Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Jonathan Safran Foer emerged as one of the most original writers of his generation with his best-selling debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated. Now, with humor, tenderness, and awe, he confronts the traumas of our recent history. What he discovers is solace in that most human quality, imagination.
Meet Oskar Schell, an inventor, Francophile, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, pacifist, correspondent with Stephen Hawking and Ringo Starr. He is nine years old. And he is on an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. His mission is to find the lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
An inspired innocent, Oskar is alternately endearing, exasperating, and hilarious as he careens from Central Park to Coney Island to Harlem on his search.

Let's join him on his search!

P.S. There is a movie coming out based on this book with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock!

The Book Thief - Discussion Q7

Do you think the author's choice to have Death narrate was appropriate? How did it enhance (or take away) from the story?

The Book Thief - Discussion Q6

The book mentions Liesel's children and grandchildren, but no specifics about them or her husband. Do you think Liesel ends up marrying Max?

The Book Thief - Discussion Q5

Liesel lives to be an old woman. On the last page of the book (p. 550), Death says that he would
like to tell the book thief “about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things
that she didn’t already know?” How does her life represent beauty in the wake of brutality?

The Book Thief - Discussion Q4

Death says that Liesel was a girl “with a mountain to climb” (p. 86). What is her mountain?
Who are her climbing partners? What is her greatest obstacle?

The Book Thief - Discussion Q3

Compare and contrast the lives of Liesel and Max Vandenburg. How does Max’s life give Liesel
purpose? At what point do Liesel and Max become friends?

The Book Thief - Discussion Q2

Liesel has complex relationships with her foster parents, Hans and Rosa. In what ways do they
show how they feel about her and about each other? How do you feel about these relationships? Have you seen any like them?

The Book Thief - Discussion Q1

The Grave Diggers Handbook is the first book Liesel steals. What is significant about the titles of each of the books she steals? (Other titles, The Whistler, The Shoulder Shrug, The Dream Carrier and The Complete Duden Dictionary and Thesaurus).

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Reading this on the heels of Sarah's Key will give us yet another perspective of WWII. Here's a summary:

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

Most reviews on this book are outstanding, but others say the book is only intended to use a sensitive subject to pull on people's emotions but that the actual story is dull.

Let's make our own decision!

Next Round of Books!

Each round will have three weeks to read the book and one week to discuss! Here are the titles so you can plan ahead!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - read 10/24 - 11/14 (disc thru 11/18)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathon Sarfran Foer - read 11/21 -12/12 (disc thru 12/23)
Break until 2012!!
Still Alice by Lisa Genova - 1/2 - 1/23 (disc thru 1/27)
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford - 1/30 - 2/20 (disc thru 2/24)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol - 2/27 - 3/19 (disc thru 3/23)
Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo - 3/26 - 4/16 (disc thru 4/20)
Dog Years by Mark Doty - 4/23 - 5/14 (disc thru 5/18)
Emma by Jane Austen - 5/21 - 6/11 (disc thru 6/15)
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh - 6/18 - 7/9 (disc thru 7/13)
The Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen - 7/16 - 8/6 (disc thru 8/10)

Sarah's Key - Question 3

We are taught as young readers that every story has a "moral". Is there a moral to Sarah's Key? What can we learn about our world - and ourselves - from Sarah's story?

Sarah's Key - Question 2

Why do readers today enjoy novels about the past? How and when can a powerful piece of fiction be a history lesson in itself?

Sarah's Key - Question 1

What did you know about France's role in World War II and the Vel d'Hiv round-up in particular -before reading Sarah's key? How did this book teach you about, or change your impression of, this important chapter of France's history?

Next Round Requests

Okay! We'll be starting discussions on Sarah's Key next week, but in the meantime, we wanted to request the titles you want read in the book club! We'll create a list - one book per month - and publish it soon!

Looking forward to hearing your requests!

Shall we move forward?? Sarah's Key

Let us now begin Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.

