The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet this Thursday, October 13th at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our October book: The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien.

Here are some links for additional background and information:
Video of TV reporting of the Vietnam war Check out some of the other video links

Analysis of The Things They Carried

A discussion of meta-fiction in the book

Interesting paper about Urban Legends and Folklore in The Things They Carried

Video interview with Tim O’Brien: 20 Years Later

Good website with lots of links for more information about the history of the Vietnam war


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

Thursday, November 10th – The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty

Thursday, December 8th – The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

Thursday, January 12th – The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

Thursday, February 9th – Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Thursday, March 8th – Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner


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

Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library

Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet this Thursday, September 8th at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our September book: Emily, Alone by Stewart O’Nan.

Here are some links for additional background and information:

Fresh Air interview with Stewart O'Nan

Buck Institute for Research on Aging

100 ways to age with grace, elegance and joie de vivre

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

Thursday, October 13th – The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

Thursday, November 10th – The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty

Thursday, December 8th – The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

Thursday, January 12th – The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

Thursday, February 9th – Freedom by Jonathan Franzen


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

Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachmann

It’s time to talk books with the Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group!

When? Thursday, August 11th at 7 p.m.
What Book? The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachmann

Check out these links for additional information:

Diane Rehm show transcript discussion of The Imperfectionists
The Death of the Reader
Please stop whining about the death of journalist (Huffington Post)

Upcoming Book Choices:

Thursday, September 8th: Emily Alone by Stewart O'Nan
O'Nan checks back in with the Maxwell family from Wish You Were Here in this bracingly unsentimental, ruefully humorous, and unsparingly candid novel about the emotional and physical travails of old age.

Thursday, October 13th: The Things They Carried
by Tim O'Brien
Weapons and good-luck charms carried by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam here represent survival, lost innocence and the war's interminable legacy. "O'Brien's meditations--on war and memory, on darkness and light--suffuse the entire work with a kind of poetic form, making for a highly original, fully realized novel (Publishers Weekly)

Thursday, November 10th: The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
Pulitzer Prize-winning short novel by Eudora Welty, published in 1972. This partially autobiographical story explores the subtle bonds between parent and child and the complexities of love and grief.

Thursday, December 8th: The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
The dust storms that terrorized the High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since.
Timothy Egan’s critically acclaimed account rescues this iconic chapter of American history from the shadows in a tour de force of historical reportage. Following a dozen families and their communities through the rise and fall of the region, Egan tells of their desperate attempts to carry on through blinding black dust blizzards, crop failure, and the death of loved ones.

I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.

Thanks for reading with us!

Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

It’s time to talk books with the Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group!

When? Wednesday, July 20th at 7 p.m.
What Book? Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Check out these links for additional information:
Sarah Addison Allen’s website
What is Southern Literature?
Genres of Southern Literature

Upcoming Book Choices:
Thursday, Aug 11th The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
In his zinger of a debut, Rachman deftly applies his experience as foreign correspondent and editor to chart the goings-on at a scrappy English-language newspaper in Rome. Chapters read like exquisite short stories, turning out the intersecting lives of the men and women who produce the paper-and one woman who reads it religiously, if belatedly.

Thursday, Sept. 8th Emily Alone by Stewart O’Nan
O'Nan checks back in with the Maxwell family from Wish You Were Here in this bracingly unsentimental, ruefully humorous, and unsparingly candid novel about the emotional and physical travails of old age.


I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.

Thanks for reading with us!

Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library

July 8th discussion - Olive Kitteridge

It’s time to talk books with the Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group!

When? Thursday, July 8th at 7 p.m.

Where? Fairfax Library meeting room

What Book? Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Check out these links for more background info:

Hear an NPR interview with Elizabeth Strout from May, 2009

A long interview with Elizabeth Strout with some audio snippets

List of characters and their connections

Our Next Books:

On Thursday, August 12th, we’ll read Paris Trout by Pete Dexter

“A respected white citizen of Cotton Point, Georgia, Paris Trout is a shopkeeper, a money-lender, and a murderer of blacks. And his friends, family and foes do not realize the danger they face in a man who simply will not see his own guilt”.


On Thursday, September 9th, we’ll read The Help by Kathryn Stockett

“What perfect timing for this optimistic, uplifting debut novel set during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is just home from college in 1962, and, anxious to become a writer, is advised to hone her chops by writing "about what disturbs you." The budding social activist begins to collect the stories of the black women on whom the country club sets relies--and mistrusts--enlisting the help of Aibileen, a maid who's raised 17 children, and Aibileen's best friend Minny…” Publisher’s Weekly

I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.
Thanks for reading with us!
Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library

June 8th discussion - A Sense of the World

It’s time to talk books with the Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group!

When? Thursday, June 10th at 7 p.m.

