Remarkable Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt

 

Characters
Aquarium	Sowell Bay
Marcellus McSquiddles   Pippa the Grippa   Tora Sullivan Will – husband, deceased Erik – son, deceased Lars – brother, Charter Village, deceased   Terry – runs aquarium   Cameron Cassmore Aunt Jeanne – raised Cameron Daphne Cassmore - mother	Knit-Wits Mary Ann Minetti Janice Kim Barb Vanderhoof   Ethan Mack – owns Shop-Way   Adam Wright – high school friend of Erik’s   Simon Brinks – high school friend of Daphne’s, Cameron’s suspected father   Avery – owns surf shop Marco – son   Brad – Cameron’s friend Elizabeth – wife, expecting

 

For Discussion

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.       Discuss the various characters, including Marcellus.  How important was he to the novel’s popularity? 

2.       Marcellus was given many human-like skills, for example: he could open puzzle boxes, tell fingerprints apart, remember faces, use tools, and see the differences in human gaits.  How many of these things can you do?

3.       How do you think Erik died – suicide, accident?  Does it matter to the story to know?  How difficult would it be for Tova and Cameron not to know?

4.       At what point in the novel did everything start to fall into place for you?

5.       Do you think Daphne is alive somewhere?  Simon told Cameron, “you can’t fix someone who is determined to stay broken” (page 306).  If she is still alive, do you think she will want to be found?

6.       Cameron was raised by his mother’s sister, Aunt Jeanne.  Should she have told him more about his mother?  For example, he never knew he was from Sowell Bay until he was about 30.

7.       In regards to being “fixed,” how was Cameron different from his mother, Daphne, in that regard?

8.       What do you think contributed to Cameron turning around and returning to Sowell Bay to “do things the right way” (page 340).

9.       Were you sorry Tova sold the family home or did that turn out for the best?

10.   Did you like the ending?  Was it too neatly wrapped up?   Were you happy for Marcellus to be free for his death?  Cameron found the hidden space in Erik’s bedroom – was that realistic?

11.   On the one hand this was a fun book, but on the other it addressed many serious issues such as the loss of a loved one including a child, aging and how to handle that, loneliness, drug issues, etc.  How well do you think the author accomplished both entertaining the reader and addressing these issues?

 

 

Out of This Furnace, by Thomas Bell

 

Characters
Kracha 1881	Mike Dobrejcak 1900	Mary 1914	Dobie 1930s
George Kracha “Djuro” Elena – wife Djuro – son, died Daughters: Mary, Alice, Anna   Andrej Sedlar Francka – wife, Kracha’s sister Sons – Victor, Andy   Borda – Kracha’s sister   Dorta Joe Dubik – 1st husband Steve Radilla – 2nd husband   Mike Dobrejcak   Joe Wold – Slovak Jew, owned saloon   John and Zuska Mihula – met on boat   Frick Carnegie Homestead Strike 1892	Mike Dobrejcak Mary Kracha – wife Children: John Joseph “Johnny” Pauline Mike “Mikie” Agnes   Kracha   Joe Dobrejcak – brother   Dexter family – employed Kracha daughters   Steve Bodner   Zuska Mihula Joseph – son, priest   Carnegie sold 3 mills to J. P. Morgan > US Steel 1901	Mary and children move to Homestead after Mike’s death   Kracha moves in   Dorta   Joe Dobrejcak   John Barry Anna – wife Moved to Donora   Johnny – road crew in Donora   Spanish Flu 1918   Kracha – living with Francka   Francka – making moonshine	Johnny Dobrejcak “Dobie” – secretary in union Julie – wife   John Barry Anna – active in politics   Kracha “Dzedo”   AFL – workers’ union Dobie Gralja Burke Walsh – organizer from Pittsburgh   ERP – company union Bill Hagarty   CIO - 1935   Flack - superintendent

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 1976 University of Pittsburgh Press edition.

1.       The book was written in 1941.  The author used the “n word” when discussing prejudice.  He wrote, “once it was the Irish looking down on the Hunkies and now it’s the Hunkies looking down on the n…” (page 330).  Is the term “hunky” as bad as the other word?  Why or why not?  Do you think one or both of these words should be edited out?

2.       The Slovaks who came to America were part of “an oppressed minority from the beginning of time” (page 123).  Why do you think they found the same “hostility and contempt of their neighbors, the men they worked with” (page 123) in America?

