Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

This year my library book group is having a "Steinbeck Summer."  This is the first of four works we are reading and discussing.

Characters

George Milton Lennie Small   Aunt Clara   Curley wife   Slim Carlson   Candy – wants to go in with George and Lennie to buy farm   Crooks – stable buck, crippled   Suzy and Clara – ran two brothels in town

 

For discussion:

1. Why did Steinbeck never give Curley's wife a name?
2. Why do you think George took care of Lennie and protected him?  Was there something George could have done to help Lennie more?
3. What did you think was wrong with Lennie?
4. What would happen to Lennie in today's world?
5. Why, in the end, did George kill Lennie?
6. How well did Steinbeck develop the characters?  Which did you understand the best?  Which was the most likeable?  The least?
7. This novella is on the High School English Advanced Placement summer reading list.  Why?  What do you think today's students will learn from this book?
8. Was there any character or event you particularly related to?  Why?
9. The various themes mentioned as being addressed in this book are friendship, racism, loneliness and prejudice against the mentally ill.  How well did Steinbeck address these issues?  How might the novella help readers view these themes differently?
10. This novella was written in 1937.  Why it is considered a classic?  How does it relate to today's society?

*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and wordassociation.com.  Click on the upper right link.

 

Dead Wake, by Erik Larson

Review posted on www.bloggingforbooks.com:   If you are interested in history or a well-told true story, you will enjoy this book.    Erik Larson did a good job of making the story interesting even though I knew the basic details.  He put the story in the context of the historical period and explained why the event was more significant than I understood.   I did have difficulty keeping track of the people and kept wondering if I needed to remember them for later in the book or if this was the only time I would read about them.   In his previous books, especially Devil in the White City, the strategy of telling two concurrent and related stories worked well, but in this book I am not sure how significant Wilson’s courtship and marriage to Edith Galt was to the story of the Lusitania.   Still, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others.  I received a complimentary copy of this book for this review.

People
Lusitania	U-20	Room 40 London, England	White House
Captain William Turner   Charles Lauriat Jr. – survivor - Boston bookseller Brought on board: Annotated “A Christmas Carol” Scrapbook of drawings by William Thackeray   Alta Piper – heard voices telling her not to board   Theodate Pope - survivor	Kptlt. Walther Schwieger	Cdr. Herbert Hope – charge of day-to-day management   Capt. William Hall – director of naval intelligence   Winston Churchill	President Woodrow Wilson   Helen Woodrow Bones – cousin   Edith Bolling Galt – Helen’s friend

 For discussion:
NOTE: The page numbers refer to the hardback edition of the book.


1. Larson has often used the pattern of connecting two concurrent stories in his novels.  Did the subplot of President Wilson and Edith Galt add to this novel?  Why or why not?


2. One passenger told Turner that the high number of deaths was caused by “lack of organization and discipline among the crew.” (page 297)  Do you agree?  Should they have been more prepared for an emergency?  (Keep in mind that the most experienced seamen were in the military at that time.)


3. Would you enlist to be a submarine crew member?  What qualities would this job require?


4. A woman claiming to be Schwieger’s finance said he was “shattered” by what he had done. (page 292)  However, Schwieger’s War Log gives a different account.  Who did you believe?  How could he have avoided being changed by the incident?


5. Was it right for the English government to withhold the information about German submarines in order to keep Room 40 a secret from the Germans?


6. Why did the Admiralty try to place the blame on Turner?


7. Who do you think was to blame for the disaster?

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins

Characters
Rachel	Megan	Anna
Tom – ex husband   Cathy – friend, letting Rachel stay with her   Mother   Andy – red-haired man from train	Scott – husband   Ben – older brother, deceased   Dr. Kamal Abdic – therapist   Craig McKenzie (Mac)   Elizabeth (Libby) – baby with Mac, deceased   Tara – friend and cover   Detectives: Riley Gaskill	Tom – husband   Evie - baby

 

For discussion:

NOTE: All pages refer to the hardback edition of the book.

