'James' discussion questions

Questions and Topics for Discussion

1. James is a retelling of Mark Twain’s 1885 novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which is widely regarded as a classic work of American literature. Have you read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn before? How does Everett subvert Twain’s original text? Did this reimagination change your perspective on the original novel?
2. Twain is well-known for his satirical writing. Where does Everett use humor and satire in James? What social and cultural conditions does the novel’s satire mock or critique?
3. Reflect on Jim’s narration. Why does he switch between vernacular and standardized English? How did this code-switching affect your reading experience?
4. Describe Huck’s role in the story. How does Jim’s fugitive status, as well as race, color, class, age, and education, influence the relationship between the two characters?
5. James depicts the brutalities of slavery, particularly the violence inflicted upon enslaved women and girls, through the stories of Sadie, Lizzie, Sammy, and Katie. What are the unique threats that these characters must navigate? How does Jim react to the gendered violence that he encounters? 
6. Return to Jim’s travels with the minstrel group. What does the novel say about the performance of race? How do blackface minstrelsy and racial passing complicate or undermine racial classification? Can all the characters be seen as performers of race? 
7. Jim’s quest for freedom parallels his quest for literacy. Discuss the key moments on his journey to writing his story. What are the texts that he studies? Who are the characters who give him the tools and encouragement to write? 
8. James references author William Wells Browning, composer Daniel Decatur Emmett, and philosophers John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Voltaire. Consider researching these figures. How do they influence your understanding of the historical period?
9. Discuss the use of religion and superstition in the story. 
10. Were you surprised by Jim’s revelation in chapter one of part three? Returning to earlier passages, can you identify any moments of foreshadowing from Everett? How would you characterize Huck’s reaction? Have you ever learned something shocking about your family’s history?
11. James features an ensemble of fugitive and enslaved characters. How does Everett affirm the humanity of these characters in his writing? Was there one who was particularly memorable to you?
12. The Mississippi River is central to the landscape of the novel. What is the role of the river? How did it shape the political landscape of the region and the events of the novel?
13. Reflect on the title, James. What’s the significance of Jim renaming himself? Why do you think Everett chose to title the novel in this way?
14. What was your reaction to the novel’s ending? What do you think the future holds for James and his family?
15. After reading James, can you think of another character from a classic text that you would like to read as the narrator of their own story?

 
 

 

 

 

Leonardo da Vinci - discussion questions

 

How would you describe Leonardo da Vinci as presented by Walter Isaacson in this biography? Does the author do an adequate job of making da Vinci accessible to 21st-century readers? Does he bring him to life as a living, breathing human being?

Isaacson believes "genius" is too easily applied to people but that Leonardo was "one of the few people in history who indisputably deserved — or, to be more precise, earned — that appellation." Do you agree with Isaacson about our overuse of the term "genius"? How is genius defined? Can you think of someone, in either today's world or in history, who would qualify for genius?

According to Isaacson, da Vinci was self-taught and "willed his way to his genius." What does he mean by that statement? What are some of the factors Isaacson identifies as key to da Vinci's developing path to genius?

Having read Isaacson's book, what parts of Leonardo's life, personality, or his abilities surprise you most?

Isaacson writes about Leonardo's astonishing curiosity. Consider the vast number and variety of objects and pursuits found in the 72,000 pages of the artist's notebooks — what the author refers to as the "greatest record of curiosity ever created." How does Isaacson suggest that his inquisitiveness set da Vinci apart from his contemporaries?

Talk about another aspect of Leonardo's mental process: his ability to recognize patterns — the curls in water, hair, or wind. Why does the author believe that pattern recognition was important for da Vinci?

Isaacson is particularly insightful in writing about da Vinci's great paintings — especially The Last Supper and Mona Lisa. Does the author enable you to better understand the significance of those works and how they furthered the development of art?

Isaacson says we can all learn from Leonardo. What is it we could learn?

Vitruvian Man is about perfect proportion, harmony, and order. Are these our definitions of beauty? Is there beauty to be found in asymmetry or imperfection, in disorder or chaos?

Looking at the illustrations of Da Vinci’s notebooks, what surprised you and/or interested you? What does it tell you about Da Vinci?

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store discussion questions

 1. In The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride takes readers into the lives of the people who live on Chicken Hill, a neighborhood of “ramshackle houses and dirt roads where the town’s Blacks, Jews, and immigrant whites who couldn’t afford any better lived.” As you read about Chicken Hill, how did you envision it? Did its description prompt memories of places that you’ve lived or recall from your past?

2. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is owned by Moshe Ludlow and his wife, Chona, who runs it, and it’s the center of neighborhood life. Are there places like that from your own life or in your past? How are they similar to (or different from) the Heaven & Earth?

3. Moshe desegregated the local theater by booking Black entertainers for Black audiences, and McBride writes in detail about the famous acts that played there. How courageous do you think Moshe had to be to do this? Have you ever tried to change the traditions of a place or an organization? 

4. Nate and Addie Timblin work for the Ludlows: Nate at the theater, Addie at the store. What similarities do you see between their relationship and that of Moshe and Chona? Do you see differences? What do you think the four have in common?

5. Dodo is a deaf boy from Chicken Hill who needs help—assistance that Nate and Chona provide. Why do you think those two were the ones who stepped in to help Dodo? Do you think they should have done anything differently? What do you think that Moshe and Addie could have done to keep Dodo safe? Or do you think his discovery was inevitable?

6. Doc Roberts is a local physician who was instrumental in sending Dodo to the Pennhurst sanitorium. He also had a complicated relationship with Chona. What about him do you think was most objectionable? Why do you think he was able to succeed for so long without being discovered?  

7. Monkey Pants is the only inmate at Pennhurst who befriends Dodo, and the two strike up an unlikely friendship—one that is literally a lifesaver. Have there been people in your life who’ve stepped in to help you when you needed it?

8. Son of Man is the sadistic attendant on Ward C-1 at Pennhurst. What similarities to (or differences from) Doc Roberts did you see in him? Are they both evil in the same way?

9. The escape the characters engineered to extract Dodo from Pennhurst was possible thanks to the relationships they had with others in their community. How important do you think community was in these characters’ lives?

10. At the end of novel you learn how the skeleton in the first chapter got in the well. Do you think the person whose skeleton it was got what he deserved? Do you think other characters in the novel did?

Trust, discussion questions

 1. Trust is a novel that is told through four separate documents – a novel-within-the-novel, an unfinished manuscript, a memoir, and a diary. Why do you think the author chose to tell the larger story this way? How do the different sections speak to each other?

2. Each separate piece of the book offers a different character’s perspective on the same period, subjects, relationships, and events, revealing new truths and calling others into question. Which revelations surprised you most? Whose perspective and narrative did you most enjoy or value and why?

3. One of the major themes of Trust is power, who has it, how they got it, how they maintain it. Another theme is history, how it gets decided and shared, and who gets to tell the story. How do these two themes work together in the book? How do you think the different characters would describe their own power, or their own voice, and the relationship between the two?

4. Related to the theme of voice is the theme of visibility. Which characters are the most visible to the public and which are less seen? Why? What accounts for the differences in visibility? How does a given character’s public visibility affect the larger perception of history? How does Diaz encourage the reader to think about ideas of visibility in the book?

5. What do you think is the relationship between power and money? Can you have one without the other?

6. Did Trust make you think about the ways that history has traditionally been recorded, shaped, and remembered? Or about which people or elements get overlooked, or even erased? 

7. Trust encourages the reader to consider the place of women and minorities in relation to institutions and narratives that seem to bolster the expansion of wealth in this country. Was this something you ever considered before? How do you see the importance of gender or race in the power-wealth dynamic today as compared to the time period of the novel?

8. Trust considers the reputation or aura surrounding one couple and seems to ask: what is fact and what is fabrication, and how can we ever know? Consider how this question, as it pertains to this one couple, can be extended to apply to much broader historical subjects. What do you think the author might be saying about the accuracy of our foundational narratives?

9. Diaz looks at the different ways in which capital distorts and shapes the reality around it. Consider classic novels you may have read from the literary canon, depicting affluence and class. How do they depict the place of women in the story of accumulation of wealth? How do they depict the role of immigrants? Were they written by men or women? When were they published?  

Courtesy Penguin Random House

Troubled Blood Reading Group questions

 1. Much of Strike and Robin’s initial investigation focuses on the serial killer Dennis Creed. Why do you think serial killers hold such fascination for us?

2. In your opinion, what is the significance of the quotes from Spenser’s The Faerie Queen?

3. TROUBLED BLOOD reveals much about Cormoran Strike’s background for the first time in the series. Does knowing this help you understand him better?

4. This is the first time that Cormoran and Robin tackle a cold case in the series. Was that a different experience for you as the reader following the investigation?

5. In this novel, Robin steps up to be co-partner of the agency. How does her approach differ to Strike’s and how is she treated by their employees?

6. Do you think a romantic relationship between Strike and Robin would be a good thing, or detrimental to their business relationship?