 3.       Did this book give you any insight into the development and causes of prejudice?

4.       Were you surprised at how the steel industry treated their early workers?  Early in the novel Joe Dubik dies in an explosion in one of the furnaces.  The author wrote that “it was the result of greed, and part of the education of the American steel industry” (page 54).

5.       Even with the bad living and working conditions, people were described as having positive characteristics.  One was hope – “Hope sustained him, as it sustained them all: hope and the human tendency to feel that” (page 47-48).  Another was goodness – “People are born good, they want to be good.  But there is something in the world that makes them bad” (page 217).  What other positive attributes did the characters display?

6.       Mary took Mike Dobrejcak to the Dexter’s house where she worked.  He was surprised to see furniture and dishes that were beautiful and not just functional.  He commented, “No matter how much you get you always want more.” and “Maybe it would have been better for me never to have seen it” (page 137).  Have you ever experienced suddenly wanting something that you never thought about previously?

7.       Do you think there is another side or perspective to this story?  For example, how would Carnegie, Frick, or the Dexter’s view this history?

8.       Dobie described Americans as “the kind that’s got Made in U. S. A. stamped all over them (page 410).  How did this apply to the development of the characters and the story?

9.       Did you like the ending?

America's First Daughter, by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie

 

Jefferson’s	Randolph’s	Others
Thomas Jefferson Martha – wife, deceased Martha “Patsy” Polly Lucy – deceased   Patsy and Tom Randolph Ann Thomas Jefferson “Jeff” Ellen Cornelia Virginia “Ginny” James Madison – first baby born in President’s House Benjamin Franklin Septimia   Jack Eppes – married Polly   Sally Hemings – father is Martha’s father Betty – mother Nance, Critta – same father Jimmy “James” – chef   Sally’s sons, promised freedom at age 21: Beverly, Johnny, Madison, Eston Harriet – only surviving daughter	Colonel Randolph- Jefferson’s cousin Tom – oldest son, married Patsy Judith Nancy   Gabriella Harvie – second wife   Richard Randolph – Bizarre Plantation – accused of murdering Nancy’s baby Judith (Tom’s sister) – wife Theo and John – two brothers   Congressman Randolph of Roanoke – Richard’s brother	William Short – Jefferson’s secretary   John Adams Abagail   John Madison Dolley   Marquis de Lafayette   Marie Cosway – possible affair with Thomas Jefferson

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2016 paperback edition.

1.       Was it fair to place such high expectations on Patsy?  Her mother made her promise to always take care of her father when she died.  Also, in a letter from her father in 1783, he wrote “The acquirements I hope you’ll make under the tutors I’ve provided will render you more worthy of my love…no distress this world can now bring on me could equal that of your disappointing my hopes” (pages 60 and 61).

2.       Do you think Martha would have encouraged Jefferson to remarry if she had known that Jefferson would have a romance with Marie Cosway and father children with Sally Hemings?

3.       Did you gain any insights into our country’s history regarding slavery?

4.       Did William Short provide an effective counterbalance to Jefferson’s thoughts on slavery?  He told Patsy he could not live in Virginia because of slavery and suggested to Jefferson that the mixing of races “is our surest path to doing away with racial prejudice” (page 369).

5.       Both Jimmy and Sally returned to Virginia after living as free people in France.  Jefferson promised to free Jimmy after he taught someone to cook for him and to care for Sally and free her children when they turned 21.  Could you understand their motivations?

6.       When Beverly turned 21, Sally chose to keep him a slave and near her rather than send him away.   Did you understand her choice?

7.       Patsy made many sacrifices for Jefferson – William told her she could be his wife and mother to their children or Jefferson’s devoted daughter, but not both (page 214).  Did Jefferson make any sacrifices in return?

8.       Were you surprised when Patsy lied in court to project Nancy’s reputation when Richard Randolph was accused of murdering the baby she had with him?  Her rationale was that “For my husband’s sake, I’d saved her [Nancy’s] life” and that “only a small part of the world would be influenced by the decision of the court” (page 301).

