The Fairfax
Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, August 8th at 7:00 p.m. in the meeting room of the Fairfax
Library to discuss our August book, The Lightkeepers by Abby Geni.
Here are some
links for additional background and information:
Life on the Farallon Islands
video from KQED
Coming up, we
have the following books to look forward to reading:
Thurs.
Sept. 12th My Year of Rest
and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Thurs. Oct.
10th Less by
Andrew Sean Greer
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:
- Describe
Farallon: the weather, animal populations (birds, sharks, and rodents),
its stream, even the granite bed rock. In what way does the archipelago
itself become a character rather than simply a setting in the novel? Also,
consider Farallon's history, as well as how it got its epithet—
"Island of the Dead."
2. Follow
up to Question #1: If you are familiar with the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock
film The Birds (based on a Daphne du Maurier short story),
what are some of the parallels between the film and The Lightkeepers?
3. How
would you describe Miranda? Why, for instance, is the isolation of the Farallon
Islands suited to her personality? How does she eventually find her way out of
her seclusion? In other words, how does she change by the novel's end?
4. Talk
about the letters Miranda writes to her mother. What purpose do they serve in
the story, and what do they reveal about Miranda (both the fact that she writes
them and the content of the letters themselves)?
5.
Miranda's relationship with her fellow housemates has "the dynamic of a
family, minus any semblance of warmth." How would you describe the various
characters in that "family"—Andrew and Lucy, Galen, Mick,
Forest, and Charlene—and their relationships with one another?
6. Miranda
finds comfort, even relief, from the others in the natural world of Farallon.
What are some of the connections she makes with creatures. How does she come to
view the biologists and their relationship to nature? What effect do their
studies have on island life?
7. Were you
surprised by the novel's climax? Do you find it somewhat implausible? If so,
does it detract from your enjoyment of the novel?
8. What is
the derivation of the book's title—The Lightkeepers. Who, in the
novel, are the eggers and who are the lightkeepers?
9. Is there
an underlying message within the book? What major issues are raised?
10. Bonus
question: For Shakespeare lovers: Miranda's name?
From
LitLovers.com