7. Anna begins talking to Strike after consulting a medium and tarot card readings go on to play a major role in the investigation. Do you believe in these techniques? Why do you think Robert Galbraith included them in the novel?

8. Both Strike and Anna grow up with maternal figures who are not their mother by blood. How would you say that has that impacted each of their lives?

9. Did you guess the ending? What did you think had happened to Margot?

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher- discussion questions

 The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

1. What do you think about the polygamist marriage angle?

2. What is believable for you at the beginning or was too fat fetched?

3. What were your opinions of Seth throughout the book? How of that change from the beginning though the end?

4. Did Thursday annoy you as a character?

5. There are a lot of themes in the book – miscarriage, abuse, mental illness and more. Do you think it was well though out mix of themes or were the randomly mixed in for shock value?

6. Regarding the psychiatric ward – what were your thoughts on these sections of the book?

7. Usually, the main character is the one you believe in. What bothered you the most about Thursday’s lack of credibility?

8. What do you make of the ending?

The Secret History questions

 

• Richard states that he ended up at Hampden College by a “trick of fate.” What do you think of this statement? Do you believe in fate?
• When discussing Bacchae and the Dionysiac ritual with his students Julian states, “We don’t like to admit it, but the idea of losing control is one that fascinates controlled people such as ourselves more than almost anything. All truly civilized people--the ancients no less than us--have civilized themselves through the willful repression of the old, animal self” (p. 38). What is your opinion of this theory? Are we all attracted to that which is forbidden? Do we all secretly wish we could let ourselves go and act on our animal instincts? Is it true that “beauty is terror”?
• “I suppose there is a certain crucial interval in everyone’s life when character is fixed forever: for me, it was that first fall term spent at Hampden” (p. 80). Did you have such a crucial interval in your life? What/when was it?
• In the idyllic beginning it is easy to see why Richard is drawn to the group of Greek scholars. It is only after they begin to unravel that we see the sinister side of each of the characters. Do you think any one of the characters possesses true evil? Is there such a thing as true evil, or is there something redeeming in everyone’s character?
• In the beginning of the novel, Bunny’s behaviour is at times endearing and at others maddening. What was your initial opinion of Bunny? Does it change as the story develops?
• At times Bunny, with his selfish behaviour, seems devoid of a conscience, yet he is the most disturbed by the murder of the farmer. Is he more upset because he was left out of the group or because he feels what happened is wrong?
• Henry says to Richard, “My life, for the most part, has been very stale and colourless. Dead, I mean. The world has always been an empty place to me. I was incapable of enjoying even the simplest things. I felt dead in everything I did. . . . But then it changed . . . The night I killed that man” (p. 463). How does Henry’s reaction compare to that of the others involved in the murder(s)? Do you believe he feels remorse for what he has done?
• Discuss the significance of the scene in which Henry wipes his muddy hand across his shirt after throwing dirt onto Bunny’s coffin at the funeral (p. 395).
• List some of the signs that foreshadowed the dark turn of events. Would you have seen all the signs that Richard initially misses? Or do you believe Richard knew all along and just refused to see the truth?
• Would you have stuck by the group after learning their dark secret?
• The author states that many people didn’t sympathize with Richard. Did you find him a sympathetic character?
• What do you make of Richard’s unrequited love for Camilla? Do you feel that she loved him in return? Or did she use his love for her as a tool to manipulate him?
• Do you feel the others used Richard as a pawn? If so, how?
• What do you feel is the significance of Julian’s toast “Live forever” (p. 86)?
• The author mentions a quote supposedly made by George Orwell regarding Julian: “Upon meeting Julian Morrow, one has the impression that he is a man of extraordinary sympathy and warmth. But what you call his ‘Asiatic Serenity’ is, I think, a mask for great coldness” (p. 480). What is your opinion of Julian?
• Do you think that Julian feels he is somewhat responsible for the murder of Bunny? Is that why he doesn’t turn the group in when he discovers the truth from Bunny’s letter?
• What causes Julian to flee? Is it because of disappointment in his young protegees or in himself?
• While the inner circle of characters (Richard, Charles, Camilla, Henry, Francis, and the ill-fated Bunny) are the centre of this tale, those on the periphery are equally important in their own ways (Judy Poovey, Cloke Rayburn, Marion, and so on). Discuss the roles of these characters.
• The rights for The Secret History were initially purchased by director/producer/screenwriter Alan J. Paluka (All The President’s Men, The Pelican Brief), though the project never came to fruition. What are your feelings about making the novel into a movie? Who would play the main characters if you were to cast it?
• What is the meaning of Richard’s final dream?