The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams

 

Characters/People

Esme Nicoll Da – father  Lily – mother, deceased   Edith Thompson “Ditte” – godmother Elizabeth “Beth” – sister, A Dragoon’s Wife, 1907   Mrs. Murray 11 children   Mrs. Ballard – cook Lizzie – servant   Mabel O’Shaughnessy – market stall   Tilda Taylor – actress, suffragette Bill – brother Little Billy Bunting – Bill’s son   Phillip Brooks Sarah – wife Megan – Esme’s daughter, adopted by Phillip and Sarah   Cauldshields School – 1987 to 1898   Cobbler’s Dingle Mr. Lloyd Natasha – wife, became Lizzie’s friend Tommy – son   Radcliffe Infirmary Angus Private Albert Northrop “Bertie”   Esperanto - “world’s most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language” (Wikipedia)

Scriptorium Dr. James Murray, editor Da – Mr. Harry Nicoll Mr. Mitchell – two colors of socks Mr. Maling Mr. Balk Mr. Fred Sweatman Mr. Dankworth – unauthorized corrections Mr. Crane – fired, too many errors Mr. Yockney Mr. Rawlings – took Da’s place Murray daughters: Elsie, Rosfrith   Oxford University Press Mr. Hart – “Hart’s Rules,” In charge of printing dictionary Gareth Owen – compositor   Old Ashmolean – Dictionary Room – August 1901 Mr. Bradley – second editor Mr. Craigie – third editor Eleanor Bradley   Bodleian Library Mr. Nicholson Mr. Madden – Nicholson’s successor

 

 

 

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1.       Did reading this book make you think about words differently?

a.       Page 89 – words only included in dictionary “if someone great had written them down.”

b.       Page 127 – words “change as they are passed from mouth to mouth; their meanings stretch or truncate to fit what needs to be said.”

c.       Page 129 – “A vulgar word, well placed and said with just enough vigour, can express far more that its polite equivalent.”

d.       Page 181 – regarding swear words, “They are like bullets, full of energy, and when you give one breath you can feel its sharp edge against your lip.  It can be quite cathartic in the right context.”

2.       Which characters did you particularly like, or dislike?  How well did the author bring them to life?

3.       When Lizzie met Natasha at Cobbler’s Dingle, that was the first friend she ever had.  How did that friendship add to her life?

4.       Discuss Lizzie and Mabel O’Shaughnessy.  Lizzie told Esme, “Nothing I ever said has been written down” (page 103).  How did it make them feel when Esme wrote down what they said?  Also, Lizzie said she did needlepoint because “it proves I exist…Everything I do gets eaten, dirtied or burned – at the end of the day there’s no proof I’ve been here at all” (page 33).  Do you think someone could have those feelings today?

5.       What did you think about Esme’s time working in the hospital with Bertie and the use of Esperanto? 

6.       When Esme thinks about her daughter, the words “Her” and “She” are capitalized.  What did that signify?

7.       At the end of the book, Esme and Lizzie took Women’s Words and Their Meanings to show Mr. Madden at the Bodleian Library.  Even in 1915 he told her the book was “of no scholarly importance” (page 338).  Esme replied, “It fills a gap in knowledge, and surely that is the purpose of scholarship” (page 338).  Were you surprised that nothing had changed since 1887?

8.       What did you learn from this book about the evolution of women’s roles in the early 1900’s?  How important was the inclusion of women’s suffrage to the story of the dictionary?

9.       How does the way people speak and the words they use influence how you regard them?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey

 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey (published 1962)

·       Time Magazine – 100 Best English Language novels 1923 – 2005

·       BBC – 200 best-loved novels in the UK’s in 2003 poll

·       One of America’ most challenged and banned novels

Characters
Patients	Staff
Acutes – able to be fixed R. P. McMurphy – newest Cheswick Billy Bibbit Martini Harding (graduated college, Pres Patient Council) Maxwell Taber Fredrickson   Chronics – no fixing Chief Bromden – narrator Colonel Matterson George Pete Bacini Scanlon Harding Sefelt Ellis Ruckly Old Blastic   Vera – Harding’s wife	Nurse Ratched   Dr. Spivey   Therapeutic Community – get along in the group to learn how to get along back in the community   Three black boys in white suits McGeever Sam Washington   Nurse Pilbon – birthmark, night nurse   Nurse Flinn   Mr. Turkle – night aide   Young residents   “Public Relations”   Billy Bibbit’s mother – receptionist, friend of Nurse Ratched

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2016 Berkley premium edition (paperback).