July 1942 marked a dark period in the history of France where thousands of Jewish families were rounded up and forcibly kept in the Velodrome d'Hiver. They were then sent off to transit camps in France such as Drancy, before being packed off to Auschwitz, a Nazi death camp. What is so unnerving about this whole incident is that the rounding up and mobilisation of Jews for deportation was done by the French authorities.

Based upon this seldom mentioned, little known piece of French history, author Tatiana de Rosnay has crafted a well-written novel that alternates between the past in 1942, and the present. The past centers around a 10 year old Jewish girl Sarah Strazynski who is forced to go to the Velodrome d'Hiver with her mother and father, innocently leaving behind a 4 year old brother Michel locked in a secret cupboard with the assurance that she would return to let him out when it was safe.

The present revolves around writer Julia Jarmond, a transplanted American who is married to a frenchman and finds herself being consumed by the story of the Vel d'Hiv incident. As she digs deeper, she uncovers dark secrets surrounding her husband's family which are connected to the deportations of Jews from France. As the truth emerges, the author deftly handles the question of guilt caused by supressed secrets and how the truth can sometimes not only bring about pain and disrupt the regularity of life, yet also have the ability to heal and move forwards into the future.

Find the book soon! We'll give 1 month for reading and we'll discuss starting October 10!

Anne

In a letter, Austen described Anne Elliot as "almost too good for me." Do you find Anne "too good" to be true? Is her goodness cloying and sentimental? Or is her goodness something different—an integrity combined with strength and acceptance? How do you see the heroine of this novel?

Mary

Do you find Mary's hypochondria funny...or irritating...or what? Consider, also, the scene where Mary manipulates Anne into looking after young Charles so that she, Mary, can go dinner at the Musgrove's and meet Captain Wentworth!

What's the Point?

Okay - so what's the point that Austen is trying to make with this novel? It has something to do with persuasion and the use of it. But what do you think she wants us to take from this book?

Lady Russell: Right or Wrong?

So Anne is very civil in her review of Lady Russell's "persuasion" - even after she realizes that it was the wrong advice for her! She says that she doesn't hold a grudge against Lady Russell and the advice she gave, but if ever she finds herself in the same position she would give different advice. I mean...really?? I blame Lady Russell and her snobbery a bit for Anne and Frederick's delay in perfect happiness! Am I alone in this?

Let the Discussions on Persuasion Begin!

Question 1:
The start of the story talks about Sir Elliot taking up the Baronetage to find "occupation in an idle hour" and "consolation in a distressed one." Do you have a book or hobby that you can turn to and it unfailingly uplifts you?

While he turns to his family history for vanity's sake - don't you think there are good things to be found in family history?? I certainly think so! It can't be so bad to find comfort in a good history!

Now starting ...Persuasion! (For Real)

Persuasion by Jane Austen!

Most people have read Austen's Pride and Prejudice and/or Sense and Sensibility, but many have not had the pleasue if reading some of her less-hollywoodized books such as Persuasion (though it has been made into a movie). Those who have read it won't mind reading it again - if you haven't read it and you love Austen at all, you'll not regret adding this to your library.

Here's a synopsis....
Persuasion begins seven years after the heroine, Anne Elliot, has jilted her lover, Fredrick Wentworth, upon the request of a most beloved mother figure. Although at the time of the refusal the man seems an inadequate match, the tables are now turned: as in most Austen novels--the girl is poor, the boy is rich. To add insult to injury, Anne’s father is going bankrupt and must rent his house to none other than Fredrick’s sister and brother-in-law, bringing Anne and Fredrick in contact again. Through twists and turns of jealousy, romance, poetry, rumors and a serious head injury, Anne and Fredrick always find themselves in uncomfortable situations that brew up old feelings (that were probably never lost). As Jane Austen’s last completed novel, some critics dismiss it as her darkest; however, others see it as her most honest and universal. Whatever your opinion, the whole novel is worth reading just for the letter (correspondence) in chapter twenty-three: it will make you melt.

We will begin discussions on August 28th!

Old Nick

What do you think about the dynamic between Old Nick and Ma? Why do you think Old Nick allowed Jack to stay with Ma? Why do you think the author chose not the share Old Nick's story?

