Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston - June 2019

June 2019 selection - Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, June 13th at 7:30 p.m. (30 minutes later than usual) in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our June book, Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston.

Here are some links for additional background and information:

My son’s American history textbook includes this fact: “…of approximately 10 million men, women, and children who crossed from the Old World to the New between 1492 and 1820, the vast majority, about 7.7 million, were African slaves.”

This article in The Nation discusses the link between capitalism and slavery.

Many of you heard about the Clotilda being located in South Carolina last month

Both the author and Cudjo Lewis had a wealthy, white patron, Charlotte Osgood Mason

This 3-min newsclip discusses a documentary about Africa Town

Interesting article about the history of the word, intersectionality

Two songs my son was recently listening to both seemed to have roots in slave spirituals:

Broken Bones by Kaleo (an Icelandic band)

Bottom of the River by Delta Rae

We’ll take the month of July off for summer vacation. After that, we have the following books to look forward to reading:

Thurs. August 8^th        The Lightkeepers by Abby Geni

Thurs. Sept. 12^th         My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

Thurs. Oct. 10^th           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

Reading and Discussion Guide

·         Oral history is an important facet of maintaining and passing on African history. Hurston positions Cudjo Lewis as a griot throughout the text. His recollection of the events of his life and those following his being sold into slavery are verified by other historical texts, and Hurston is quite confident in the veracity of his stories. Consider the way history is preserved within your own family context.

·         As is pointed out in the book, one of the most important things about printing and distributing Cudjo’s story is the fact that at the time of its writing, the world was inundated with stories from every perspective but that of the slave.  Hurston writes in her original introduction:

“All these words from the seller, but not one word from the sold. The Kings and Captains whose words moved ships. But not one word from the cargo. The thoughts of the ‘black ivory,’ the ‘coin of Africa,’ had no market value. Africa’s ambassadors to the New World have come and worked and died, and left their spoor, but no recorded thought” (pg. 6). 

Does this consideration make the experience of reading Cudjo Lewis’ story even more powerful for you?

·         Cudjo spares no feelings in sharing that the events that brought him under bondage were done by his fellow Africans — the powerful Dahomey nation had made quite the business out of attacking other tribes who had slighted them, killing many and selling those who they let survive to the white men. This is a complicated and uncomfortable history for some Black Americans to accept. Alice Walker struggles with this in her foreward. Was this a painful history to read about for you? Have you heard about the practice of some African nations selling their captives to American and European slavers?

·         Hurston returns time and time again to Cudjo’s loneliness. He had lost essentially his entire immediate family and his homeland, and the toll this has taken on him is quite evident. One of the most touching lines of the book was him describing how he felt without his wife.

De wife she de eyes to de man’s soul. How kin I see now, when I ain’ gottee de eyes no mo’?” (pg. 93).

·         Part of the reason why the book was never published while Hurston was alive was because editors wanted her to rewrite the text “in language not in dialect” (pg. xxii). She refused, feeling that the story must be told in Cudjo’s own words and tone. Was the experience of reading in dialect difficult for you? Did it make Cudjo feel more or less believable to you? Why?

Days Without End by Sebastian Barry - May 2019

May 2019 selection - Days Without End by Sebastian Barry

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, May 9th at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our May book, Days Without End by Sebastian Barry.

Here are some links for additional background and information:

Author Interview

Interesting article about the Indian Wars that has lessons for later wars

Irish soldiers in the Civil War have their own website

The business of bounties for scalps in US history

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

Thurs. June 13^th             Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston

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 McNulty family has featured in several of Barry’s novels – including The Secret Scripture and The Temporary Gentleman – how do you feel about the continuous thread between the books?

1. Thomas escapes famine in Ireland for war and horror in the US. However, at times he finds moments of happiness and safety. How well did Barry balance these contradictions?
2. Thomas and John were part of both the Indian Wars and the Civil War – how did the descriptions of these differ in the narrative?
3. The relationship between Thomas and John is central to the novel – how different would their experience be in the US military today?
4. How does the introduction of Sioux child Winona, into the complicated relationship of Thomas and John, challenge our preconceptions of the family dynamic?
5. Both Thomas and John work in their youth, as cross-dressing entertainers. How does this experience impact their lives going forward?
6. Thomas’ descriptions of war and battles are very violent. How do you think that violence affected him? How might it have affected John Cole?
7. “The ones that don’t try to rob me will feed me. That how it is in America.” This is one of the last lines in the novel. Does this sounds like an accurate description of the country? How will Thomas and John fare in the country now?
8. Since 2012, applicants to California state colleges and universities are asked to share their sexual identification ie. transgender, lesbian, gay, heterosexual, bisexual etc. Does this indicate that life is better or easier for people who identify in ways other than heterosexual?

