At Jackie's January 2015

Questions for Anna Karenina

1.      How are we to understand the epigram "Vengeance is mine, I will repay"? Should Anna's fate be considered the result of God's vengeance? Is Anna's desire to take vengeance on Vronsky being condemned?

2.      Talk about the first sentence of the novel. "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Do you agree with its assertion?

3.      When Vronsky first meets Anna, "it was as if a surplus of something so overflowed her being that it expressed itself beyond her will..." (p. 61). What is this something? Why is it expressed beyond her will?

4.      Why is Anna able to reconcile Stiva and Dolly

5.      We are told that it is unpleasant for Anna to read about other people's lives because she "wanted too much to live herself" (p. 100). Why are reading and living placed in opposition to one another?

6.      When Anna and Vronsky have satisfied their desire for one another, why does Tolstoy compare Vronsky to a murderer?

7.      After telling her husband about her affair, why does Anna feel that "everything was beginning to go double in her soul" (p. 288)?

8.      At the beginning of the novel, we learn that Anna has a very close bond with her son Seryozha. Talk about what it means for her to leave him in order to be with Vronsky.

9.      Why does Tolstoy counterpose Levin and Kitty's marriage with Anna and Vronsky's relationship?

10.  Why does Levin continually imagine his future in such detail, only to have his actual experience differ from what he had expected?

11.  Do you feel Anna's relationship with her brother and his wife Dolly is a good one? Discuss this dynamic and how you think it may play out as the book progresses.

12.  While explaining her affair to Dolly, Anna says, "I simply want to live; to cause no evil to anyone but myself" (p. 616). Does the novel present these two objectives as compatible or incompatible.

13.  Reflect upon Karenin's predicament. He can't easily divorce his wife, yet she has moved beyond the pale of his influence. If he were to handle the situation in a morally upstanding way, what would be his best course of action

14.  Why does Anna kill herself? Why does everyone and everything seem so ugly to Anna just before she does so?

15.  Is it Anna herself or the society in which she lives that is more responsible for her unhappiness?

16.  Why are the consequences of Stiva's adultery so insignificant relative to those Anna faces?

17.  Why does Vronsky go to war as a volunteer after Anna's suicide?  

18.  Of all the novel's characters, why is it only Anna and Levin who contemplate suicide?

19.  Why does Levin believe that he must keep the revelation in which he comes to understand faith a secret from Kitty?

At Doreen's November 2014

Wildflower Hill - discussion questions

QUESTIONS:

1. Which story did you enjoy reading more, Emma’s or Beattie’s? How did you relate to both of them?

2. Early in the novel, Beattie’s friend Cora tells her: “There are two types of women in the world, Beattie, those who do things and those who have things done to them” (p. 31). How does Beattie adopt this motto throughout her life? Does Emma live by the same credo? Do you agree with Cora’s theory about women? 

3. How did you feel when Margaret went behind Beattie’s back to let Henry see Lucy? How do you feel about Mary, Henry, and Molly’s determination to “keep Lucy away from sin”? Is this just a selfish excuse to keep Lucy away from Beattie?

4. Discuss how religion is treated in the novel. Being a good Christian is emphasized by characters such as Mary, Henry, and Molly, but Lucy feels closer to God when she prays privately, and Beattie seems to feel more in tune with the land. Talk about each character’s concept of God and “good vs. evil.”

5. Beattie remarks that it doesn’t matter how she earns money, as long as she can feed her child: “Children can’t eat morals” (p. 135). Do you agree? Do you think Beattie did the right thing working for Raphael and serving drinks illegally? 

6. Discuss the poker game that leads to Beattie’s ownership of Wildflower Hill. Why does Beattie come up with such a risky proposal? Why does Raphael agree to it?

7. Beattie often blames herself for letting Lucy be taken away. Did she do the right thing by relinquishing more and more control to Henry? Should she have filed for sole custody? What is more important, for a child to have contact with both of her parents or to be raised in the most stable, “proper” way possible?

8. Compare and contrast Beattie’s relationships—with Henry, Charlie, and Ray. Do you think Beattie should have told Ray about her former relationships? How do you think he would have reacted?

9. Why do you think Beattie kept every record from her past at Wildflower Hill? Was it as Emma muses, that she was clinging to every scrap, or do you have a different theory?

10. How does Emma’s sense of identity, priorities, and relationships change throughout the novel? What event impacts her the most?

11. Discuss Mina’s father’s reluctance to see Mina perform. Do you understand his embarrassment? Why does Patrick refuse to get involved?

12. Emma decides to finally visit Lucy and deliver her grandmother’s letter, even though her grandmother never intended to send it. How do you think Lucy will receive her? What do you envision happening after the close of the novel? 

At Kathy's

'Me Before You' -discussion questions

If you were Louisa, would you have quit working for the Traynors? If yes, at what point?

2. Were you able to relate to the way Will felt after his accident? What about his outlook on life did you find most difficult to understand or accept?

3. Discuss the meaning of the novel’s title. To whom do the “me” and “you” refer?

4. Louisa often finds Mrs. Traynor cold and judgmental. Is there an appropriate way to behave in Mrs. Traynor’s situation?

5. What is your opinion of Mr. Traynor? Did it change after you read his side of the story?

6. Why is Louisa able to reach Will when so many others could not?

7. Were you as surprised as Lou to learn of Will’s plans?

8. Compare Louisa’s relationship with Treena to Will’s relationship with Georgina. Do siblings know one another any better simply because they are related?

9. Would Patrick have asked Louisa to move in with him if he hadn’t felt threatened by Will? If Louisa had never accepted her job with the Traynors, where would her relationship with Patrick have gone?

10. Discuss Louisa’s own secret ties to the castle. Would most girls in her situation have blamed themselves? Should Treena have behaved differently in the aftermath?

11. What did you make of the way Lou’s mother, Josie, judges Lou’s decisions regarding Will. Is Josie’s reaction fair?

12. Before his accident, Will was a philanderer and a corporate raider who would probably never have given Louisa a second look. Why is it that people are so often unable to see what’s truly important until they’ve experienced loss?

(Questions issued by publisher.)

At Joanna's September 2014