Anxious People, by Fredrik Backman

 

Characters
Bank Robber and Hostages	Others
Bank Robber   Zara – bank manager, received letter from man who jumped from bridge 10 years ago   Roger Anna-Lena   Julia - pregnant Ro   Estelle – owner of apartment Knut – husband, deceased   Lennart – professional disrupter   Real Estate Agent	Bank Robber: Two daughters Ex-husband   Nadia – psychologist, saved from suicide by Jim, followed for 10 years by Zara   Jim – father, police officer Jack – son, police officer Mother – deceased, priest Sister – addict   London – bank teller at cashless bank being robbed   Man who jumped from bridge, wrote letter to Zara who turned down his loan   Stockholmers

For discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1.       The author goes out of his way to not identify the bank robber as male or female.  (See the description of the marriage break up on pages 55 and 56.)  Were you surprised when the bank robber turned out to be a woman?   Did you catch it when you read the pronoun “she” on page 204?  Why did the author add this twist?  Would it have made a difference to the plot of the story if the bank robber was male?

2.       Discuss Zara and her problems.   Should someone have been able to help her earlier or was she too clever to let anyone know what was really going on with her?  Should she have felt guilty for the man’s suicide?

3.       What difference would it have made in the story if Zara had opened the letter ten years earlier

4.       As you read, did your feelings change about Roger?  The author wrote that he was “…incredibly angry.  A man can end up like that as a result of the things old age takes away from him, like the ability to serve a purpose” (page 166).  But on page 173 Roger waited 20 minutes to give his parking space to a young father and on page 167 “he said three of the hardest words an older man can say to a younger woman. ‘You’ll manage it.’”

5.       Discuss Julia and Ro.  Could you relate to Ro’s concern about being a parent?

6.       Were you surprised that Jim helped the bank robber?

 

7.       The novel was first published in Sweden and there were multiple references to Stockholmers.  Do you think people from different countries read these parts the same?

a.       “a symbolic word to denote all the irritating people who get in the way of our happiness” (page 156)

b.       “Everyone is someone else’s Stockholmer, I guess” (page 229)

c.       “’Stockholm’ can also be a syndrome, of course” (page 157)

8.       The other term the author used often to describe people was “idiots.”     The author wrote, “People want to be good. Deep down. Kind. The problem of course is that it isn’t always possible to be kind to idiots, because they’re idiots” (page 101).   How do you think the author would define an idiot?  What did you think about this term as you were reading?

9.       Suicide (man on bridge and Nadia) and addiction (bank robber’s mother and Jack’s sister) played prominent roles in the novel.  How well did the author address these issues?  Regarding teenagers, how accurate do you think his description was of Nadia’s feelings on pages 98 and 99?

10.   Besides telling a story, the author addressed many current issues and dilemmas.  What did you think of the following?

a.       On page 52 he listed things we all understand we should never do (kill, lie, steal, throw stones at birds) and then gave exceptions (killing Hitler, lying about eating children’s candy, throwing stones at swans).

b.       “always be nice to other people, even idiots, because you never know how heavy their burden is” (page 101).

c.       “People want to be good…The problem of course is that it isn’t always possible to kind to idiots, because they’re idiots” (page 101).

d.       Having money enables you to buy distance from other people – first class plane seats, more space between tables at fancy restaurants, larger houses with large yards.

11.   What did you think as you read the first page?   Do you think you read it differently now (in midst of the COVID pandemic) than you would at a different time?

12.   Why do you think the author never gave the elk, the frog and the monkey names other than their nicknames?

13.   Did you like the author’s style?  For example, he often wrote directly to the reader such as in chapter two, page 4.

14.   What were some of your favorite parts of the book?

15.   What do you think you will remember about this book after some time has passed?

16.   Why did the author write this book?   If he was trying to make a statement, was he successful?

Nine Perfect Strangers, by Liane Moriarty

Spoiler Alert!  Don’t read this character list if you have not read the novel.  Part of the enjoyment of the novel was the author’s plot line that slowly revealed each character’s background story.
Guests	Staff
Frances Welty – author, last book rejected Paul Drabble – “boyfriend”, scam   Lars Lee – family lawyer, health retreat junki Ray – boyfriend   Ben and Jessica Chandler – lottery winners Lucy – Ben’s sister, drug overdose   Napoleon (teacher), Heather (midwife), and Zoe Marconi Zach – Zoe’s twin, suicide   Tony Hogburn “Smiley” – former football player   Carmel Schneider Four daughters Joel – ex-husband, Sonia - girlfriend	Maria Dmitrichenko “Masha” – Director   Yao   Delilah   Jan – masseuse, husband Gus (policeman)

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback copy.

1.       Were there some characters you connected with more than others?  Which one would you like to be friends with in real life? 

2.       When Frances was anticipating her counseling session with Masha, she reflected that she had never been to counseling because “she had friends for that.  They all counseled each other and it was generally a two-way process” (page 182).  But then upon further reflection she thought, “Other people’s problems were so simple, one’s own problems tended to be so much more nuanced” (page 183).  Why do you think we can easily see solutions to other’s problems but not our own?

3.       The author addressed many social issues in the novel.  Were there too many?  Did she do a good job realistically addressing these?  Did you gain any new insights?

a.       Body image (Jessica, Frances, Carmel, Tony)

b.       Plastic surgery – Jessica thought she was beautiful but Ben thought she was disfigured

c.       Loss of a child (Marconi family, Masha)

d.       Divorce (Carmel, Tony)

e.       Sudden wealth (Jessica and Ben)

f.        Suicide (Zach)

g.       Drugs (Lucy)

4.       Through Frances the author addressed issues faced by middle aged women in particular.   For example, when they were younger her friends envied her life style, but as they got older, they seemed to pity her because she was single and had no children.  What other aspects of a middle-aged woman’s life did the author accurately depict?

5.       Were you surprised that Frances fell for the romance scam with Paul Drabble?  Why was she susceptible to this scam?  Did you think she would be more sophisticated and understand what was happening?

6.       Discuss Yao.  Why did he go to work with Masha? 

7.       What do you think Masha’s goal was when she had the guests each defend one of the others to her?

8.       How do you think you would have handled the four days of “noble silence?” 

9.       Each guest received a daily schedule they were to follow.  Do you think you would like not having to think about what you were going to do all day?

10.   Were you surprised to discover that the guests had all been given low levels of drugs?

11.   Lars pointed out the inscription on the wall of the room made by the two convicts and said, “The lowest point in your life can lead to the highest” (page 387).  Did we see this in the various characters?  Was it just the opposite with Jessica and Ben – the highest point in their lives led to the lowest?

12.   Three months after the retreat, Heather wanted Napoleon to be angry with her because she did not read the insert with Zach’s medicine.  After he did so, they listed each thing they felt guilty about that they did or did not do.  Do you think this will help each person to move forward?

13.   Did you like the way the author slowly revealed everyone’s story or would you have preferred to know each backstory sooner? 

14.   Did you like how the author ended the novel – telling what happened in the aftermath to each of the characters?