1. Would you move into your husband’s house where he lived with his ex-wife?

2. What were the clues throughout the novel that let you know things were not as they seemed?  What did the author write to deliberately throw the reader off track?  These are the pages and passages I noted:

*Page 27 – Who is “he?”

*Page 113 – Scott was physically intimidating and Rachel thought he could crush her “without much effort.”

*Page 114 – The smell of antiseptic in Scott’s house

*Page 127 – A lot of what Scott said did not “ring true” to Rachel

*Page 230 – “The memory doesn’t fit with the reality, because I don’t remember anger, raging fury, I remember fear.”

*Page 241 – Tom’s relationship with his parents

3. Why did Rachel tell Dr. Abdic so much that she did not intended to withhold on the first visit?

4. Both Rachel and Megan held back a secret about a baby – Rachel unable to have one and Megan’s downing in tub.  Why did they hold this back when it was such an important part of who they were and what happened to them?

5. How did your opinion and thoughts about the characters change as you were reading? 

6. Would you have been as patient as Cathy with Rachel?  Explain your thoughts.

7. One mark of a good mystery is that the reader doesn’t figure it out before the end is revealed.  Did this novel fulfill this quality for you?  Why or why not?

8. Discuss your reading experience.  Were you able to keep the timeline straight and remember who was speaking in each chapter?

9. This book has been called the next “Gone Girl.”  Do you agree?  Which book did you enjoy more?  Why?

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and wordassociation.com.  Click on the upper right link.

She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb

Note from Arden: I loved this book when I read it 20+ years ago and I loved it just as much now.  Even though is it somewhat painful to read, Dolores' struggles are timeless.  My questions are very long, but there is so much to discuss in this novel.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Location	Characters
New York	Dolores Price Tony – father Bernice – mother Petey – lime green parakeet Mrs. Masicotte – hired Tony Thelma Holland – grandmother Eddie – son who died Arthur Music – driver who killed Bernice Geneva Sweet – Bernice’s high school friend
Rhode Island	Thelma – grandmother Roberta – Peacock Tattoo Emporium Jack and Rita Speight – 3rd floor tenants Rosalie and Stacia Pysyks – classmates at St. Anthony’s school Mr. Pucci – Guidance Counselor ·         Gary – boyfriend Larry – paperhanger Ruthie (wife) and Tia Thayer Kitchen Jemal – son
Merton College  Wayland, PA	Dottie – custodian Kippy Strednickis – roommate Dante – high school boyfriend Eric – Culinary Arts Domingos – cab driver who drive Dolores to Wellfleet in Cape Cod
Newport, RI	Gracewood Institute for 7 years: 4 inpatient and 3 outpatient Dr. Shaw Nadine - psychic
Montpelier, Vermont	Chadley Massey and Marguerite Wing – landlords Dante Davie - husband

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers refer to the paperback edition of the book.

1.Discuss Dolores’ rape and bullying.  This book has a 1992 copyright.  How different were the situations handled then compared to today?

2. Even though Dolores went to the emergency room two weeks after the rape, she did not want to tell her father or press charges.   How realistic was it to “pretend it did not happen.”  (page 117)

3. Did you understand Dolores’ rationalization when she blamed herself for Rita’s miscarriage? 

4. How did her mother’s “regret” (page 117) determine what she did next – letting Dolores stay home from school and buying her all the food she wanted?  What effect did her own affair with Jack have on her feelings and future behavior toward Dolores?   Can you understand Bernice’s feelings and actions?

5. Consider Dolores’ decision to go to college.  Was she wise to go so far away or would she have been better off closer to home?  How could she possibly make such a major mistake on the start date?  Was that realistic?

6. How did Bernice’s death influence Dolores’ college decision?  See page 136 where Dolores wonders if Bernice ran in front of the truck on purpose and if Dolores “had just agreed to go to college…then she’d be alive.”