Sundaytreat?

What would you ask for, for Sundaytreat, if you were in a similar situation?

Another Room Question: What were you most affected by in the novel?

What were you most affected by in the novel?

Room Question: What does joining the outside world do to Jack? To Ma?

What does joining the outside world do to Jack? To Ma?

Room Question: What would you do differently if you were Jack’s parent? Would you tell Jack about the outside world from the start?

What would you do differently if you were Jack’s parent? Would you tell Jack about the outside world from the start?

Room Question:What are some of the ways in which Jack’s development has been stunted by growing up in Room? How has he benefited?

What are some of the ways in which Jack’s development has been stunted by growing up in Room? How has he benefited?

Room Question: If you were Ma, what would you miss most about the outside world?

If you were Ma, what would you miss most about the outside world?

Discussion Question 2: Escape!

Okay! Pretend your Ma (without Jack) - plan your escape!

ROOM: Discussion Question 1: Perspective

What do you think about Emily only using Jack's point of view? Do you wish we knew more about what Ma was thinking - her perspective other than what Jack overheard? What about even knowing her name? Do you wish you knew more about Old Nick's perspective or even what ended up happening to him??

CHANGE OF PLANS - We're reading ROOM

Persuasion will be next - unalterable! We'll be reading Room by Emma Donoghue.

The website is amazing: http://www.roomthebook.com/inside/

This book has a darker subject - here is the synopsis:

The first half takes place entirely within the 12-foot-square room in which a young woman has spent her last seven years since being abducted aged 19. Raped repeatedly, she now has a five-year-old boy, Jack, and it is with his voice that Donoghue tells their story.

And what a voice it is. "Ma" has clearly spent his five years devoting every scrap of mental energy to teaching, nurturing and entertaining her boy, preserving her own sanity in the process. To read this book is to stumble on a completely private world. Every family unit has its own language of codes and in-jokes, and Donoghue captures this exquisitely. Ma has created characters out of all aspects of their room – Wardrobe, Rug, Plant, Meltedy Spoon. They have a TV and Jack loves Dora the Explorer, but Ma limits the time they are allowed to watch it for fear of turning their brains to mush. They do "phys ed" every morning, keep to strict mealtimes, make up poems, sing Lady Gaga and Kylie, and most importantly, Ma has a seemingly endless supply of stories – from the Berlin Wall and Princess Di ("Should have worn her seatbelt," says Jack) to fairytales like Hansel and Gretel to hybrids in which Jack becomes Prince Jackerjack, Gullijack in Lilliput: his mother's own fairytale hero. And really, what is a story of a kidnapped girl locked in a shed with her long-haired innocently precocious boy if not the realisation of the most macabre fairytale?

Donoghue has not been so crass as to make light of their plight: at times it's almost impossible not to turn away in horror. When Ma's kidnapper comes to the room in the evening, she makes Jack hide in the wardrobe, where he listens as they get into bed: "I always have to count till he makes that gaspy sound and stops." Ma has days where she is "gone" to blank-eyed depression and Jack, left to his own devices, reveals: "Mostly I just sit." But the grotesque is consistently balanced with the uplifting and there is a moment, halfway through the novel, where you feel you would fight anyone who tried to wrestle it from your grasp with the same ferocity that Ma fights for Jack, such is the author's power to make out of the most vile circumstances something absorbing, truthful and beautiful.

Thereafter, the setting moved to "Outside", the relationship diluted by alternative voices, by the number of new things with which Jack has to deal, the novel loses some of its intensity and has the more familiar feel of the naive child narratives of Roddy Doyle and Mark Haddon. Jack's introduction to the confusing world of freedom is handled with incredible skill and delicacy – as is his first separation from Ma. But the novel, like Jack, now has to follow a more logical and straightforward path.

For me, the rhythm of Ma and Jack's speech bears traces of the author's native Irish brogue, though the second half reveals the setting to be America (Donoghue now lives in Canada). But this only adds to the strange, dislocating appeal of Room. In the hands of this audacious novelist, Jack's tale is more than a victim-and-survivor story: it works as a study of child development, shows the power of language and storytelling, and is a kind of sustained poem in praise of motherhood and parental love.

