Thursday, December 3, 2015

Outline December 2015

December 2015 Book Selection

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, December 10th at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our December book, Outline by Rachel Cusk.


Discussion questions  are below.

Here are some links for additional background and information:


Essay by Rachel Cusk published in McLean’s

Interview with Rachel Cusk about her books and recent play, Medea





Coming up, we have the following books to look forward to reading:

Thurs. Jan. 14th        Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 by Francine Prose

Thurs. Feb. 11th        Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Thurs. Mar. 10th        The Martian by Andy Weir (the One Book/One Marin selection)


Thanks for reading with us. I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.

Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library



DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Outline by Rachel Cusk



1. What do we learn about the almost anonymous narrator, Faye, throughout the book?

2. Each character speaking to Faye discusses their relationships. How do the characters feel about their relationships? Do these revelations tell us anything about Faye’s relationships?

3. How does the author describe success vs failure through the conversations in the book?

4. Is this a feminist novel?

5. The New Yorker review says the romantic relationships described by the characters Faye talks to “diminish” the parties. The Guardian review says Cusk writes, “a cool-headed meditation on the doomed nature of relationships.” Do you agree with these assessments? Can you find examples in the book?

6. The narrator, Faye, can’t explain why her marriage ended, saying, “among other things a marriage is a system of belief, a story, and though it manifests itself in things that are real enough, the impulse that drives it is ultimately mysterious.” How would you reply to her? Consider her musings on the realities behind her airplane seatmate’s description of the failure of his marriages.

7. Faye tells her neighbor (p. 170), “I had come to believe more and more in the virtues of passivity, and of living a life as unmarked by self-will as possible. … I had decided to want nothing at all.” Does Outline reflect her passivity? Is it possible to live a life passively?

8. What is the significance of the broken glass ceiling panel told by Penelope in Faye’s writing class?

9. Melete describes a former student who appears at all of her readings and makes faces. She calls his behavior “madness” Do you agree? Could there be another reason?

10. In Chapter 9, the students discuss their animal stories and other stories from their lives. Do any of their stories stand out to you?

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Consquences November 2015

November 2015 Book Selection

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet tomorrow, Thursday, November 12th at 7 p.m. to discuss our November book Consequences by Penelope Lively.


Discussion questions are below.

Here are some links for additional background and information:


Fresh Air interview with Penelope Lively

BBC radio Interview with Penelope Lively about Consequences (recommended)

Rachel Reckitt was Penelope Lively’s aunt and a famous wood engraver. You can see some images of her work here.




Coming up, we have the following book to look forward to reading:



Thurs. Dec  10          Outline by Rachel Cusk



Thanks for reading with us. I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.

Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library




DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Consequences by Penelope Lively


1. Over the course of the novel, there is a lot of movement into and out of London. Discuss the circumstances that cause each of the following characters to make this move: the Bradleys; Matt and Lorna; Molly; the unnamed masses of women and children.

2. The houses in this novel serve as metaphors, both with regard to their inhabitants and to the greater themes of the novel. What do you think the author meant to convey through her use of the Brunswick Gardens home, the Somerset cottage, and the Fulham house?

3. On page 102, Molly wonders if she will turn out like her pragmatic but dispassionate roommate, Glenda, or “the other sort,” the kind of reckless-in-love woman she imagines her mother to have been. What type of woman does she become? How is the foundation for her adult self laid by the experiences of her youth? What do you think influences our development more: family upbringing or the times in which we live?

4. Though the focus remains on the maverick Faraday women, how does Simon’s relationship with his partner, Tim, reflect the relationships of the women in his family? Why do you think the author chose to write Simon as a gay man?

5. Molly is surprised and admiring of Sam’s “split personality”—that he balances his mental work as a poet with the more hands-on work as a mechanic. Later, Ruth compares her “think-work” as a journalist to Sam’s. What comment do you think this novel makes on the nature of art as work and work as art? How have views about what constitutes “real work” changed throughout the twentieth century, according to the novel?

6. The characters of this novel seek to define and redefine themselves in relation to each other, particularly through the vehicle of love. Discuss the different meetings and love relationships between these characters: Matt and Lorna; Lucas and Lorna; Molly and James; Molly and Sam; Ruth and Peter; and Ruth and Brian.

