Andrea Levy's The Long Song Discussion Questions for June's SBC meeting

Hi bookmates,

Here our questions for this Saturday's Book Chat discussion of Andrea Levy's The Long Song.
1. What did you think of the cover – did it make you think of Jamaica or sugar cane plantations?

2. At first July’s narration annoyed me, (the way she would say “dear Reader” and I had doubts about her tale), but once I read Thomas’s comment that she had multiple versions of how she was born I was able to let go of my disbelief and just flow with her narration. Did the author’s narrative structure work for you?
3. Did you enjoy the descriptive language of the novel? Or did you find yourself fighting the urge to skim paragraphs?
4. While reading I found myself thinking that if I lived in the time of slavery I would be more of a Nimrod rather than a Godfrey.
Discuss the effects of slavery on the following characters, Kitty, July, Godfrey and Nimrod.
5. How did slavery influence the way Caroline, Tom, Agnes, John and Robert behave towards others?
6. Did you think Caroline and July’s relationship rang true, especially after the introduction of Robert?
7. Who was your favourite character?
8. Which character did you empathise most with?
9. Discuss the role of the church in the novel.
10. Throughout the book Thomas and July’s have differences of opinion over the book. Who did you sympathise most with July or Thomas?
11. Do you think Thomas or July will ever find out what happened to Emily? What do you think happened to Emily?
12. When I first started the novel, and found out that Thomas was printing his mum’s memoir my initial reaction was “oh no this is another The Help” but it wasn’t The Long Song was a much darker tale. Do you agree or disagree? Did you find any similarities between the two novels?
13. How did you rate the novel from 1 to 5

Ben Elton's Blind Faith Discussion Questions and Notes from May's SBC meeting

Hi Bookmates,
Here are the notes from May's book discussion.1. This book was written in 2007. Do you think since then the world has become a bit more like this 'Blind Faith' world with the enormous usage of Facebook, twitter, Youtube?
Agreed by the group that now days there are a number of people that will do strange things to get their 15 minutes of fame. Talked about experiences when travelling on the train – its unusual to see people reading, most people get out their phones, laptops, ipods. Reality show have contributed too.
2. What did you think of the ending? With Trafford gone and all his fellow Humanists locked up, who would have continued with the organising of the Ev Love revolution?
Most thought that there would be someone who would have taken over with the organising of the Ev Love reolution. Comparisons to historical events made, such as Joan of Arc.3. Did you ever have any suspicions that Sandra Dee was a spy?
Some members did, some didn’t. Those that did thought she was too good to be true. She had too much freedom to rebel, whereas others, such as Cassius, went along with what the rest of the population did and did all his rebelling behind the scenes.4. There were some amusing parts to this book which I suppose you would expect from Ben Elton. I enjoyed the Jerry Springer type scenes from the confessions on pg 172. And also the names people had. Have you put any thought into a name you might like if you lived in this world? Or was there one particular name that amused you? (Barbieheart, Princess Lovebud, Tinkerbell, Kahlua, Caitlin Happymeal, Gucci KitKat, Phoenix Rising, Supernova, Lexus, Heavenly Braveheart etc)Members hadn’t put much thought into what name they would have used. Did find the names amusing, although some found it distracting when reading the book. Also a comment was made that a lot of people today uses aliases when signing up to different computer sites.5. The plot use of vaccination is quite realistic as many parents today do not to vaccinate their children against common ailments, such as measles etc. Diseases such as TB which was thought to have been eradicated in New Zealand have appeared in recent times. On the other side Super Bugs are increasingly common in hospitals, which would you prefer blind faith in science or in the temple?Discussion on peoples attitude to vaccinations today. Maybe some complacency occurs. Also the effect of media on the decisions parents make. Most would prefer faith in science – which is not necessarily blind faith as it has proven good results.
6. I would have liked to know a bit more about what happened to the world. We got a bit of info from pg 143 and bits and pieces throughout the book as part of the story but I would have liked more.
Others agreed with this. What for instance happened to the intelligent leaders of the world? What happened to other parts of the world eg USA
7. Was there anything you liked about this world? eg working from home most of the time except for fizzy coff days. pg 10
No, the majority thought there was nothing to like. Constant noise, half naked people, disease, etc
8. Discuss the title Blind Faith, did it fit the novel or sum up the unoriginality of the novel?
Yes, title suited the book.
9. How did you rate the novel from 1 to 5
Average of 3.3 out of 5
(2.5 NM, 3.5 ML, 3 MR, 3.5 JG, 4 VO, 4 LC, 4 SD, 4 NP, 3.5 DS, 3 MO, 2 PB, 2.5 GV)

