gram’s ashes in Hawaii because “she needs to be kept together.” In what ways does this literalism prove to be an asset? In what ways is it a deficit?

8. Perry says that Gary “was always nice to me before, but now he listens… Money has made the slow part of me not so important.” Discuss the relationship between Gary and Perry. In what ways does it change after Perry wins the lottery?

9. Perry’s vocabulary words are a motif throughout the novel. Discuss these words in terms of the chapters in which they appear and the story as a whole. What symbolic or metaphoric insights do they offer?

10. What do you think of Perry’s decision at the end of the novel? What would you have advised him to do?

11. Does money buy happiness? Does it buy love? What do you think Perry’s life would have been like without it?

http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_L/lottery1.asp (Reading Group Guides)

Away by Amy Bloom Discussion Questions

2009-04-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

1. Dreams are a recurring theme in the novel. What are Lillian’s dreams, both literal and metaphorical? How do these illustrate or inform the larger subject of the American dream?

2. Much of the novel centers around self-invention and reinvention. Can you identify some characters who invent themselves over the course of the novel? Which characters are successful? Which characters are unable to complete the process?

3. According to folktales, “when you save the golden fish, the turbaned djinn, the talking cat, he is yours forever” (p. 43). Which characters in the novel are saved, in one way or another? Which characters do the saving?

4. “Not that she is mine. That I am hers,” Lillian says, describing her love for Sophie (p. 79). In many ways, love is the primary engine of the plot. How does love define, inspire, and compel characters in the novel? What are some of the things characters do for love? Do you think that love is portrayed in the novel as a wholly positive force?

5. Contrast Yaakov’s story with Lillian’s. How do they each handle the loss of spouse and children, and how are they changed?

6. Mythology --- both the mythology of individuals and of cultures --- is an important motivator in the novel. Which stories or beliefs drive different characters? How do established myths inform the journeys taken and the challenges faced by Lillian as she crosses the American continent?

7. During Lillian’s journey, there are key points at which she is required to demonstrate her allegiance as either a native or a foreigner, insider or outsider. Can you identify some of these moments? At the end of the novel, how complete is Lillian’s assimilation?

8. Relationships between family members, particularly parents and children, play an important role in the novel. Compare and contrast the relationships between Lillian and Sophie, Reuben and Meyer, Chinky and the Changs. What is distinct about each family? Are there similarities?

9. How are sexuality and physical love portrayed in the novel? Consider Lillian’s relationship with the Bursteins, Chinky’s relationship with Mrs. Mortimer, and Gumdrop’s relationship with Snooky Salt, as well as Lillian’s relationship with John Bishop and Chinky’s relationship with Cleveland Munson.

10. What kind of person is Lillian? What do we learn, throughout the novel, about her passions and prejudices? Do you think Lillian is right when she says that she is lucky (p. 4)?

11. The omniscient third-person narrator of the novel is able to jump forward and backward in time and between parallel narratives. What is the purpose of this technique? Why does the author want us to know what happened to Sophie, even though Lillian herself never learns? Do you think Lillian ever stopped looking for Sophie?

12. The metaphors and descriptive images in this novel are unique. Can you point out a few effective metaphors that helped the novel come alive for you as a reader?

13. What significance do the chapter titles have? What are they derived from, and what do they tell the reader about what happens in the novel? Why did Bloom title her novel Away?

Away by Amy Bloom Characters

2009-04-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

Characters from Away by Amy Bloom

In New York
Lillian Leyb, the heroine
Reuben Burstein, theatre owner and “Impressario of Second Avenue”
Meyer Burstein, Reuben’s handsome actor son
Esther Burstein, Reuben’s wife
Gloria, Reuben’s mistress
Miss Morris, personnel manager for the Bursteins
Cousin Frieda, Lillian’s cousin who gives her a place to live in N.Y.
Judith, Lillian’s friend in N.Y.
Yaakov Shimmelman, tailor
Cousin Raisele, cousin comes to N.Y. to tell Lillian Sophie is still alive

In Russia
Ossip, Lillian’s husband
Sophie, their daughter
Lillian’s mother and father
Aunt Miriam
Mr. & Mrs. Pinsky, childless couple who take Sophie to Siberia

Going Westward

Red (Andy) McGann, one of railroad employees who helps Lillian

Seattle

Gumdrop (Clothilde) Browne, Lillian’s “rescuer
Snooky Salt, Gumdrop’s cousin Walter

On the Way to Alaska

Mary and Martha Hornsmith, missionary sisters

Prince Rupert

Arthur Gilpin, Prince Rupert’s only constable
Helen, his deceased wife
Lorena Wexall, the new Mrs. Gilpin

Agrarian Work Center for Women

Fat Patty, tattoo artist
Mrs. Mortimer, the librarian
Chinky Chang, grafter and Lillian’s roommate
Gypsy Lou, enemy of Chinky
Emily Anne Warren, inmate who walks for her “spirit”

On the Way to Vancouver

Chang Christian Road Show

Chinky and various family members, father, and sister
Cleveland Seward Munson, Mormon boy who leaves with Chinky

With the Mule Train

Guy Gagneaux, Gilpin’s friend and Lillian’s “guard”

Walking in the Wilderness

Ned, Billy, and Sally, three children whose mother died
Mr. Mason, their father

John Bishop, telegraph operator
Alice, John’s fiancée before Lillian
Tibby Kunish, Englishman killed by John in saloon fight

Dawson

Various boatmen including Torbjorn Jensen and his grandson, Oyvind

Sophie, Later

After Siberia, she and the Pinskys move to Vladivostok
Sophie becomes Tatiana Bugayenko