7. Molly and Sam meet at a poetry festival that concludes with a panel discussion of the diminished role of the poet/artist in politics. Later, Ruth and her Cretan guide, Manolo, observe that most words written are “about sheep and oxen,” only concerned with the practical aspects of daily life and survival. How does literature and art affect your own worldview? Do you think art has the power, and even an obligation, to engage in public discourse? Why or why not?

8. What incidents prompt Lorna, Molly, and Ruth to each consider the intricate ways in which past, present, and future double back on themselves and on each other?

9. On page 257, Ruth and Brian discuss “Sleeping Beauty,” “Rip Van Winkle,” “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” and other stories as comments on the struggle to defeat space and time. Do you think Consequences falls into the same category? Why or why not? Use examples from the book to support your opinion.

10. Penelope Lively takes you on a journey through several decades of major social and cultural upheaval—though the story takes place in England, a nearly parallel set of events were transforming American culture. Using the characters as examples, describe how views on issues such as education of women, social strata, career choices and progression, marriage, and sex have changed throughout the twentieth century.

11. Why do you think the author chose “Consequences” as the title of this novel?

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Someone October 2015

October 2015 Book Selection

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet tomorrow, Thursday, October 8th at 7 p.m. to discuss our October book Someone by Alice McDermott.


Discussion questions are below.

Here are some links for additional background and information:


PBS Interview with Alice McDermott discussing Someone

Photos of 1930’s Brooklyn – “flickriver” and Berenice Abbot photos


Coming up, we have the following books to look forward to reading:


Thurs. Nov. 12          Consequences by Penelope Lively

Thurs. Dec  10          Outline by Rachel Cusk



Thanks for reading with us. I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.

Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library




DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Someone by Alice McDermott

1. Is the world of Someone familiar to you? Did it provoke rich recognition in you?
2. What do you think of Marie? What didn’t she tell us? Is she really as willful and bold as she describes herself to be?
3. Does Marie have faith or hope? Others in her life certainly do. Does she?
4. There are some troubled relationships between parents and children in this community. How are the children affected by their parents? What are the most troubling parent-children bonds? And the most favorable ones?
5. Compare Walter Hartnett with Tom Commeford. Is Marie better off with Tom as her husband? Why or why not?
6. What does Marie find attractive in Walter? And does her impression of Walter change over time?
7. What does Marie learn while working at Fagin’s funeral parlor?
8. Why does Marie describe old age as being on a “high, precarious ledge”?
9. Many of the characters suffer from blindness or vision problems. What does this mean in the world of the novel?
10. Many characters also suffer from alcoholism. What role does alcohol addiction play here?
11. Why doesn’t Marie want to learn to cook, despite her mother’s constant efforts to teach her?
12. The term “amadan” is a refrain throughout the novel. Besides Pegeen Chehab, who are the fools in the novel?
13. Describe Marie’s relationship with her brother, Gabe. Does it change over the course of her life?
14. We never know for sure why Gabe leaves the priesthood. What do you think is the reason?
15. Why does the memory of Pegeen resonate so profoundly for Marie? Is there a similar story from your youth that has had a lasting effect on your life?

16. What does Marie’s mother try to teach her about becoming a fulfilled woman? What exceptional qualities does Marie’s father possess? How does their marriage shape Marie’s vision of her future?

17. Discuss the novel’s Brooklyn neighborhood as if it were a character. What are its most colorful attributes? How is it transformed over the years while Marie grows up? Do its inhabitants support one another, or is their gossip judgmental? Think about their speculation over the gender of Dora Ryan’s spouse and Bill Corrigan’s frailties.

18. Why does Marie resist her mother’s attempts to urge her to adulthood, from how to read a recipe to the importance of finding a job?

19. How is Marie able to look past the tragic death of Mrs. Hanson and focus on the loveliness of Gerty and her baby sister, Durna? Throughout her life, what beauty does Marie find in mothering?

20. What is the role of fate versus free will in Someone? What did Gabe seek and find in religion? What truths about faith did he eventually learn to embrace?

