Me Before You, by JoJo Moyes

Characters
Clarks	Traynors
Louise Parents – Josie and Bernard Sister – Katrina and son, Thomas   Patrick – Louisa’s boyfriend	Will Parents – Camilla and Steven Georgina – sister   Nathan – physical therapist   Alicia – former girlfriend Rupert – fiancée/husband   Della – Steven’s girlfriend

 For discussion:

NOTE:  Page numbers refer to the paperback edition.

1. The author describes Lou’s style as “dressing inventively.”  How did you imagine her looking?

2. Discuss the Clark family’s treatment of Louisa vs. Katrina.  For example, her dad called Louisa “lardarse.” 

3. When Katrina had Thomas, Louisa slept in a very small room and gave them the larger room.  When they left for college, Louisa moved back to larger room, but Katrina thought they should still have the larger room for when they came home.  Do you agree or not?  Why?

4. Discuss Camilla, Will’s mother.  On page 32, the author wrote, “His mother wouldn’t look at him as she spoke, I noticed.  She kept her gaze about ten feel away on the floor.” 

a. Also, why did she keep touching her cross necklace?  This seemed like it was foreshadowing something, but was not mentioned at the end.  Why did the author mention it so often? 

5. Camilla had a way of speaking that made the other party feel inferior.  Louisa said, “I wondered if she knew that everything she said made the other person feel like an idiot.  I wondered if it was something she actually cultivated deliberately.”  (page 120)  Have you ever known someone like that?

6. What should Alicia have done regarding her and Will’s relationship after the accident?  Can you understand her thinking and decision?

7. When the Traynors built the annex after Will’s accident, why did they have two steps separating it from the house?  Why not a ramp?  (page 109)

8. What did you think about Louisa’s mother reaction at the end of the novel when she went to Switzerland to be with Will?  Did you think she might be more supportive of her daughter?

9. Did you like the ending, with Louisa at the café in Paris? 

10. Discuss the different reactions to the disabled by “ordinary” vs. middle class people.  (pages 161-162)  Louisa observed that “ordinary “people “stared, smiled sympathetically, expressed sympathy or ask...what had happened.”  But middle-class people pretended not to look but kept sneaking glances.  How do you think we should react when we encounter a handicapped person?

11. What does the title mean?  Who put themselves before someone else?

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at wordassociation.com, amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

The Dante Club, by Matthew Pearl

NOTE:  This is the second in a three-part series on Dante's Inferno.  Last month I posted information and discussion questions for Dante's Inferno and various bibliographies.  Next month look for a list of characters and questions for Dan Brown's Inferno.  This series is for my Library Book Club's "Dante Summer."

Characters

The Dante Club J. T. Fields – publisher of poets and for Harvard Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes – Professor, anatomy – Harvard alum James Russell Lowell – Professor and editor, modern languages and literature – Harvard alum George Washington Greene – Harvard alum – preached on Dante to veterans Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – professor Publishing House J. R. Osgood –senior clerk Samuel Ticknor – son of deceased partner, William D. Ticknor Cecilia Emory – clerk – kissed by Samuel Ticknor Dan Teal (Benjamin Galvin) – clerk – defended Ms. Emory and punched Samuel Ticknor Victims #1 – Artemus  Precott Healey - Neutrals – refused to sign Fugitive Slave Act and to argue on behalf of Dante to Harvard Board #2 – Rev, Elisha Talbot – Simoniacs – profited from selling religious artifacts and religious grants #3 – Phineas Jennison – Schismatic –created internal riffs #4 – Augustus Manning - traitor Nicholas Rey – detective, mulatto Willard Burndy – second-best safecracker, arrested for three murders Langdon Peaslee – safecracker Grifone Lonza – criminal who whispered Dante’s words to Rey and then jumped to death at police station Simon Camp – Pinkerton detective, hired by Manning

Harvard

Dr. Augustus Manning – treasurer of Harvard Corporation – against teaching of Dante Dante Students Edward Sheldon Pliny Mead Pietro Bachi – Italian instructor, banished by Vatican and fired from Harvard for intemperance and insolvency Professor Louis Agassiz – insect expert and faculty, accepted money for museum to side with Manning, participated in book burning

For discussion:
NOTE:  All page numbers are from the paperback edition.

1. In discussing the murderer and his relationship with Dante, Holmes stated that, “It would not be the first or last time that literature mastered a weakened mind.  Think of John Wilkes Booth.”  (page 170)  We usually think of the positive impact of reading, is there any negative impact?