7. The last thing Bernice said to Delores was, “You’ve made me so goddamned tired.”  (page   134)  How did this impact Delores? 

8. Did you understand Thelma’s frustration when she asked Dolores about her decision to go to college after her mother dies, “If you’re going anyway, then what was all that fuss about?  Why did you have to plague her?” (page 145)  Why did Dolores act that way?

9. Discuss how Dolores treated her father?  Could she or her father have done anything differently?  Would you have done the same?  Was there a “right” or “wrong” way to handle things?

10. On page 166, Ruthie told Dolores to go to college even if she thought she might hate it.  Ruthie said, “I usually learn more from the situations I hate than the ones I love, you know?”   Do you agree?  What did Dolores learn from all the bad situations?   How would her life have been different without all of the negative situations?

11. When Dolores was in the dorm orientation at Merton she watch everyone handling their Styrofoam cups and thought, “you could tell a lot more about people from watching their behavior with Styrofoam cups than you could by what they told you.” (page 189)   What can you learn about people by how they handle things?

12. What was the significance of the iron staple in the wall of the Merton dorm TV room? (page 203)

13. What did you think of Dolores finding Dante and then marrying him without revealing all that she knew about his past?

14. After her time at Gracewood and Dolores was taking a community college course on women, she said in class, “I think the secret is to just settle for the shape your life takes.   Instead of, you know, always waiting and wishing for what might make you happy.”  (page 433)  How did she follow, and not follow, this idea?

15. How did the different characters influence Dolores life, both positively and negatively?

16. After her abortion Dolores reflected that she had failed everyone (pages 375-6).  Do you agree or did they fail her?

17. Discuss your reading experience.  Was it positive or negative?  One reviewer was surprised the male author could understand and write so well from a female perspective.  Do you agree?

 *****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

 

My Life in Middlemarch, by Rebecca Mead

Review from Blogging for Books:
My Life in Middlemarch is an impressive book based on extensive research by the author.   I have not read Middlemarch for many years and, at the time of reading this book, did not remember much of the story.   The book might have been more engrossing if I had read Middlemarch first.  I did like the way the storyline and characters from Middlemarch were intertwined with both George Eliot’s and the author’s lives.  From my point of view as a reading professor and book discussion facilitator I particularly enjoyed all of the references to the act of reading a novel and how it is different each time it is read and also for different readers.   While not for pure pleasure reading, this book is insightful and worth the time.  I have received a free copy of the book in exchange for this review.  

Characters
Rebecca Mead	George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) 1819 – 1880	Middlemarch Published 1871-1872 in eight installments
Parallels to George Eliot: Author’s marriage similar to that of George and Lewes Both had stepchildren they had not met Parallels to Middlemarch: Had same life’s questions as characters	Robert Evans – father Isaac and Chrissey – siblings Fannie – half sister   Charles and Cara Bray – Local intellectuals in Coventry, England   Bird Grove in Coventry, England - moved here to help Mary Ann find a husband   Griff House – childhood home, 1841 given to Isaac and wife   George Henry Lewes – partner George’s children – Charles, Thorton, Herbert Three children by Agnes (George’s wife) and Hunt (lover)   John Walter Cross – 2nd husband   Alexander Main – summer 1871 – admirer - Wrote Wise, Witty & Tender Sayings, in Prose and Verse, Selected from the Work of George Eliot	Dorothea Brook Reverend Edward Casaubon   Will Ladislaw – Casaubon’s cousin, artist – marries Dorothea after Casaubon dies   Celia Brook   Dr. Tertius Lydgate - physician Rosamond Vincy - wife     Fred Vincy (Rosamond’s brother) Mary Garth - wife   Nicholas Bulstrode – banker   Reverend Camden Farebrother

For Discussion:
NOTE: The page numbers refer to the paperback edition of this book.