What Book? A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler by Jason Roberts

Discussion Questions are below.

Check out some of these links for additional fun information:

Read Holman’s own written story of travel

The Grand Tour tradition and history

History of education for the blind across the ages

Portrait of James Holman 1849

Voyage Around the World, Vol. I by James Holman (on Google Books)

Interesting article about human echolocation (be sure to check out some of the links.)

Minutes of the second reading of the Naval Knights of Windsor Bill June 16, 1892 (dissolving the Naval Knights of Windsor)

Minutes of a discussion regarding Greenwich Hospital and Travers Foundation on Oct. 31, 1944 (which reveals the interim history and current status of the Travers Foundation.

History of roads and travel in 1700’s and description of “Blind Jack of Knaresborough”

Brief biography of Blind Jack

Brief History of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh

The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
A Sense of the World by Jason Roberts


1. Jason Roberts makes the case that James Holman was the greatest traveler not just of his time, in the 1800s, but of all time before then. On his own funds and initiative, and despite being blind and intermittently crippled, Holman covered at least 250,000 miles. Do you agree with the author that Holman was the greatest traveler of all time?

2. Holman once said, "I see things better with my feet." Do you think he got a full sense of the world by traveling but not seeing the world?

3. Does the story of James Holman have you re-thinking the limits of what can be achieved in your own life? What limitations are holding you back?

4. The author states (on page 67) that “Contrary to popular conception, the remaining senses of a blinded person do not become more acute. They become more eloquent.” Is it possible to make your own senses more eloquent – without suffering the loss of one of them such as blindness or deafness?

5. Some critics have said they believe Holman was faking his blindness and couldn’t possibly have traveled the world without eyesight. Do you think James Holman was genuinely blind?

6. What qualities did James Holman possess that helped him transcend his circumstances and succeed in his quest to circumnavigate the globe while blind?

7. Why do you think Holman did not pursue a degree at Edinburgh College of Medicine?

8. Why did Holman’s writings fall out of favor and his reputation diminish at the end of his life?

9. We learn that Holman suffered crippling pain ("flying gout")and was blind and that the only thing that seemed to cure him (temporarily) was travel - something that was difficult and literally painful for many of his contemporaries. Why did Holman find that difficult circumstances and new ports of call eased his pain?

The Elegance of the Hedgehog May 13th

It’s time to talk books with the Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group!

When? Thursday, May 13th at 7 p.m.
Where? Fairfax Library meeting room
What Book? The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Check out these links for more background info:

Learn the real rules of the game of Go
Who was William of Ockham?
The life and death of Roland Barthes
Book Review site

Thursday, June 10th – we’ll discuss A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler by Jason Roberts
"He was known simply as the Blind Traveler -- a solitary, sightless adventurer who, astonishingly, fought the slave trade in Africa, survived a frozen captivity in Siberia, hunted rogue elephants in Ceylon, and helped chart the Australian outback. James Holman (1786-1857) became "one of the greatest wonders of the world he so sagaciously explored," triumphing not only over blindness but crippling pain, poverty, and the interference of well-meaning authorities (his greatest feat, a circumnavigation of the globe, had to be launched in secret). Once a celebrity, a bestselling author, and an inspiration to Charles Darwin and Sir Richard Francis Burton, the charismatic, witty Holman outlived his fame, dying in an obscurity that has endured -- until now. A Sense of the World is a spellbinding and moving rediscovery of one of history's most epic lives.. "

I look forward to seeing you at the library.
Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library

Discussion Questions
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

1. True life is elsewhere…
One French critic called The Elegance of the Hedgehog “the ultimate celebration of every person’s invisible part.” How common is the feeling that a part of oneself is invisible to or ignored by others? How much does this “message” contribute to the book’s popularity? Why is it sometimes difficult to show people what we really are and to have them appreciate us for it?

2. This book will save your life…
The Elegance of the Hedgehog has been described as “a toolbox one can look into to resolve life’s problems,” a “life-transforming read,” and a “life-affirming book.” Do you feel this is an accurate characterization of the novel? If so, what makes it thus: the story told, the characters and their ruminations, something else? Can things like style, handsome prose, well-turned phrases, etc. add up to a life-affirming book independently of the story told? To put it another way—Renée Michel’s way—can an encounter with pure beauty change our lives?

3. —a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet. Both Renée and Paloma use stereotypes to their benefit, hiding behind the perceptions others have of their roles. Our understanding and appreciation of people is often limited to a superficial acknowledgement of their assigned roles, their social monikers—single mother, used car salesman, jock, investment banker, senior citizen, cashier… While we are accustomed to thinking of people as victims of stereotypes, is it possible that sometimes stereotypes can be useful? When, under what circumstances, and why, might we welcome an interpretation based on stereotypes of our actions or of who we are? Have you ever created a mise en place that conforms to some stereotype in order to hide a part of yourself?