9.       In the novel, many events were influenced by the women behind the scenes. How effective would these strategies be today?  For example:

a.       When England enacted the Embargo Act of 1807, Patsy realized that the country’s fate was in the hands of the women who would make most of the sacrifices. 

b.       Likewise, when Tom was running for office against John Randolph (Richard’s brother), Patsy and Dolley wrote letters to influential ladies, tarnishing John’s reputation.

c.       Patsy was successful as Jefferson’s hostess in Washington.  She befriended the wives of the newspapermen and singled out the most belligerent men and kept them engaged in conversation. She told Dolley Madison she was able to be aware of troublemakers before they could start anything because she listened “to what they do not say” (page 387).

10.   Many of the men had negative characteristics described in the book.  Do you think this was common for those times or just the way those people were?

a.       Thomas Jefferson – intimate with Sally Hemings

b.       Colonel Randolph – mean and uncaring to children

c.       Tom Randolph – not good at managing plantation or business, hit his son, Jeff, and Patsy.

d.       Richard Randolph – had baby with wife’s sister and then killed the baby

e.       Jack Epps – not considerate of Polly or her health, kept her away from her family

11.   Was Patsy to blame for many of Tom’s troubles?  Do you think he  would have the same fate if he had married a woman from a regular family instead of Thomas Jefferson’s daughter?

12.   Did this book change how you viewed Thomas Jefferson or Sally Hemings?

13.   Would this book be banned in today’s schools?  If so, why?

Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel

 

Caiette – Northern Vancouver Island File corruption
Remittance 1912	Mirella and Vincent 2020	Last Book Tour on Earth 2203	Bad Chickens 2401
Edwin St John St. Andrew Father Mother – Abagail Gilbert – oldest brother – inherit all Niall – middle brother   “Raj” – English children born in India   Reginald -headed out west Thomas – Niall’s friend   Priest (Gaspery) – in forest, met Edwin	Mirella Kessler Faisel – husband   Vincent Alkaitis Jonathan – husband, Ponzi scheme   Paul James Smith – Vincent’s brother, musician and video artist, showed video of file corruption during concert   Gaspery Roberts	Olive Llewellyn – author Aretta – publicist Dion – husband Sylvie – daughter   Marienbad – book, about pandemic, being made into a movie   Gaspery-Jacques – character in book   Gaspery Roberts – with “Contingencies Magazine”	Colony Two – on moon Olive Llewellyn lived there 200 years ago   Periphery Road – circled dome inside   Gaspery Zoey – sister, Time Institute   Ephrem – arborist, works at Time Institute   Anderson – live in Olive’s house Daughter – Natalia/Talia
2172 Zoey sent Gaspery to this year and location Alan Sami – new name, violinist Clara and Mariam – sisters, own farm, time travelers Lina “Talia” – violin teacher
2195 Alan Sami playing violin in airship terminal Olive Llewellyn walking in corridor Gaspery (#2) interviewed Alan Sami (Gaspery #1) Gaspery (#3) in forest at Caiette

  For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2022 paperback edition.

1.       Garpery warned Olive about the approaching pandemic, even though he was not supposed to.  If you knew something bad was to happen to someone, would you be able to not tell them?

2.       During the pandemic of 2203 Olive attended holographic meetings.  Most of us have experienced zoom meetings during COVID, how would a holographic meeting be better or not?

3.       After these holographic meetings, Olive said that they were very tiring, maybe because they weren’t real.  Dion replied, “Maybe you’re right.  Turns out reality is more important than we thought” (page 182).  What do you think he meant?  Do you agree with him?

4.       In one of her author talks in 2203 Olive was talking about the interest in postapocalyptic fiction.   She thought it possibly might indicate that people “long secretly for a world with less technology in it” (page 191).  Can you imagine we will ever get to that point?  What would the advantages and disadvantages be?

5.       When Gaspery was the security guard at the hotel in 2401, he lived in Colony One in an apartment complex so close to the edge of the dome that the dome was just above the building roof.   The author also described the Periphery Road that circled the city right inside the dome.  Were you able to imagine those situations through the author’s descriptions?

6.       Also in 2401, Gaspery and Zoey were reading a “handwritten document in a foreign alphabet” (page 125) but Gaspery could not understand.   Zoey told him it was cursive.   How many people would have trouble reading cursive now or in 20 years?

7.       Discuss your reading experience.  Did you enjoy the book?  Were you able to keep everyone and the timeline straight?

8.       Have you read this type of novel before?    If no, did you like it and would you read another of this author’s books?  How would you explain this book to someone else?