The Leavers by Lisa Ko - April 2019

April 2019 selection - The Leavers by Lisa Ko

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, April 11th at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our April book, The Leavers by Lisa Ko.

Here are some links for additional background and information:

Video visit to Fuzhou, China

Psychology Today article about trans-racial adoption

Fuzhou Garment Company website

2018 NYC Immigrant Annual Report (with lots of colorful graphs)

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

Thurs. May 9^th              Days Without End by Sebastian Barry

Thurs. June 13^tt              Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston

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

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What relevance, if any, does The Leavers have to the immigration issues dividing much of the world today? What are your opinions regarding immigration. Did this book alter those opinions...or confirm them?
2. How is Polly Guo portrayed in this work? Do you admire her...or not? Does she engender sympathy? Does your attitude toward her change during the course of the novel? Early on she is ambivalent about Deming's birth, placing him in a bag and leaving him underneath a city bench...only to return to him, of course. Is she to blame for her ambivalence?
3. Talk about Polly's turbulent past and how it shapes who she has become. She seems driven by dreams of her own. What are those dreams?
4. How would you describe Deming when he arrives back in the U.S. as a six-year-old? What kind of family do Polly and Leon provide for Deming and Michael? What kind of life do they lead in the Bronx? Consider Polly's job in the nail salon. 
5. Deming is utterly bewildered by his mother's disappearance. Talk about the effect it has on him as he grows into adolescence and young adulthood? Consider this observation: "If he held everyone at arm’s length, it wouldn’t hurt as much when they disappeared." Or this one: "He had eliminated the possibility of feeling out of place by banishing himself to no place." 
6. What role do Ko's music and his gambling play; how do they help assuage his pain? At one point, after a performance with his band, Deming slips out, thinking to himself, "It felt good being the one making the excuse to get away." What does he mean?
7. What do you think of Kay and Peter Wilkinson? Are they clueless? Insensitive? Well-meaning?
8. Polly's story is told in the first person while Deming's is in the third person. Why do you think the author made that choice? Is Polly's tale meant to be a journal for Deming?
9. Polly is the one who sees the nature of the immigration system firsthand. How is the system portrayed in the novel? 
10. Lisa Ko says the novel was inspired by a 2009 New York Times article about an undocumented immigrant from China who spent 18 months in detention. She had been arrested at a bus station on the way to Florida for a new job. Does knowing that the novel has its roots in a true story have any impact on how you understand it?
11. From Deming to Daniel and Peilan to Polly, do you think the name changes of the main characters helped them to find a fresh start, or further complicated their search for belonging?
12. The Leavers asks us to grapple with a complicated image of motherhood in Polly’s experience. Did you empathize with her? Did your view of her change as more of her story is revealed?
13. A major theme throughout the book is the fantasy of alternate selves. As Polly accepts that she is having her child, Ko writes, “Peilan continued on in the village, feeding chickens and stray cats and washing cabbages, as Polly lived out a bonus existence abroad. Peilan would marry Haifeng or another village boy while Polly would walk the endless blocks of new cities.” Likewise, Polly and Deming have a game of finding their “doppelgangers” and imagining the lives the alternate Deming and Mama would lead. Why do you think Polly and Deming keep returning to these ideas?
14. Similarly, as Polly and Deming make choices, face different situations, and develop in their stories, Ko continually asks us to consider the way we move into differing versions of ourselves and how how those selves must co-exist, sometimes painfully. Have you had a life experience that brought you to a different version of yourself? What truly changes and what stays the same about Polly and Deming?
15. The novel often goes backwards and forwards in time, and the viewpoint changes with Polly’s story in first person and Daniel’s in third person. How do you think structure relates to the larger narrative, and how did it affect your connection with the characters?
16. Discuss Deming / Daniel. How is he personally accountable for his choices? Are they a result of nature or nurture? Whose actions toward him left the greatest impact, for better or worse – Peter and Kay’s, his mother’s, Roland’s, Vivian’s, even government policy?
17. What was your first impression of the title of this book? How did revisiting The Leavers inform what you might suspect to happen as plot twists appeared throughout the story? Discuss the power a title has in reference to a greater book.
18. The Leavers won the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize, an award that was “created to promote ­ction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships.” What did you get out of this novel? If applicable, compare it to other novels written on a similar subject.
19. Deming plays a concert at the beginning of the novel and again at the end, neither of which could be considered a success by most standards. Compare these performances and consider what they convey about the journey he has been on.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

March 2019 selection - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, March 14th at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our March book, Eleanor Oliphant isCompletely Fine by Gail Honeyman.

Here are some links for additional background and information: 

Author Interview

Listen to the Carpenters’ Top of the World

Map of Glasgow

Emily Dickinson’s Wild Night poem

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

Thurs. Apr. 11^th           The Leavers by Lisa Ko

Thurs. May 9^th             Days Without End by Sebastian Barry

Thurs. June 13^th          Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston

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

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Knowing the truth about Eleanor’s family, look back through the book to revisit her exchanges with her mother. Did you see what was ahead? How did Honeyman lay the groundwork for the final plot twist? 

