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!