21. What did Walter Hartnett ultimately get out of his time with Marie? Was she naïve to fall for him, or was he powerfully persuasive? What made Tom Commeford a good match for her?

22. What does Marie discover about life by working for Mr. Fagin?

23. Discuss the story of Margaret Tuohy. How was Marie affected by the bishop’s choice of elegant burial clothes for his sister? What did the experience show Marie about the role of the survivor?

24. As Gabe tells the story of the woman at his first parish who bought mints before attending church each week, what is revealed about the importance of avoiding assumptions? How do perceptions and misperceptions shape the novel’s storyline?

25. What is the effect of the novel’s first-person narration? As Marie narrates her life, what changes do you notice in her view of the world—literal ones, as she endures eye surgeries, and symbolic ones?

26. Discuss Marie’s relationship with her own children. What does she do differently from her parents? What traditions does she carry on? How does McDermott capture the revelations that life and loss bring?

27. How does the depiction of Irish identity and family life in Someone compare to that in similar worlds you’ve explored in other novels by Alice McDermott?



Thursday, September 3, 2015

Salvage the Bones September 2015

September 2015 Book Selection

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, September 10th at 7 p.m. to discuss our September book Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward.


Discussion questions, author bio and interview and book reviews are attached.

Here are some links for additional background and information:



Before and after photos of Hurricane Katrina

DeLisle, Mississippi – author’s hometown and basis for fictional Bois Sauvage

The story of Jason and Medea



Coming up, we have the following books to look forward to reading:


Thurs. Oct. 8             Someone by Alice McDermott

Thurs. Nov. 12          Consequences by Penelope Lively

Thurs. Dec  10          Outline by Rachel Cusk



Thanks for reading with us. I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.

Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library




DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

1.      Salvage the Bones opens with China giving birth to a litter of puppies in the shed. What do we learn about Esch and the rest of the Batiste family during this scene? How does each of Esch's brothers react to the puppies' birth? What will Esch learn about motherhood from watching China with her puppies? 

2.      Esch's summer reading assignment, Mythology by Edith Hamilton, includes the story of the tragic romance between Jason and Medea. How does the myth of Jason and Medea relate to Esch's relationship with Manny? In the end, does Esch betray her family for love, as Medea does? 

3.       Chart Esch's attitude toward her pregnancy through the 12 days of the novel. How does Esch first realize that she might be pregnant, and how does she react when her suspicion is confirmed? When do we see Esch in stages of denial, fear and acceptance? How do Skeetah and Daddy respond when they discover Esch's pregnancy? 

4.       Discuss the nature of Skeetah's bond with his pit bull, China. Why is Skeetah so committed to China and her puppies? How does Skeetah negotiate his responsibilities to his family and to his dog? 

5.       How does Daddy seem to know that a storm is coming before anyone else does? How do his children and neighbors react to his early preparations? Why do Daddy's precautions fail in the face of Katrina's destruction? 

6.       Esch wonders "if Daddy will feel his missing fingers the way we feel Mama, present in the absence" (247). Discuss the presence of Mama in the novel, even though she has been dead for seven years. How does Mama live on in her children's memory? 

7.       The fifth chapter has the same title as the novel, "Salvage the Bones." Review the chapter and discuss what the title means. How does the title fit the chapter as well as the novel as a whole? 

8.       Discuss the depiction of violence in Salvage the Bones. What do scenes of violence— including Daddy's loss of his fingers, China's brutal killing of her puppy and the dogfight between China and Kilo—add to the novel? How do violence and tenderness coexist in this troubled setting? 

9.       Consider how Manny betrays Esch and her brothers. How does Manny treat Esch before and after he learns of her pregnancy? Why does Manny turn on Skeetah and China and support Rico and Kilo in the dogfight?

10.   Randall tells Skeetah, "You just like Daddy. Always crazy for something" (157). Discuss the similarities and differences between Skeetah and Daddy. How do the similarities between father and son create conflict between them? 

11.   Discuss the setting of Salvage the Bones. How does the Pit—the lot where the Batiste family has lived for generations—look and feel? What is it like to grow up in the town of Bois Sauvage? What are race relations like in this rural Mississippi area? 