2. What are the different ways that the novel’s title could be interpreted? What do you think happens to Eleanor after the book ends? 

3. Eleanor says, “These days, loneliness is the new cancer—a shameful, embarrassing thing, brought upon yourself in some obscure way. A fearful, incurable thing, so horrifying that you dare not mention it; other people don’t want to hear the word spoken aloud for fear that they might too be afflicted” (p. 227). Do you agree? 

4. What does Raymond find appealing about Eleanor? And why does Eleanor feel comfortable opening up to Raymond? 

5. Eleanor is one of the most unusual protagonists in recent fiction, and some of her opinions and actions are very funny. What were your favorite moments in the novel?

6. “Did men ever look in the mirror, I wondered, and find themselves wanting in deeply fundamental ways? When they opened a newspaper or watched a film, were they presented with nothing but exceptionally handsome young men, and did this make them feel intimidated, inferior, because they were not as young, not as handsome?” (p. 74). Eleanor’s question is rhetorical and slightly tongue-in-cheek, but worth answering. What are your thoughts? If men don’t have this experience, why not? If they do, why is it not more openly discussed? 

7. Eleanor is frightened that she may become like her mother. Is this a reasonable fear? What is the balance of nature and nurture? 

8. Is it possible to emerge from a traumatic childhood unscathed? 

9. Eleanor says, “If someone asks you how you are, you are meant to say FINE. You are not meant to say that you cried yourself to sleep last night because you hadn’t spoken to another person for two consecutive days. FINE is what you say” (p. 226–227). Why is this the case? 

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - Feb. 2019

February 2019 selection - A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Wednesday, February 13th in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our February book, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

Here are some links for additional background information:

Four-minute tour of the Hotel Metropol in Moscow

Interesting review and analysis of the novel

Author interview

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

March 14 - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Thanks for reading with us!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. In the transcript at the opening of A Gentleman in Moscow, the head of the tribunal and Count Rostov have the following exchange: "Secretary Ignatov: I have no doubt, Count Rostov, that some in the galley are surprised to find you charming; but I am not surprised to find you so. History has shown charm to be the last ambition of the leisure class. What I do find surprising is that the author of the poem in question could have become a man so obviously without purpose. Rostov: I have lived under the impression that a man’s purpose is known only to God. Secretary Ignatov: Indeed. How convenient that must have been for you. "

To what extent is A Gentleman in Moscow a novel of purpose? How does the Count’s sense of purpose manifest itself initially, and how does it evolve as the story unfolds?

2. Over the course of Book Two, why does the Count decide to throw himself from the roof of the Metropol? On the verge of doing so, why does the encounter with the old handyman lead him to change his plans?

3. The Count’s life under house arrest is greatly influenced by his relationship with four women: Nina, Marina, Anna, and Sofia. What is the nature of the Count’s relationship with each of these women? How do those relationships differ from his relationship with the members of the Triumvirate—Andrey and Emile?

4. The majority of A Gentleman in Moscow is told in the third person from the Count’s point of view. There is, however, an overarching narrator with a different perspective than the Count’s. Initially, this narrator appears in footnotes, then in the Addendums, then in the historical introductions of 1930, 1938, and 1946. How would you characterize this narrator? How does he differ from the Count in terms of his point of view and tone of voice? What is his role in the narrative?

5. In the 1946 chapter, Mishka, Osip, and Richard each share with the Count their perspective on the meaning of the revolutionary era. What are these three perspectives? Are you inclined to agree with one of them; or do you find there is some merit to each?

6. One of the pleasures of writing fiction is discovering upon completion of a project that some thread of imagery has run through the work without your complete awareness–forming, in essence, an unintentional motif. While I was very conscious of the recurrence of tolling bells, keys, and concentric circles in the book, here are a few motifs that I only recognized after the fact: Packages wrapped in brown paper such as the Maltese Falcon, Mishka’s book of quotations, the Russian nesting dolls discovered in the Italians’ closet, and the Count’s copy of Montaigne (in Paris). The likeness of stars such as the freckles on Anna’s back and the beacon on the top of the Shukhov radio tower. Sailors (often in peril) such as Robinson Crusoe, Odysseus, Admiral Makarov, and Arion in the myth of Delphinus. What role do any of these motifs play in the thematic composition of the book?

7. How does the narrative incorporate the passage of time, and does it do so effectively? Thematically speaking, how does the Count’s experience of Time change over the course of the novel and how does it relate to his father’s views as embodied by the twice-tolling clock? Do you agree with the Count’s conclusion that we experience time differently as we grow older?  What does the novel suggest about the influence of individuals on history and vice versa?

