The Unbearable Lightness of Being- questions

1. What kinds of being carry the attribute of lightness? How is the “lightness of being” of the novel’s title presented? In what ways is it “unbearable”? What is the difference between “the sweet lightness of being” that Tomas enjoys in Zurich, after Tereza’s return to Prague, and “the unbearable lightness of being”?
2. How does Nietzsche’s myth of eternal return, with which Kundera opens his book, function in the novel? What does Kundera mean when he refers to “the profound moral perversity of a world that rests essentially on the nonexistence of return”? How does what he calls the unbearable burden of eternal return contrast with the “splendid lightness” of our daily lives?
3. How would you describe the three central relationships of the novel–Tereza and Tomas, Tomas and Sabina, Sabina and Franz? How do they embody Kundera’s primary concerns and themes?
4. In what ways does Kundera explore what he calls “the irreconcilable duality of body and soul, that fundamental human experience.” In what ways does he show this duality to be fundamental?
5. Both Tereza and Tomas repeatedly think of the series of fortuitous events that brought them together. What is the rule of fortuity, chance, and coincidence in their lives and the lives of others? What does Kundera mean when he writes, “Chance and chance alone has a message for us”?
6. In what ways may Sabina’s description of her dual-level paintings–“On the surface, an intelligible lie; underneath, the unintelligible truth”–apply to every aspect of the characters’ lives and relationships?
7. What meanings and importance do each of the main characters ascribe to fidelity and betrayal? In what instances, for each character, do fidelity and betrayal have either positive or negative qualities?
8. Kundera insists that “the criminal regimes were made not by criminals but by enthusiasts convinced they had discovered the only road to paradise.” What visions or versions of paradise are presented in the novel? By whom? How does each vision/version of paradise affect the lives of its enthusiasts and the lives of others?

At Doreen's April 2019

At Jackie's March 2019

The Alchemist- discussion questions

by Paulo Coelho

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1. At the start of his journey, when Santiago asks a gypsy woman to interpret his dream about a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids, she asks for one tenth of the treasure in return. When Santiago asks the old man to show him the path to the treasure, the old man requests one tenth of his flock as "payment." Both payments represent a different price we have to pay to fulfill a dream; however, only one will yield a true result. Which payment represents false hope? Can you think of examples from your own life when you had to give up something to meet a goal and found the price too high?

2. Paulo Coelho once said that alchemy is all about pursuing our spiritual quest in the physical world as it was given to us. It is the art of transmuting the reality into something sacred, of mixing the sacred and the profane. With this in mind, can you define your Personal Legend? At what time in your life were you first able to act on it? What was your "beginner's luck"? Did anything prevent you from following it to conclusion? Having read The Alchemist, do you know what inner resources you need to continue the journey?

3. One of the first major diversions from Santiago's journey was the theft of his money in Tangiers, which forced him into taking a menial job with the crystal merchant. There, Santiago learned many lessons on everything from the art of business to the art of patience. Of all these, which lessons were the most crucial to the pursuit of his Personal Legend?

4. When he talked about the pilgrimage to Mecca, the crystal merchant argued that having a dream is more important than fulfilling it, which is what Santiago was trying to do. Do you agree with Santiago's rationale or crystal merchant's?

5. The Englishman, whom Santiago meets when he joins the caravan to the Egyptian pyramids, is searching for "a universal language, understood by everybody." What is that language? According to the Englishman, what are the parallels between reading and alchemy? How does the Englishman's search for the alchemist compares to Santiago's search for a treasure? How did the Englishman and Santiago feel about each other?

6. The alchemist tells Santiago "you don't have to understand the desert: all you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation." With this in mind, why do you think the alchemist chose to befriend Santiago, though he knew that the Englishman was the one looking for him? What is the meaning of two dead hawks and the falcon in the oasis? At one point the alchemist explains to Santiago the secret of successfully turning metal into gold. How does this process compare to finding a Personal Legend?

7. Why did Santiago have to go through the dangers of tribal wars on the outskirts of the oasis in order to reach the pyramids? At the very end of the journey, why did the alchemist leave Santiago alone to complete it?

8. Earlier in the story, the alchemist told Santiago "when you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed." At the end of the story, how did this simple lesson save Santiago's life? How did it lead him back to the treasure he was looking for?

ReadingGroupGuides

At Kathy's November 2018

At Doreen's - October 2018

Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - discussion questions

1.Who did what with the Henrietta Lacks's tissue cells? Who benefited, scientifically, medically, and monetarily?
2. What are the specific issues raised in the book—legally and ethically?
3. Should patient consent be required to store and distribute their tissue for research? Should doctors disclose their financial interests? Would this make any difference in achieving fairness?
4. What are the legal ramifications regarding payment for tissue samples?
5. What are the spiritual and religious issues surrounding the living tissue of people who have died? How do Henrietta's descendants deal with her continued "presence" in the world...and even the cosmos (in space)?
6. Were you bothered when researcher Robert Stevenson tells author Skloot that "scientists don’t like to think of HeLa cells as being little bits of Henrietta because it’s much easier to do science when you dissociate your materials from the people they come from"? Is that an ugly outfall of scientific research...or is it normal, perhaps necessary, for a scientist to distance him/herself?
7. What do you think of the incident in which Henrietta's children "see" their mother in the Johns Hopkins lab? How would you have felt? Would you have sensed a spiritual connection to the life that once created those cells...or is the idea of cells simply too remote to relate to?
8. Is race an issue in this story? Would things have been different had Henrietta been a middle class white woman rather than a poor African American woman?
9. Author Rebecca Skloot is a veteran science writer. Did you find it enjoyable to follow her through the ins-and-outs of the laboratory and scientific research? Or was this a little too "petri-dish" for you?