12.   Review the scenes of the hurricane, in which Esch, her brothers and Daddy scramble from their attic to their roof and then to Mother Lizbeth and Papa Joseph's house to escape the rising water. How do these family members help one another survive these treacherous conditions? Why does Daddy throw Esch into the water, and how does he later express regret? 

13.   Skeetah lets go of China in order to save Esch from drowning in the storm. Does Skeetah seem to regret his choice of sister over dog? What is the mood at the end of the novel as Skeetah waits by the house for China to return to him? 

14.   Big Henry tells Esch, "This baby got plenty of daddies" (255). Name the "daddies" who will help Esch raise her child. What assistance does each of these boys and men have to offer? 

15.        Compare the portrayal of Katrina in Salvage the Bones with what you saw of the hurricane in the news. Which aspects of the storm's devastation does this novel bring to life? What does Esch's perspective add to your understanding of Katrina's impact? 

16.  The story in Salvage the Bones is told by Esch Batiste, who has just finished tenth grade. Was Esch’s teenaged voice believable? Why or why not?

17.  What is the theme of Salvage the Bones or the main thing Ward is trying to say in the novel?

18.   Other books about Hurricane Katrina have dealt with broad social or political issues, such as the treatment of evacuees by federal agencies. Ward focuses on one family, the Batistes: Esch and her father, Claude, and her brothers Randall, Skeetah and Junior. How would you describe the Batistes? How does Hurricane Katrina change the family? What do we learn from its story?

19.  Sam Sacks of the Wall Street Journal said that the bond between Esch’s brother Skeetah and his dog, China, is “the strongest and most affecting in the book.” Do you agree? Why does Skeetah allows China allow to enter the dog fight described in the chapter called “The Eighth Day” if he loves her so much? [pages 153–176]

20.  What race did you assume Manny (the father of Esch’s baby) to be? Many critics seemed to assume that he was black. But Ward says that Manny had a “red sunburn” [page 16]. Black skin can burn, but it doesn’t turn red in the same way that white skin does. Would it make a difference if a black teenager in the Deep South had been impregnated by a white or Latino boy?

21.  How would you describe Ward’s writing style? How well did it suit the subject of her book? [Background: Some critics have called that style “poetic.”Ward seemed to agree when she told the Paris Review: “I’m a failed poet. Reading poetry helps me to see the world differently, and I try to infuse my prose with figurative language, which goes against the trend in fiction.” But Salvage the Bones also has journalistic aspects – for example, when Ward describes the onslaught of Katrina by quoting weather reports.]

22.  Salvage the Bones links Esch’s story to that of Medea, who murdered her children to avenge her betrayal by her husband, and to other figures from Greek mythology. How effective was this literary technique? Were you persuaded, for example, by Esch’s comment that she slept with boys “because for a moment, I was Psyche or Eurydice or Daphne”? [p. 16]

23.  Ward explained the Medea analogies by saying in a Paris Review interview: “Medea is in China most directly. China is brutal and magical and loyal. Medea is in Hurricane Katrina because her power to unmake worlds, to manipulate the elements, closely aligns with the storm. And she’s in Esch, too, because Esch understands her vulnerability, Medea’s tender heart, and responds to it.” Can you give examples of how China is “brutal” as Medea and Esch is “tender”?

24.  Have you lived through a hurricane or other natural disaster? If so, how did you react to the portrayal of Hurricane Katrina? What seemed most and least believable?

25.  What does the title Salvage the Bones mean? Esch suggests more than one answer when she says of Katrina, “She left us to salvage.” [page 255] What is being “salvaged”?



Thursday, August 6, 2015

The Signature of All Things August 2015

August 2015 Book Selection

Happy Summer! The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, August 13th at 7 p.m. to discuss our August book  The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Discussion questions are below.

Here are some links for additional background and information:



Article explaining the Doctrine of Signatures (the signature of all things)







Coming up, we have the following book to look forward to reading:


Thurs. Sept. 10         Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward



Thanks for reading with us. I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.

Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library



DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

1. The Signature of All Things takes as its first focus not the book’s heroine, Alma Whittaker, but her rough-and-tumble father, Henry. Why do you think Elizabeth Gilbert made this choice in her narration, and why are the first fifty pages essential to the rest of the novel?

