Us Against You, by Fredrik Backman

Hockey Teams

Others

Peter Andersson – General Manager Kira – wife, lawyer Maya – raped by Kevin Erdahl Leo – 12 years old Benji Ovich Mother Sisters – Katia, Adri, and Gaby Amat Fatima – mother, cleans rink Bobo Ann-Katrin – mother, nurse, cancer Hog – father Two younger siblings Vidar Rinnius – released early from facility to be goalie, Teemu’s younger brother, killed in accident Sune – previous coach, sick Elizabeth Zackel – head coach Heb team: David – coach William Lyt

Peter’s best friends: Tails – owns supermarket Hog Ana – Maya’s friend Amat’s best friends: Zacharias Lifa Councillors: Richard Theo Female politician – ax in hood of car Spanish-home-owning politician Ramona – owns Bearskin bar Five uncles The Pack: Teemu Rinnius Spider Woody Jeanette – teacher, martial arts teacher Alicia – 4 ½ years old, future hockey player

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1. What did you think about the various characters in the novel?  Were they portrayed as good, bad, or a complicated mix?  Consider Richard Theo, the Pack, Peter, the female politician, and others.
2. Elizabeth named Benji as team captain and told him, “…I’m giving you the thing you’re most terrified of: responsibility for other people” (page 193).  Following that, he and the team realize he has already become their leader.  Why did she pick Benji?
3. Why did the people in both towns care so much that Benji was gay?
4. David, coach of Hed team, felt that “…leadership is a matter of manipulating emotions to achieve results” (page 204).   Does this present a more negative view of leadership?   How effective were the various leaders in the novel?
5. Did you understand how sports was portrayed in the novel?  For example, the author wrote, “It’s easy for children to love hockey, because you don’t have to think when you’re playing it.  Memory loss is one of the finest things sports can give us” (page 17).  Is this true of all sports?
6. The other allure of sports that the author emphasized was that the team can become like a family, “(f)or anyone who needs an extra one or never had one in the first place” (page 332). And that “(s)ports carry the promise that we can have everything tonight.  Only sports can do that” (page 333).  Do you agree?  If you played a team sport did you experience this?
7. Do you think the dynamics in the Andersson family was fair?  Peter and Kira decided to stay in Beartown to fight for the team, but was this fair to Maya and Leo?  Maya told Peter she did not want to move because, “this is my town, too” (page 58).  How did this decision affect Leo?  What about Kira sacrificing her career for Peter and the team?
8. On page 63 the author wrote, “So if you want to understand their biggest stories, first you have to listen to the smaller ones.”   Do you agree?  What were the small stories in the novel that influenced the overall plot? 
9. If you did not read Beartown, did you feel caught up with the story line and characters?
10. There were many issues addressed in the novel including the following.  Were there too many?  How well did the author address each one?  Did you gain any new insights?
1. Friendship
2. Loyalty
3. Family vs. career
4. Social media
5. Sexuality
6. Treatment of rape victims
7. Justice
8. Mental health
9. Crowd mentality
10. Politicians – honest and dishonest
11. Death

11. Did you like the foreshadowing the author used?  Did it keep you interested in the story and wanting to see what happened?
12. Besides the foreshadowing, did you enjoy the author’s writing?  For example, on page 292 he led the reader to think something different had happened than where the story went when he wrote, “There’s a long period of silence.  Then a single shot echoes between the trees.”  The writer led the reader to think Benji committed suicide but that is not what happened.

*****
First Semester Success, 2nd edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hard copy from amazon.com and hard copy from wordassociation.com.

The Power of Books and Reading

Many of the books and articles I read this summer emphasized the power of books and reading, and their influence in many people’s lives.  

• In The Wright Brothers, by David McCullough, he wrote that Wilbur Wright was injured as a teenager and, because of that, was not able to attend Yale as planned.  He stayed at home for three years and read.    His father, Bishop Wright, “a lifelong lover of books, heartily championed the limitless value of reading” (page 17).
• Scott Kelly wrote in Endurance that The Right Stuff, by Thomas Wolfe, changed the direction of his life.
• Many people involved in the space program such as Homer Hickam and Robert Goddard mentioned Jules Verne’s books From the Earth to the Moon and The War of the Worlds as an influence on their interest space exploration.
• Many successful women were inspired by the Nancy Drew series including Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg (“The Mystery of the Nancy Drew Pittsburgh Connection,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 8-16-2019).

There are multiple reasons to read including pure pleasure, escape, knowledge, inspiration, comfort, and many more.  The benefits of reading include developing critical thinking skills, empathy, an extended attention span, as well as the previous list.   We often don’t know the influence something we read will have on our lives in the near or far future.  So – just keep reading!