The
Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, October 11th at 7
p.m. in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our October book Lab
Girl by Hope Jahren
Discussion
questions are below.
Here
are some links for additional background and information:
Jahren Laboratory website –
with bios of Jahren and her lab partner, Bill
Coming
up, we have the following books to look forward to reading and discussing:
Thurs.
Nov. 9th The
Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien
Thurs.
Dec. 14th News
of the World by Paulette Jiles
Thanks
for reading with us. I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.
Beth Bailey-Gates
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
1. Lab Girl opens with a detailed description
of the laboratory Jahren loved as a child. How does she transform a
cinder-block room stocked with scientific equipment into a “castle” (p.
8)? In what ways do her recollections of her time in the lab and the
trips home late at night with her father evoke the mood and magic of fairy
tales?
2. Jahren writes of the emotional distances between members of a
Scandinavian family, of “growing up in a culture where you can never ask anyone
anything about themselves” (p.11). Are Jahren’s feelings about her family
shaped solely by cultural tradition?
3. Does Jahren’s observation that “being mother and daughter has
always felt like an experiment that we just can’t get right” (p. 16) capture
something you have experienced, either as a parent or child? Why do you think
Jahren dedicated Lab Girl to her mother?
4. Jahren writes, “I chose science because science gave me what
I needed—a home as defined in the most literal sense: a safe place to be” (p.
18). Discuss and evaluate the combination of elements that determine her
choice, including her attachment to her father and the recognition that “being
a scientist wasn’t his job, it was his identity,” the acceptance by her science
professors of “the very attributes that rendered me a nuisance to all of my
previous teachers,” and her simple declaration that the desire to become a
scientist “was founded upon a deep instinct and nothing more.” Compare
this initial explanation with the self-portrait she offers in the final chapter
(p. 277).
5. In alternating chapters, Jahren forges links between her own
life and the plants that have populated it. How does the story of the blue
spruce tree (pp. 27–29) set a pattern that is echoed and enhanced throughout
the book? What insights do these close examinations of a large variety of
plants provide into the needs and the capabilities shared by all living things?
Is there a particular topic—for instance, the universal struggle for survival
or the interdependence evident in nature—that resonates with you?
6. In recalling her first scientific breakthrough, Jahren
writes, “On some deep level, the realization that I could do good science was
accompanied by the knowledge that I had formally and terminally missed my
chance to become like any of the women that I had ever known” (p. 71).
What are the emotional and practical repercussions of this moment?
Is there a moment in most people’s lives that marks a line between who
they are and who they might have been?
7. Jahren describes her struggles with mental illness in a
gripping and vivid interlude (pp. 144–47). Why do you think she
introduces this at the midpoint of her book?
8. Jahren’s relationship with Bill is a sustained theme in Lab
Girl. In what ways do Bill’s manner and methods in the lab complement
Jahren’s? What qualities shape their behavior toward each other on a
personal level? Discuss the sense of intimacy and tolerance at the core of
their friendship, as well as the boundaries they establish. What do their
long conversations, their reactions to institutional rules, and the
misadventures they share on their field trips all add to the book? In
what ways does their trip to the Arctic capture the essence of their bond (pp.
195–201)?
9. What previously hidden aspects of Jahren’s character come to
light as she describes her meeting and marriage to Clint (pp. 205–209)?
10. Jahren writes of her pregnancy, “I know that I am supposed
to be happy and excited. . . . I am supposed to celebrate the ripening fruit of
love and luxuriate in the fullness of my womb. But I don’t do any of this” (p.
217). How do such factors as her childhood, her professional ambitions,
and her mental illness affect her experience? Why does she “decide that I will
not be this child’s mother. Instead, I will be his father” (p. 228).
11. What obstacles does Jahren face in her career as a research
scientist? Are some of the setbacks Jahren faces attributable to her
being a woman in a male-dominated field?
12. Do you agree that “America may say that it values science,
but it sure as hell doesn’t want to pay for it” (p. 123)?
13. Science writing is sometimes criticized for seeming to
anthropomorphize scientific subjects. Do you think that Jahren avoids this
potential pitfall? In what ways do her choice of words and use of metaphor
balance the scientific facts that she wants to convey with having the reader
understand and even delight in these facts? What facts did you find most
interesting?
14. As you read Lab Girl, were you equally
engaged with the autobiographical sections and the chapters on plants and
trees, or did you find yourself more drawn to one or the other?
15. Lab Girl makes use of a wide range of
language and tones, from the scientific to the colloquial, from biblical
references to profanity. Does this range subvert our expectations about how
scientists “should” talk? What do the different tones reveal about Hope? How
does her varied language help us to see her in multiple lights—as scientist and
writer, as friend and human?
16. Memoir is a highly intimate form. Do you feel you’ve gotten
to know Hope through Lab Girl? Does she seem similar or different
to science teachers you have had? Do you see her as an inspiration for young
women who want to pursue a career in science?
17. One of the literary tropes Jahren uses in her memoir is the
comparison of plant life with human life. Talk about the parallels she draws
between her subjects and herself. In what ways are we all similar to our
rooted, blossoming brethren? Do you see those parallels in your own life?
18. Chapter 11 (pg 254) starts with the statement that, like
most people, Jahren’s son has a particular tree that figures prominently in his
life. Do you remember a particular tree from your childhood?
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