2. Alma Whittaker grows up in the richest family in Philadelphia. In what ways does her father’s fortune set her free? In what ways is it a prison?

3. How does Alma resemble her father? In what crucial ways do they differ?

4. What role is played in the novel by the Whittakers’ servant Hanneke de Groot? In what ways is her perspective essential to the story?

5. Alma postulates that there exist a variety of times, ranging from Human Time to Divine Time, with Geological Time and Moss Time as points in between (pp. 170-71). How might these different notions of time help to relate the world of science to the world of miracles? Is the miracle of creation just a natural process that took a very long time?

 6.Gilbert plays with perspective, not only as it relates to time, but also as it relates to space. During the course of the novel, Alma must adapt to dealing with microscopic space as well as global space. At one point, when she plays the part of a comet in a tableau of the solar system, she even becomes figuratively a part of outer space. How do Gilbert’s manipulations of space enrich the experience of reading the novel?

7. Instead of representing Prudence’s abolitionist husband, Arthur Dixon, as an unambiguous hero, Gilbert presents him as a somewhat cracked fanatic, who impoverishes and even endangers his family in the name of an idea. What do you think of Gilbert’s decision to place the cause of abolitionism, which modern thinkers usually find almost impossible to criticize, in the hands of an asocial, self-denying oddball?

8. One of the more unsettling themes of The Signature of All Things is Alma’s habitual masturbation. How does her autoeroticism fit into the rest of the novel, and is the book strengthened or weakened by its presence?

9. Alma’s decision to devote her life to studying mosses is compared to a “religious conversion” (p. 163). In The Signature of All Things, science and religion often intertwine. Are they ever finally reconciled? If so, how? If not, why not?

 10. Alma’s husband, Ambrose Pike, offers her a marriage filled with deep respect, spiritual love, intellectual adventure-and positively no sex. Should she have been contented with this arrangement?

11. On pages 319-20, Alma takes “an honest accounting” of her life thus far. At this point in her life, is she a success or a failure? What are the arguments on either side of the question? What are your own criteria for a life well lived?

12. As Alma sails toward Tahiti, the whaler that carries her is nearly sunk by a storm. She feels that this brush with violent death was “the happiest experience of her life” (p. 336). Why might she think this, and what does it tell us about her character?

 13. Ambrose’s spirituality eventually destroys him, whereas that of the Reverend Welles, the Tahitian missionary, enables him to cope with isolation and professional failure. What is the difference between the two men’s spiritual understandings? Why is one vision destructive and the other saving?

14. Alma claims at the end of the novel, “I have never felt a need to invent a world beyond this world. . . . All I ever wanted to know was this world” (p. 497). How has this limitation to her curiosity helped her? Has it harmed her?

15. Why did Gilbert make Alma “ugly” ? Is ugliness essential to her character? How might her life have been different if she was more conventionally pretty?

16. Prudence and Alma are depicted as complete opposites but in what ways are they similar? Do you think Prudence ever envied Alma? Why?

17. Throughout the novel, Prudence often seems to be an enigma. Do you think she was genuine and sincere or just acting a part? What were her motives for her actions and her marriage?

18. What was the significance of the party when Alma played the part of a comet? How does Alma continue to play the part of a comet throughout her life?

19. Alma's sexuality figures very prominently in the novel. Why? Does her masturbation serve to make her a more human and sympathetic heroine? Could the inclusion of those scenes be considered a feminist statement? Why, then, did Alma remain a virgin throughout her life?

20. Why did Retta Snow go mad? Why did her marriage to George go so horribly wrong? Why do you think Gilbert chose to have their marriage end in disaster and once their spouses died, why didn't George and Prudence get together? Why might Gilbert not have allowed a happy ending for them?


Thursday, June 4, 2015

Catch-22 June 2015

June 2015 Book Selection

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, June 11th at 7 p.m. to discuss our June book  Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.


Discussion questions are below.

Here are some links for additional background and information:



TV Interview (with Michael Douglas, Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon on the couch)



Coming up, we have the following books to look forward to reading:


No book group in July – happy summer!

