The Secret History, by Donna Tartt

 

Characters
Hampton College, Vermont	Other characters
John Richard Papen Henry Winter Charles and Camilla Macaulay - twins Frances Abernathy Edmund “Bunny” Corcoran   Julian Morrow – Greek professor   Dr. Roland – Richard worked for him at college   Marion – Bunny’s girlfriend   Judy Poovey   Cloke Rayburn – classmate, buys drugs Jack Teitelbaum – classmate   Epilogue: Richard – graduated from Hampton Henry – dead, suicide Francis – gay, marrying Priscilla to preserve inheritance Charles – ran off with married woman, living in Texas Camilla – not speaking with Charles, taking care of grandmother, turned down Richard’s marriage proposal because she still loved Henry Henry’s ghost – appeared to Richard	Harry Ray McRee – man killed by Francis, Henry, Charles, and Camilla while trying to have a bacchanal   Mack and Kathy Corcoran – Bunny’s parents Brothers   Agent Harvey Davenport – FBI   William Hundy – local businessman, spread false story   Priscilla – Francis’ fiancé at end of novel, “The Black Hole”

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1.       Discuss the various main characters and how they were portrayed. 

a.       Why was Henry so generous with Bunny?  For example, after the killing, he took Bunny to Italy over semester break.

b.       At the end, why did Henry commit suicide?

c.       Regarding Bunny, once he knew something, he could not quit talking about it.  Henry said of him, “The problem is he’s just a fool, and sooner or later he’s going to say the wrong thing to the wrong person” (page 177).

d.       Why was Bunny particularly cruel to Richard.  He “picked up with rapid and unflagging instinct the traces of everything in the world I was more insecure about, all the things I was in most agony to hide” (page 219).

e.       At the end of the novel, Charles entered the room with a gun and planned to kill Henry.  Charles said to Henry, “You ruined my life.” And Henry replied, “If anyone’s to blame for your problems, it’s you” (page 533).  Who was correct or are they both to blame?

f.        Richard was the narrator.  Did he have another part in the story besides this? 

2.       Money, or lack of it, played a large part in the novel.   Why did the author put so much emphasis on who had money and the reasons why some of the main characters did not?  

3.       What did you think about the incident when Bunny invited Richard to dinner, ran up a huge bill, and then lied and said he could not pay?

4.       Could the story have been the same without the major emphasis on drugs and drinking?  Why was that such a large part of the story?

5.       What did Bunny’s dad’s behavior and mourning add to the story?

6.       What did you think Julian’s back story was?

7.       Did you like the Epilogue and reading about what happened to everyone?  Was it a satisfying end?

8.       Discuss your reading experience.  Did your opinion and/or enjoyment of the novel change as you read further? 

9.       This novel was a Read with Jenna pick as well as Time Magazine’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Book of all time.   What did you think about these honors?

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The Horse Whisperer, by Nicholas Evans

 

Characters
New York	Choteau
Grace Maclean Robert – father, lawyer Annie Graves – mother, magazine editor-in-chief Elsa – Jamaican nanny Pilgrim – horse   Judith – riding friend Gulliver – horse   Wayne P. Tanner – truck driver   Liz Hammond – Pilgrim’s usual vet Harry Logan – vet at scene of accident, continued to work with Pilgrim Dorothy Chen – Cornell University, worked with Pilgrim   Magazine: Crawford Gates – company president Don Farlow – lawyer Anthony – Annie’s assistant Lucy Friedman – style expert Fenimore Fiske – movie critic, let go	Tom Booker Rachel Feinerman – Tom’s wife, separated Hal – son Rimrock - horse   Frank – Tom’s twin, shared ranch, Double Divide Diane – wife Sons – Joe, Scott and Craig   Ellen – Tom and Frank’s mother Rosie – sister   Terri Carlson – physical therapist   Smokey “Smoke” – helped Tom with chores

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.       Annie and Robert had completely different reactions to Grace’s accident and injuries.  Robert could not stop crying, but Annie did not cry at all.  She told him, “You’ve got to stop feeling sorry for her.  Pity won’t help her at all” (page 78).  Do you think a little pity would have hurt?

2.       Discuss the family dynamics in the Maclean family.   The author wrote, “Grace loved and resented her mother in almost equal measure and often for the same thing.  For her certainty, for example, and for the way she was always so damn right” (page 152). 

3.       On the other hand, Annie reflected that to her, “Action had become a substitute for feeling.  Or at least for the expression of it” (page 158).  Can you understand her point of view?

4.       Why do you think Annie was so determined to save Pilgrim?

5.       Another major influence on Annie and Robert’s relationship was their inability to have a second child.  Robert felt that when Annie accepted the editorship of the magazine, he thought that “she’d taken it either to distract or, again, to punish herself.  Perhaps both” (page 50).

6.       The book was published in 1995.  At one point Annie felt that Diane disapproved of how much she worked and seemed to think “that Annie was much too busy to bother herself with being a mother” (page 208).   Do you think this would be addressed the same now?

7.       What was it about Tom that Grace was willing to tell him about the accident when she would not talk about it with anyone else?

8.       How well did the author help you understand a subject that you might not be familiar with, such as amputation and the feelings of someone who has lost a body part or horse training and healing?

9.       Toward the end when Tom made Pilgrim lie down, he said to Annie, “Sometimes what seems like surrender isn’t surrender at all.  It’s about…seeing clearly the way life is and accepting it and being true to it, whatever the pain, because the pain of not being true to it is far, far greater” (page 373).  He was talking about their relationship.  Was this good advice or should they have denied their feelings?

10.   When Grace found out about Tom and Annie, she felt betrayed.   Did you understand her feelings?

11.   Did Tom deliberately let the wild stallion kill him?  Why?

12.   Did you like the ending, chapter 26?  What do you think happened between Annie and Robert? 

13.   Discuss your reading experience.  Did any parts of the book make you feel uncomfortable?  Did you gain any new insights or knowledge?

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