1. Have you read Middlemarch?  Do you agree with the assertion that it is one of the best novels ever written?  Why or why not?


2. The author wrote about reading and books.  Review the following quotes.  Which do you agree or disagree with?  Are there any that particularly speak to you?
a. "The book was reading me, as I was reading it." (page 5)
b. "Reading is sometimes thought of as a form of escapism....But a book can also be where one finds oneself..." (page 16)  What does the author mean by this statement?
c. "Books are less like babies, perhaps, than they are like adolescents: nurtured by motherly tenderness but very much their own person, then launched into the world to stand on their own."  (page 104)  How do you think an author feels when readers interpret a book differently than they do?  Do you think the author's interpretation is always the correct one?  Is there one correct interpretation?
d. "A book may not tell us how to live our own lives, but our own lives can teach us how to read a book."  (page 110)
e. "Certain genres of fiction derive their satisfaction from the predictability of their conclusion...But a successful realist novel necessarily takes unpredictable turns in just the way real life predictably must."  (page 113)   Is there one genre more valuable than another?
f. "Even the most sophisticated readers read novels in the light of their own experiences..."  (page 173)  Have you ever read a book twice separated by several years?  Was your reading experience different?  What about book group members?  Can you remember any discussion where there were different opinions about the main understanding of a book?


3. Regarding George Eliot:
a. The author made many references to George Eliot's appearance and her lack of traditional female attractiveness.  How do you think that influenced her as an author?
b. Eliot also did not have the traditional characteristics valued in a female ("charm and subservience" on page 129).  How did this affect her life and her writing?
c. What did you think of Eliot's decision to live with Lewes?  How hard would it have been to go against society, not to mention her family?
d. Were you surprised she married so quickly after Lewes death and to someone so young?
e. What did you think of Alexander Mains?  The author thought he was "creepy."  Why didn't Eliot have the same opinion?


4. Discuss your reading experience with this book.  Was it easy to follow?  Did you enjoy the experience?
*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

The Signature of All Things, by Elizbeth Gilbert

 

Characters
Philadelphia	Tahiti – sailed November 1851	Holland – 1854 and beyond
Henry Whittaker Beatrix van Devender Alma (Plum) – born 1800 Polly > Prudence (Our Little Exquisite)   Hanneke de Groat   George Hawkes – publisher of botanical journals   Retta Snow - friend, married George   Author Dixon – tutor, Prudence’s husband   Ambrose Pike   Dick Yancey – ship captain	Reverend Wells Wife and daughter live in Cornwall   Sister Manu   Tomorrow Morning   Roger – dog   The Hiro Contingent	Dr. Dees van Devender – uncle   Roger - dog   Hortus Botanicus   Alma became Curator of Mosses   Alfred Russell Wallace   Charles Darwin

 

For Discussion:
NOTE: All pages are from the hardback edition of the novel.