We'll begin discussions on 7/20!

Now starting ...Persuasion!

Persuasion by Jane Austen!

Most people have read Austen's Pride and Prejudice and/or Sense and Sensibility, but many have not had the pleasue if reading some of her less-hollywoodized books such as Persuasion (though it has been made into a movie). Those who have read it won't mind reading it again - if you haven't read it and you love Austen at all, you'll not regret adding this to your library.

Here's a synopsis....
Persuasion begins seven years after the heroine, Anne Elliot, has jilted her lover, Fredrick Wentworth, upon the request of a most beloved mother figure. Although at the time of the refusal the man seems an inadequate match, the tables are now turned: as in most Austen novels--the girl is poor, the boy is rich. To add insult to injury, Anne’s father is going bankrupt and must rent his house to none other than Fredrick’s sister and brother-in-law, bringing Anne and Fredrick in contact again. Through twists and turns of jealousy, romance, poetry, rumors and a serious head injury, Anne and Fredrick always find themselves in uncomfortable situations that brew up old feelings (that were probably never lost). As Jane Austen’s last completed novel, some critics dismiss it as her darkest; however, others see it as her most honest and universal. Whatever your opinion, the whole novel is worth reading just for the letter (correspondence) in chapter twenty-three: it will make you melt.

Need to Come Up With Some Discussion Guidelines...

So I was thinking that it's kind of hard to really discuss the book until everyone (who wants to) has read the book...it was suggested that we come up with a "deadline" for reading the book before we begin discussing it...what do you think???? 

So as we look forward to reading Jane Austen's "Persuasion" should we come up with a date to have finished reading the book and begin the discussion?  Would July 20th work?

Let me know your thoughts and ideas, so we can work out "The Virtual Literary Society" to be a wonderful society! :)

End of the Novel Question!

At the end of the novel, Jacob exclaims:  "So what if I'm ninety-three?...why the heck shouldn't I run away with the circus?"  (page 331).  What would you project the elderly Jacobs experiences after he runs away with the circus the second time How does his decision reflect what we have learned about his early years?

Old Jacob

Looking at himself in the mirror, the old Jacob tries "to see beyond the sagging flesh." But he claims, "It's no good...I can't find myself anymore. When did I stop being me?" How would you answer this question if someone asked you!?

Chapter 5!

Another one of these books where the author switches back and forth...this seems to be very popular lately.  What do you feel the purpose of going back and forth between the young and old Jacob might be?

Thoughts on Chapters 3 and 4

Chapter 3 -- Favorite lines:  "He digs inside his ear and inspects his findings...he wipes his finger on his pants and ambles to the doorway."  Wow--is that a bit graphic or what? :)

Okay, Jacob, come on, you are a Cornell Doctor of Vetrinary Medicine almost-graduated student!  It's one thing to go a little crazy for a moment, you know, take a walk, hop on a train, join up with a circus, but come on, come to your senses!  Your future is ahead of you!!!  Your choices right now will determine the path of the rest of your life! 

By the end of Chapter 4, shouldn't Jacob be ready to return to some semblance of his life?  He has got to have professors, friends, etc. that will help him pick up the tragic pieces of his life and regroup.

Liking the book, but not quite understanding Jabob...

How about the rest of you?  Are you enjoying the book?

Chapter 2 -- A Major Life Changing Event and Decision!

Thoughts on Chapter 2????  Wow!  Jacob's young life quickly is in upheaval!  What did each of you think of his decision to abruptly leave his final?  And...to just walk and walk and walk and hop on a train?  What a life-changing moment?  Have any of you had such a life-changing moment?  Where just one quick, not even a thought out decision, led you down a completely different path???

I often see this in the books I read--where just one moment, one quick decision, changes a life forever.  I guess this happens in each of our lives as well...sometimes just seems easier to "see" in a 'word window.'

Just Finished Chapter 1!