1.       Were you surprised to read that many of the patients were there voluntarily, for example Harding, Billy, Sefelt, and Fredrickson?

2.       The narrator, Chief Bromden, pretended to be deaf and dumb for years until McMurphy came.  He was hesitant to sign up for McMurphy’s fishing trip because that would let everyone, including the staff, know he had heard all the things said around him for years when people thought he could not hear and would not tell!  How would people knowing he could hear and talk change how they treated him?

 

3.       Bromden related that “people first took to acting like I couldn’t hear or talk a long time before that” (page 210).  This treatment started as early as elementary school and continued through when he was in the Army.  He said, “That was the way they figured you were supposed to act around someone looked like I did” (page 210).  How does the way we look influence how people treat us?

4.       Bromden’s father told him, “people will force you one way or the other, into doing what they think you should do, or into just being mule-stubborn and doing the opposite out of spite” (page 210).  Why did Bromden act the way people expected of him?  How did knowing McMurphy change him?

5.       McMurphy’s final act was to physically attack Nurse Ratched.  Could he have done anything else?  Bromden thought the group could not stop him “because we were the ones making him do it…It was us that had been making him go on for weeks” (page 318).

6.       As you were reading the novel, what did you think about Nurse Ratched?  Was she basically well-intentioned, misinformed of sound medical practices, or just evil?

7.       Was Nurse Ratched justified in what she did to McMurphy at the end of the novel?

8.       The plan at the end of the novel was for McMurphy to escape, but he fell asleep with the girl and never got away.  How do you think he would have made out if his escape plan had worked?

9.       What did you think about the last three pages – Bromden kills McMurphy and then runs away?   Do you think McMurphy would approve of what he did?

10.   Is there a deeper meaning to the book than just the surface story?

11.   Why does this novel elicit such a wide range of feelings in people – from being one of the best and best-loved novels to being banned and challenged?

The Reading List, by Sara Nisha Adams

 

The Reading List, by Sara Nisha Adams

Characters
Aleisha – working at library Aiden – dropped out of school to care for mother Leilah – mother, ill Dean – father, new life and family   Zac Lowe – law student, guy on train   Mia – Aleisha’s friend   Mukesh Naina – wife, deceased Rohini, Deepali, Vritti – daughters Priya, Jaya and Jayesh – grandchildren   Nilakshi – Naina’s best friend, lost both husband and son in accident   Harish – Mukesh’s friend Meena – wife   Nasseem – neighbor Noor - daughter   Harrow Road Library Aleisha Dev “Thermos Flask Dev” – manager Kyle Benny Chris “Crime Thriller Guy” Lucy - volunteer	Found or given reading list
	Aleisha – found list in copy of To Kill a Mockingbird returned by “Crime Thriller Guy,” shared titles with Mukesh   Chris – found list on library table under a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird with a note Melanie – girlfriend, relationship ended   Indira Patel – found list in shoe space at the mandir   Lenora – found list on board at yoga studio Helena – sister   Izzy – found list on street, collects lists   Joseph – given list by library patron, bullied   Gigi – found list in supermarket

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1.       As you were reading, who do you think wrote the list?

2.       When Mukesh went to the charity walk, he carried a copy of Rebecca with him. He thought about how Naina “used to carry a book with her wherever she was, in case she got stuck in a lift on her own…” (page 126).  Did you relate to this idea?

3.       Izzy collected lists and made-up stories about the people who wrote them.  Do you make lists?  If someone found one of your lists, what would it tell them about you?

 

4.       Discuss Mukesh’s friendship and relationship with Nilakshi, Naina’s best friend.   Were you surprised at his daughters’ reactions?

5.       The novel dealt with many serious issues (grief, loneliness, caring for a sick parent, suicide, bullying) in addition to the positive power of reading.  Did you find the book sad or uplifting, or both?

6.       Could anything have been done to help Aidan?  Would adding him to the book list recipients have helped?

7.       How did the books on the list help the different people who found it?

8.       At least both Mukesh and Aleisha saw or imagined the characters from the various books during their regular days.   Has this ever happened to you?

9.       Is there a book that you have read several times during your life?  Did it mean different things to you at different ages?

10.   Which books have you read from the list?  Did you think they were powerful enough to be included on the list?  Are there any others you would recommend?