Thurs. Aug 13           The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

Thurs. Sept. 10         Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward



Thanks for reading with us. I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.

Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library





Discussion Questions
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

1. A complex, chaotic structure makes the novel difficult to follow. How might this structure parallel, represent, and/or elevate themes in the story? How does Heller piece together the chronology of events?

2. Heller’s dialogue style is reminiscent of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” comic routine of the 1940s. How does Heller use this back-and-forth disorderly logic to develop character?

3. Chapters tend to be named for individuals in the story; however, titles are deceptive because they tend to be about other characters. Why might Heller have named chapters after one character but have written them about another? 

4. Yossarian shares a tent with a “dead man.” What role does this mysterious character play?

5. Chief White Halfoat is illiterate, yet he is assigned to military intelligence. Identify and discuss other examples of Heller’s cynicism toward the government and/or other institutions.

6. Choose a poignant passage/scene. How does Heller make this passage/scene work (e.g., how does he evoke emotion in the reader)?

7. Of the multiple characters in the story, which are you drawn to the most? Why? Are there any completely moral characters in the story? Explain.

8. Major Major is described as “the most mediocre of men.” What do the events in his past and present life tell us about humanity and destiny? 

9. Both Captain Wren and Captain Piltchard are described as “mild” and “soft-spoken” officers, and they love the war. Why might their personalities be fitting for someone who loves the war?

10. Yossarian returns to the hospital several times. What role do the hospital settings play in the story? In what way might the hospital settings foil the bombing/war scenes? In what way might they be reflective times for Yossarian? For other characters?

11. Compare and contrast Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn. Are they both hypocrites? Why or why not?

12. Circumstances surrounding Snowden’s death are revealed slowly. What does his death mean to Yossarian? To others?

13. Discuss the significance of déjà vu in the story and how it relates to religious faith.

14. While much of the novel is military satire, the story does delve into the private sector. How might Mrs. Daneeka be a satirical character?

15. One of the ironies of the story occurs at the end in which Yossarian has an opportunity to go home a hero. In essence, he has the system in a Catch-22. Explain.

16. Discuss whether the ending of Catch-22 is uplifting or downbeat. Is it a victory or a defeat? 

17. Most of the characters in Catch-22 are over-the-top in the sense that, in many ways, they are caricatures of themselves. What must Heller have known about humanity to make them all so recognizable?

18. What do you believe is Heller’s view of a capitalistic society?

19. Is Catch-22 a comic novel or a story of morality? Explain.

20. What does Catch-22 say about war? How does it differ from other war stories?

21. Discuss the literary significance of Catch-22 and its relevance in the twenty-first century.

22. How does Catch-22 compare to other war stories you have read? How does it compare to other satires

23. How might Catch-22 be described as an allegory? 

24. Discuss how the novel can be described as a struggle between the individual and an institution.

25. Discuss the meaning of sanity as it applies to the story.

26. Throughout the novel, the idea of Catch-22 is explained in a number of ways. What are some of them? Do any of them represent the real Catch-22, or are they all simply examples of a larger abstract idea? If Catch-22 is an abstract concept, which explanation comes closest to it? 

27. Discuss Milo. Does the fact that he seems toexist outside military authority make him a positive figure or a negative one? 

28. What role do women play in Catch-22? 

29. Think about chronology in the novel. How does the disordered, tangential presentation of events affect the flow of the story? What devices does Heller employ to allow the reader to piece together the order of events? What kind of unified narrative, if any, ultimately emerges? What does this portrayal say about the idea of time in Catch-22? 

30. Discuss the chaplain. How does his religious faith develop and change as the story progresses? What does his timidity say about the power of moral absolutes in the world of the military? What is the significance of his sensation of déjà vu? 

31. Think about the novel’s use of setting and scene. What effect do the rapid shifts between the base and the hospital, or between Pianosa and Rome, have on the presentation of the story? What does each location seem to represent? 


Thursday, May 7, 2015

The Good Lord Bird May 2015

May 2015 Book Selection

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, May 14th at 7 p.m. to discuss our May book  The Good Lord Bird by James McBride.


Discussion questions are below.