8. At the opening of Book Five, the Count has already decided to get Sofia out of Russia. What occurs over the course of Book Four to lead him to this decision? Why does he choose to remain behind?

9. Near the novel’s conclusion, what is the significance of the toppled cocktail glass in Casablanca?

10. This is a novel with a somewhat fantastical premise set half a century ago in a country very different from our own. Nonetheless, do you think the book is relevant today? If so, in what way?

11. Is there a danger that Towles’ sympathetic portrayal of the Count glosses over the part many Russian aristocrats played in the oppression of the peasants and later, the working classes which eventually led to the Revolution?

12. How did you interpret the ending of the novel? Was it a satisfactory conclusion to the story?

13.  A reviewer, Annalisa Quinn, comments that “Towles never lets anyone merely say goodbye when the could bid adieu, never puts a period where an exclamation point or dramatic ellipsis could stand.” How did you feel about the author’s apparent delight in extravagant language?

14. During his time at The Metropol the Count forges friendships which crow age, class and political boundaries. How does he make friends so easily? What is the novel’s overall message about friendship?

15. In a review of A Gentleman in Moscow Ron Charles points out that “the whole enterprise depends on how deeply you fall in love with the Count.” Did you fall in love with Count Rostov as a character? Why or why not?

16. How are work and purpose portrayed in the novel? Do you agree with the implication that a sense of purpose is an essential ingredient for a fulfilling life?

17. Discuss the different ways in which the historical events taking place outside the Metropol are conveyed to the reader. Do these snippets of information tell us enough about the state of the Soviet Union during this period? Is the light tone of the novel at odds with the horrors of Stalinist Russia?

18. One of the Count’s favorite stories is the evolution of the moths of Manchester. Is his story also one of evolution? Are there any other evolutions throughout the novel?

The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea - Jan. 2019

January 2019 selection - The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea

Happy New Year!

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet  Thursday, January 10th at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our January book, The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea.

Here are some links for additional background and information:

How to get a green card

1930’s repatriation of Mexicans

Author interview with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross

On Being interview with author discussing the meaning of borders

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

Wed. Feb. 13^th            A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (note changed day and date!)

Thurs. Mar. 14^th          Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

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

The Mothers by Britt Bennett Dec. 2018

December 2018 selection - The Mothers by Brit Bennett

The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet, Thursday, December 13th at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our December book, The Mothers by Brit Bennett.

Discussion questions, author interview and reviews are attached.

Here are some links for additional background and information: 

Issues in the spotlight with the Center for Reproductive Rights

Five facts about the religious lives of African Americans

8 Great Questions with Brit Bennett

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

Thurs. Jan. 10^th           The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea

Wed. Feb. 13^th            A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (note changed day and date!)

Thurs. Mar. 14^th          Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

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

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. To what degree do you think Nadia's discomfort about her ambition is just in her head, and to what degree do you think her community sees her as an outsider because of it? Why is leaving home so revolutionary for Nadia? What can her academic accomplishments give her that her home community cannot?

2.Nadia and Luke are two black teen who go to a mostly white school, on the edge of a military base. When Luck ends up in the hospital, he becomes conscious of how Hispanic male nurse suffers from others’ stereotypes. How does the author approach identity in relation to race? How must Nadia change the way she interacts with people inside or outside of her community?

3. The Mothers strives to handle teen pregnancy with compassion and wisdom, portraying it as a life-transforming experience with incalculable ramifications. Why do you think Nadia makes the choices she does? How do these choices affect her life, Luke’s life, and even the larger community?

4.After his football injury, Luke must struggle to redefine his own sense of himself, his potential and expectations. Later in the book he befriends a male physical therapist who shows Luke that he, too, has the potential for ministering to the sick or injured—which is a sort of “mothering” in itself. How does Luke’s sense of masculinity change, before and after his injury? How does the author explore masculinity in the depiction of Nadia’s father, a professional military man who must learn to connect with his daughter? Do you think that, in the end, both father and daughter have found a way to communicate and show their love to each other?

5. The novel has a distinct nucleus, made up of “The Mothers,” the elderly women of the black church community who watch over the small-town goings-on with a presence that evokes the tone of a fable. Their chorus, Greek in format, shows the insularity and defiance of a small, loving community. How do “The Mothers” embody their community? In what ways do they impose their own experiences—their beliefs, their upbringings, their age—on the younger generation?

6. Another focus of the book is Nadia’s relationship with her best friend, Aubrey, as they help each other through adolescence and motherlessness. It provides poignant commentary about the ways women rely on one another, and about the necessity of navigating hard truths with the people we love. How do Nadia and Aubrey change over the course of the book—both within their friendship and outside of it? What does this friendship give each of the girls?

7. As Nadia maneuvers the adolescent world and beyond, how does her grief over her mother's death change her? Do you think it ultimately strengthens her? Weakens her?