2. Ticknor, the retired publisher, stated, “Shakespeare brings us to know ourselves. Dante, with his dissection of all others, bids us know one another, “and “I have tried to teach so many members of my family how Dante made me a better man, with little understanding.”   (page 227)  What positive influence might reading Dante have on an individual, positive or negative? 

3. Matthew Pearl stated that he had access to numerous journals, letters, etc. from the main historical characters.   Did you like the personalities the author gave to each one?  Do you think they were accurate?

4. One “rule” of mystery writing is that the crime is solved with the available evidence that was presented to the reader but that the reader does not solve the crime before the detective in the book.  Does this book follow that pattern?  Do you think it is a traditional mystery story?

5. Matthew Pearl stated that you do not have to know Dante to enjoy the book.  Do you agree or disagree?  Why?

6. Do you think the story could stand on its own without Dante?

7. How did your previous knowledge of Dante’s Inferno influence your reading of this novel?
****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at wordassociation.com, amazon.com and barnesandnoble,com.

A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert “Believe It or Not” Ripley, by Neal Thompson.

Note:  I received a copy of this book in exchange for writing a review.  Happily this was very easy as I loved the book!  I have always read the Sunday Comics, and remember as a young child reading “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” and marveling at the oddities presented each week.   LeRoy Robert Ripley’s life was truly amazing – as amazing as the people, places and endeavors he drew and wrote about each week.  It was hard to believe that he accomplished what he did - consistently producing five or more cartoons a week plus radio and TV shows on top of frequent world travels!  At the same time he met many famous people including Mark Twain, Walt Disney and Barry Goldwater to name a few.   

Below is a list of the main people in his life as well as discussion questions.   This book will appeal to many people and will promote interesting discussions.  Enjoy!

 

People

LeRoy Robert Ripley Isaac and Lillie – parents Ethel and Doug – siblings   Beatrice Roberts – wife – divorced   Arthur “Bugs” Baer – best friend   Almuth Seabeck – housekeeper   Associates: Norbert Pearlroth – researcher – critical to success but unknown Robert Hyland – financial manager Dick Hyman – publicist Joe Simpson – traveling secretary C. C. Pyle – oversaw Odditoriums Doug Storer – managed radio shows (wife Hazel also good friend of Ripley’s)   Women friends: Ruth Ross (Oakie) Li Ling-Ai Ming Jung Leise Wisse

For discussion:

1. How did Ripley’s childhood (buck teeth, shy, stutterer) shape his adulthood and vocation?

2. Seneca, a first-century Roman philosopher, said, “Luck is where the crossroads of opportunity and preparation meet.”  How did Ripley exemplify this quote?

3. Were you surprised how many well-known people were among Ripley’s acquaintances and friends?  For example he knew Mark Twain, Walt Disney and Barry Goldwater.  Charles Schultz, creator of Snoopy, sent Ripley a drawing for his cartoon.

4. Ripley loved to travel and used trips for rejuvenation.  What travel experiences have you had that rejuvenated you?  Or the opposite – exhausted you?  What is the most unusual or interesting thing you have seen on your travels?

5. In the mid 1920s American newspaper readers’ tastes changed and they wanted more pictures and gossip.  Tabloids became popular as they promoted this type of news.  The “critics likened tabloids to addictive drugs, fretting that they’d precipitate the demise of American culture.”  (page 139 of paperback)   Did that happened?  Are we still on a downward spiral?

6. Discuss Ripley’s relationship with women.  With alcohol.

7. Of all the people in Ripley’s life, Norbert Pearlroth seemed to stay the longest and stayed with the enterprise the longest after Ripley’s death.  How do you think he managed to be happy and stay in the background with no recognition?  Do you think he was treated fairly?

8. Did you feel like Ripley was exploiting the people in his shows or giving them a chance to earn money and be a celebrity?  Was his exhibit in the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933 publicity-seeking and exploitive or educational?

9. Do you think his exhibits will continue to be as popular as they were?  Why or why not?

10. Was Ripley a patriot, a celebrity or both?

11. At the end of the book, what did you think about the author’s commentary about current TV reality shows in comparison to what amazed Ripley?  How does our current fascination with “Fear Factor” or “Bizarre Foods” compare with people’s fascination with Ripley’s cartoons and shows?

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer is available at wordassociation.com, amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.