Here are some links for additional background and information:



New Yorker article examining the life of John Brown

Pete Seeger singing “John Brown’s Body Lies A-mouldering In the Grave”




Coming up, we have the following book to look forward to reading:



Thurs. June 11         Catch-22 by Joseph Heller


Thanks for reading with us. I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.

Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library





DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

  1. The novel opens with a newspaper article about the discovery of an old document-“a wild slave narrative.” Did having this context from the outset adjust your expectations of what would come? Would you have read the novel differently if this article hadn’t been included?
  2. When they first meet, the Old Man misidentifies Henry as a girl, forcing “Little Onion” to disguise himself as a girl for much of the story. How does Little Onion’s attitude toward this disguised identity change throughout the novel? How does he use it to his advantage? When does it become a hindrance?
  3. Discuss the significance of the title. Fred tells Little Onion that a Good Lord Bird is “so pretty that when man sees it, he says, ‘Good Lord,'” and that a feather from this bird will “bring you understanding that’ll last your whole life.” What role do the Good Lord Bird and its feathers play in John Brown’s story? In Little Onion’s? Why is the title appropriate for the novel?
  4. In what ways is this a narrative about Onion? In what ways it is a narrative about larger issues? How do these two aspects of the novel interact?
  5. How familiar were you with John Brown and the events at Harpers Ferry before reading the book? What values and mores informed his actions? Has the fictional retelling changed your perceptions of John Brown as he relates to American history?
  6. The novel includes several historical figures-John Brown, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman. Does the blending of actual, historical events and figures with the author’s fictional reimagining of them make you rethink history? Explain why or why not.
  7. Discuss Frederick Douglass and his portrayal. What point is being made by his characterization?
  8. Consider the use of dialect in the novel. The narrator, Little Onion, speaks with a very particular dialect; the Old Man, who constantly refers to the Bible, speaks with a different cadence and rhythm entirely. Little Onion says of the Old Man: “He sprinkled most of his conversation with Bible talk, ‘thees’ and ‘thous’ and ‘takest’ and so forth. He mangled the Bible more than any man I ever knowed . . . but with a bigger purpose, ’cause he knowed more words.” What roles do speech, dialect, and elocution play in this story?
  9. The Old Man attaches significance to several unlikely objects; among his collection of “good-luck baubles” are the feather of the Good Lord Bird and the dried-up old onion that Henry eats, earning him his nickname. Why does a man like John Brown accumulate such objects? Why does he call them both “good-luck charms” and “the devil’s work”? Do you own any objects to which you attribute good or bad luck or attach other superstitious beliefs?
  10. In the abstract, a funny story about slavery might not seem possible. How does the author bring humor to a subject not typically written about in this tone? Is he successful? What does humor allow us to contemplate about history that we might not have thought otherwise? What do you think in general of books or movies that play the awful for laughs? What was your favorite “Onionism?”
  11. Since the publication of this book, repeated comparisons have been made to Mark Twain. Do you see this similarity? If so, where? Are there any similarities between this novel and Twain’s?
  12. Does James McBride’s writing style remind you of any other authors or books? In what ways is this a “classic” American story, and it what ways does it feel more contemporary or otherwise different?
  13. Loyalty is a major theme in the book. Political beliefs are a matter of life and death. Even Little Onion feels conflicted about whether to stick by John Brown’s side or flee from him. Where do the major characters’ loyalties lie, with regard to each other and with regard to the cause of abolition? Are the allegiance lines as cut-and-dried as you might expect?
  14. The measures that John Brown and his posse take in The Good Lord Bird could be seen today as those of revolutionaries, even terrorists. What would your response to Brown and his actions have been if you had lived during that tumultuous era of American history?
  15. Is this is an important book? Why or why not? Is it an essential addition to the literature about slavery and the civil war? Can it help race relations today?
  16. What is the role of slaves and the role of free blacks in dealing with slavery and abolition in the book?
  17. What was John Brown’s inspiration for his war against slavery? Was it religious in nature, a moral imperative or insanity?
  18. Is Little Onion a hero or a villain? Neither? A reliable narrator? What does he learn on his journey? What was his purpose to Old John Brown?

  1. Is it significant that Little Onion is racially half black and white? Does his mixed race give him a different perspective? In what ways?