Okay--here are my thoughts of Chapter 1.  I love this Jacob guy...I want to be just like him when I am 90 or 93, as I'm not sure how old he is at this point, as it seems he doesn't know either...I have no idea what this book is about at this point or where the story will lead...

Did anyone else have to look up the words:  tchotchke and vacuous???? When I looked "tchotchke" up on merriamwebster.com, I was asked to comment on why I was looking up the word--I commented, and I think I might now be famous! J/K!

Question 1: Old Jacob and Young Jacob

To what extent do the chapters concerning the elderly Jacob enhance the chapters recounting the young Jacob's experiences with the Benzini Brothers circus? Or do they??

CAUTION:

CAUTION: If you wish some parts were filtered in books that are great except for the "cockroaches" skip the end of chapter 3 (mom I told you 4, its 3!) after Jacob confirms he can keep his mouth shut. Skip the middle of chapter 10...after Jacob leaves August and Marlena's room...like the next couple of pages. Middle of seven...after Jacob drinks too much at August and Marlena's...only one page to skip here. There is one other scene later on but I'll give away too much ...so if it looks like its gonna get ronchy...skip a page. Sorry, can't edit the language.... Minus the cockroaches the story is entertaining - love the animals!

Does everyone have the book? I found it at Walmart for about $10.

Happy Reading! 

July Book: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Here is a brief synopsis:

Jacob Jankowski says: "I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other." At the beginning of Water for Elephants, he is living out his days in a nursing home, hating every second of it. His life wasn't always like this, however, because Jacob ran away and joined the circus when he was twenty-one. It wasn't a romantic, carefree decision, to be sure. His parents were killed in an auto accident one week before he was to sit for his veterinary medicine exams at Cornell. He buried his parents, learned that they left him nothing because they had mortgaged everything to pay his tuition, returned to school, went to the exams, and didn't write a single word. He walked out without completing the test and wound up on a circus train. The circus he joins, in Depression-era America, is second-rate at best. With Ringling Brothers as the standard, Benzini Brothers is far down the scale and pale by comparison.

Water for Elephants is the story of Jacob's life with this circus. Sara Gruen spares no detail in chronicling the squalid, filthy, brutish circumstances in which he finds himself. The animals are mangy, underfed or fed rotten food, and abused. Jacob, once it becomes known that he has veterinary skills, is put in charge of the "menagerie" and all its ills. Uncle Al, the circus impresario, is a self-serving, venal creep who slaps people around because he can. August, the animal trainer, is a certified paranoid schizophrenic whose occasional flights into madness and brutality often have Jacob as their object. Jacob is the only person in the book who has a handle on a moral compass and as his reward he spends most of the novel beaten, broken, concussed, bleeding, swollen and hungover. He is the self-appointed Protector of the Downtrodden, and... he falls in love with Marlena, crazy August's wife. Not his best idea.
 
The most interesting aspect of the book is all the circus lore that Gruen has so carefully researched. She has all the right vocabulary: grifters, roustabouts, workers, cooch tent, rubes, First of May, what the band plays when there's trouble, Jamaican ginger paralysis, life on a circus train, set-up and take-down, being run out of town by the "revenooers" or the cops, and losing all your hooch. There is one glorious passage about Marlena and Rosie, the bull elephant, that truly evokes the magic a circus can create. It is easy to see Marlena's and Rosie's pink sequins under the Big Top and to imagine their perfect choreography as they perform unbelievable stunts. The crowd loves it--and so will the reader. The ending is absolutely ludicrous and really quite lovely.


So let's all get busy reading--we will read and discuss this book throughout the month of July.  So...begin reading and posting your discussion questions!  Can't wait! :)

Calling all fellow book lovers! Let's get started with "The Virtual Literary Society"!

Let's come up with some ideas!

1.  We need a book!  Please post your suggestions and then on Friday, June 24, we will take a vote.  Of course, the book with the majority of votes wins...

2.  Once the book has been chosen, we will begin discussing.  Just post your thoughts, ideas and questions, and our discussion will begin.

3.  We will select a new book on the 1st of each month.

4.  Sound okay???