Water For Elephants..the movie

Hello fellow book chatters,

As we are all probably aware, Water For Elephants has been adapted into a movie.  It will be released mid-May.  The book was a big Saturday Book Chat favourite and the prospect of seeing the movie as a group is certainly appealing.

Just wanted to get in super early before we all went off to see the movie seperately.  Lets have a show of hands .."Who wants to see 'Water For Elephants' at Event Cinema (Manukau) in mid-May as part of the Saturday Book Chat group?"

Megan

Audrey Niffenegger's Time Traveler's Wife SBC Discussion questions

This Saturday 22nd January, at 11am in the Manurewa Library Room, we will be discussing ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’ by Audrey Niffenegger. We have only received a few questions this month so we would look forward to hearing everyone’s views of the book



Questions we have received so far include;

1. The novel was told through both Henry and Clare, and reflected their perspectives at those moments in time, did the jumps in narrative timeline work for you? Was their relationship credible as they experienced events at different times, e.g. Clare as a child meeting Henry

2. Miscarriages put a strain on any relationship. Did you think the author got it right, from both Clare’s and Henry’s point of view?

3. If you could time travel would you live like Henry did and try to keep the future secret from himself? Or would you be tempted to exploit knowing what was going to happen and change timelines if you felt you could/should prevent catastrophic events?

4. It's a few weeks since I reread it and my lasting thought is that poor Henry was almost pleased to get it over with when he died? I had some trouble getting that actual act - his getting shot - and his getting back to Clare in the present, sorted out in my mind. Did anyone else have that?

5. Well right through the book the tangle of getting times right, so you understood where Henry or Clare's reactions were coming from was a challenge - fun though. I can't remember ever before doing so much flipping back and forth of pages to understand.

6. When we had both the child Henry and the adult together in a place it seemed so very weird. But he had to know how to pick pockets and locks etc. didn't he? Those are almost 'chicken and egg' situations. Stretching credibility of course. Very weird and wonderful.

7. Time travel was the only hook that kept me reading. I didn’t find Henry or Clare particularly riveting, and as I ploughed through to the end I remember feeling slightly ripped off, upon discovering that Alba was also a time traveller and I wished the author had explored this more. Alba seemed to be more comfortable than Henry was, the only time I thought Henry was comfortable time travelling was when he was teaching his younger self to pick pocket. Did any of you feel the same?

8. With Chrono-Displacement being a genetic disorder, I wondered if Richard and Henry’s mum had trouble conceiving Henry, like Clare and Henry did with Alba. Which made me question why Henry and his dad didn’t connect earlier in the novel?

9. How did you rate the novel from 1 to 5?

SBC Books for 2011

Happy New Year bookmates,

I know a few of you have been asking for our list of books for the coming year so here they are...

January 22nd  The Time Traveler's wife : a novel / by Audrey Niffenegger
February 26th  A Dangerous Vine by Barbara EwingMarch 26th  Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
April 30th  The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
May 28th  Blind Faith by Ben Elton
June 25th  The Long Song by Andrea Levy
July 30th  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
August 27th  From the Dead by Mark Billingham
September 24th  The Last Letter from your Lover by Jojo MoyesOctober 29th  Rebel With a Cause by Ray Avery 
November 26th  Room by Emma Donoghue

Personally I think we are saving the best one until the last month.