4. “One of the strengths I derive from my class background is that I am accustomed to contempt.” (Dorothy Allison)
Some critics call this novel a book about class. Barbery herself called Renée Michel, among other things, a vehicle for social criticism. Yet for many other readers and reviewers this aspect is marginal. In your reading, how integral is social critique to the novel? What kind of critique is made? Many pundits were doubtful about the book’s prospects in the US for this very reason: a critique of French class-based society, however charming it may be, cannot succeed in a classless society. Is the US really a classless society? Are class prejudices and class boundaries less pronounced in the US than in other countries? Are the social critique elements in the book relevant to American society?

5. Hope I die before I get old…
Paloma, the book’s young protagonist, tells us that she plans to commit suicide on the day of her thirteenth birthday. She cannot tolerate the idea of becoming an adult, when, she feels, one inevitably renounces ideals and subjugates passions and principles to pragmatism. Must we make compromises, renounce our ideals, and betray our youthful principles when we become adults? If so, why? Do these compromises and apostasies necessarily make us hypocrites? At the end of the book, has Paloma re-evaluated her opinion of the adult world or confirmed it?

6. Kigo: the 500 season words…
Famously, the Japanese language counts twelve distinct seasons during the year, and in traditional Japanese poetry there are five hundred words to characterize different stages and attributes assigned to the seasons. As evidenced in its literature, art, and film, Japanese culture gives great attention to detail, subtle changes, and nuances. How essential is Kakuro’s being Japanese to his role as the character that reveals others’ hidden affinities? Or is it simply his fact of being an outsider that matters? Could he hail from Tasmania and have the same impact on the story?

7. Circumstances maketh the woman…
Adolescent children and the poor are perhaps those social groups most prone to feel themselves trapped in situations that they cannot get out of, that they did not choose, and that condition their entire outlook. Some readers have baulked at the inverse snobbery with which the main characters in The Elegance of the Hedgehog initially seem to view the world around them and the people who inhabit it. Is this disdain genuine or a well-honed defence mechanism provoked by their circumstances? If the later, can it therefore be justified? Do Renée’s and Paloma’s views of the world and the people who surround them change throughout the book? Would Paloma and Renée be more prone to fraternal feelings if their circumstances were different?

8. “Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book.” (Edward Gibbon)
In one of the book’s early chapters, Renée describes what it is like to be an autodidact. “There are days when I feel I have been able to grasp all there is to know in one single gaze, as if invisible branches suddenly spring out of nowhere, weaving together all the disparate strands of my reading—and then suddenly the meaning escapes, the essence evaporates, and no matter how often I reread the same lines, they seem to flee ever further with each subsequent reading, and I see myself as some mad old fool who thinks her stomach is full because she’s been attentively reading the menu. Apparently this combination of ability and blindness is a symptom exclusive to the autodidact.” How accurately does this describe sensations common to autodidacts? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being self-taught?

9. The Philosopher’s Stone…
Much has been made of the book’s philosophical bent. Some feel that the author’s taste for philosophy and her having woven philosophical musings into her characters’ ruminations, particularly those of Renée, hampers the plot; others seem to feel that it is one of the book’s most appealing attributes. What effect did the philosophical elements in this book have on you and your reading? Can you think of other novels that make such overt philosophical references? Which, and how does Hedgehog resemble or differ from them?

10. A Bridge across Generations…
Renée is fifty-four years old. Paloma, the book’s other main character, is twelve. Yet much of the book deals with these two ostensibly different people discovering their elective affinities. How much is this book about the possibilities of communication across generations? And what significance might the fact that Renée is slightly too old to be Paloma’s mother, and slightly too young to be her grandmother have on this question of intergenerational communication?

11. Some stories are universal…
The Elegance of the Hedgehog has been published in thirty-five languages, in over twenty-five countries. It has been a bestseller in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, South Korea, and America. In many other countries, while it may not have made the bestseller lists, it nonetheless has enjoyed considerable success. In the majority of these cases, success has come despite modest marketing, despite the author’s reticence to appear too often in public, and her refusal to appear in television, and despite relatively limited critical response. The novel has reached millions of readers largely thanks to word-of-mouth. What, in your opinion, makes this book so appealing to people? And why, even when compared to other beloved and successful books, is this one a book that people so frequently talk about, recommend to their friends, and give as gifts? And what, if anything, does the book’s international success say about the universality of fictional stories today?

12. “…a text written above all to be read and to arouse emotions in the reader.”
In a related question, The Elegance of the Hedgehog has been described as a “book for readers” as opposed to a book for critics, reviewers, and professors. What do you think is meant by this? And, if the idea is that it is a book that pleases readers but not critics, do you think this could be true? If so, why?