1. How did Henry's early life shape him as an adult?  How did it shape his role as a husband and father?
2. Why do you think the family so readily took Prudence in as part of their family?  Was it reasonable to think that Alma would accept her as a sister immediately?
3. How did Alma feel when Prudence was nicknamed "Our Exquisite One?"  Was that fair to her?  Why did her parents not understand how hurtful that was?
4. Discuss how much was expected of Alma compared to Prudence.  After Beatrix died Alma took over her mother's role while "Prudence had no value to Henry."  (page 151)
5. Were you surprised when Alma turned the estate over to Prudence after Henry's death?  Why do you think she did that?
6. Were you surprised when Hanneke said to Alma, "But everyone has been careful with you already, Alma...Perhaps they have been careful with you for too long."  (page 319)  Did this feeling surprise you?  How had people been "careful" with Alma?  How had they not?
7. Why didn't Hanneke tell Alma about Prudence, George and Retta earlier in the story?  (page 315)  How would this knowledge have changed the story?
8. What do you think was the motivation behind Dixon and Prudence's chosen lifestyle?  Alma thought "There was something about Prudence's manner of living that looked, to Alma's eyes, suspiciously like pride, even vanity."  (page 187)  Do you think it is really a sacrifice if you boast about it?
9. Was there perhaps a connection between Prudence's early childhood and her adult life of chosen poverty and deprivation?
10. Do you think Alma should feel guilty about Ambrose's death?  Why or why not?
11. How did your opinion of Ambrose change as you read the book?
12. When Alma arrived in Tahiti all of her belongings were stolen, but no one seemed alarmed or concerned about getting them back for her.  Then some things mysteriously returned while other things were taken.  How would you feel if you lost all of your belongings?  How would you adapt to having nothing of your own that was special?
13. Was Tomorrow Morning a good or evil character?  Explain.
14. How can you explain the attachment between Uncle Dees and Roger?
15. Discuss Alma's Theory of Competitive Alteration.  Do you think she should have published it earlier?  Did you like Wallace's explanation of the "Prudence Problem" - that a supreme intelligence gave humans their minds, not natural selection (pages 493&494)?
16. Did you like the writing?  Discus in particular:

• The frequent inclusion of dates.  Did that help you follow along?
• Telling Henry's story "while we wait for the girl to grow up and catch our interest again."  (page 7)
• How the author speaks with the reader.  (see above quote)

*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your Frist Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociaiton..com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the above right link.

 

 

 

 

 

The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey

 

Characters	Miscellaneous
Mabel Jack   Faina   Benson family: George Esther Garrett – youngest son Two older sons   Ada – Mable’s sister	Snegurochka, The Snow Maiden – Russian fairy tale   Siwashing – Indian term meaning to camp in woods with no tent or other comforts   Ptarmigan (TAHR-mi-gun) – grouses living in cold, northern regions with feathered feet

 

For Discussion:
NOTE: page numbers are for paperback edition

1. Discuss how Mabel survived and thrived in Alaska.  On page 331 she reflected that she "was making do, and somehow it suited her."  Could you survive in the wilderness or any other difficult environment and situation?
2. How accurately do you think the author described life in Alaska during that time period?  Would you have considered moving there?
3. Discuss how Jack and Mabel handled difficult situations:
1. (Page 85) Jack had to remove himself from the situation, for example when Mabel lost the baby or when relatives said nasty comments about her.
2. (Page 315-316 and 330) Mabel always let her emotions brew all day and then shared bad news at dinner.  Jack just wanted to eat his warm meal in peace and Mabel knew it was a bad habit.
4. In her letter to Mabel, Ada wrote that she wanted to change the ending of The Snow Maiden and "have everyone live happily ever after.  We are allowed to do that, are we not, Mabel?  To invent our own endings and choose joy over sorrow?" (page 129)  Were any of the characters able to do this?  Do you think it is realistic?
5. Discuss the different characters:
1. What did you think about Esther?  Was it realistic that she and Mabel became good friends?  Would you like a friend like Esther who would just take charge?
2. Were you surprised that Garrett and Faina fell in love?  Given that they spent so much time in nature, were you surprised they did not realize that Faina could get pregnant?
6. As you were reading, did you think Faina was real or a product of Mabel and Jack's imagination the way Mabel invented fairies as a child and insisted they were real, or the "winter madness" that Esther thought?
7. When Jack found Faina's father dead, was he right in honoring his word and not telling Mabel?
8. How do you think Faina survived alone in the woods?
9. Did you think Mabel reading The Snow Maiden as a child with her father influenced her in any way?
10. Discuss the end of the story, particularly the fact that Faina had a baby like a normal human but then, at the end, just disappeared into apparently think air, leaving all of her clothes behind.
11. Did you like the mix of reality and fantasy?  Why or why not?
12. This novel was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2013.  Why do you think it was being considered?  Do you think the honor was justified?  Why or why not?

*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.