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?