BookBrowse BookTalk : Conference : 2017 Book Club DiscussionsConference : 2017 Book Club Discussions : Discussions of some of 2017's best books for book clubs
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RE: How did enjoy reading History of Wolves?I loved this book. I thought it was beautifully and hauntingly written. I read it in 24 hours because I could not put it down.
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2018-01-04T00:51:17-05:00How did enjoy reading History of Wolves?RE: What's Your Reaction to the Author's Genre Category?!It's not a love story in the conventional sense perhaps but I sense that Linda has a very deep love for Patra. She is a very complex and confused teenager, though and I think she is looking for something she never finds. She sees the tenderness and love which Patra has for Paul and she feels that this is something she has never had herself. She senses that her mother is not her real mother and that she has never had that sort of motherly love lavished on her.
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2018-01-04T00:49:28-05:00What's Your Reaction to the Author's Genre Category?!RE: What's Your Reaction to the Author's Genre Category?!A 'love story"? If this is an example of 'love', it's no wonder our society is so screwed up! And, maybe the author considering it a 'love' story is representative of the way our society group-thinks.
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2017-12-30T10:34:30-05:00What's Your Reaction to the Author's Genre Category?!RE: How did enjoy reading History of Wolves?I didn't enjoy reading this book. There was nothing about the story or the way it was written that was enjoyable - to me. It is a sad, sad story. The characters are flawed, seemingly beyond all help. But, it is a book I will think about from time to time.
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2017-12-30T10:31:12-05:00How did enjoy reading History of Wolves?RE: There are many allusions to classical literature, myths and legends in the novel. Which stood out for you?At the time I was reading, only 2 references immediately stood out: Pandora's box and Achilles as in a strong figure that also commits a deed that is terrifying. I must admit that a couple of times I felt like the other references seemed too forced. I don't have the book handy or I would thumb back through it to see if I wrote comments in the margin at the time.
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2017-12-23T14:41:49-05:00There are many allusions to classical literature, myths and legends in the novel. Which stood out for you?RE: How many readers had a pretty clear idea of what had happened before it was revealed?I was certain that there had been a rape and I suspected that the slave had assisted her in some way since she named her son after him. However, I still was surprised to learn the identity of the actual disgusting rapist.
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2017-12-23T14:37:01-05:00How many readers had a pretty clear idea of what had happened before it was revealed?RE: What do you think compels Linda to take the shoes to Lily's house?I had not read the responses to the question prior to posting any of my comments, and I find it so interesting to see bits and pieces of my own feelings in all of the responses. Probably my strongest sentiment was Linda's hope of having an excuse to make Lily feel secure enough to come out to her and then having a chance to whisper a question or two about the accused teacher, Mr . G. However, I ultimately was confused about whether or not Mr. G had actually written about or even mentally thought about the sexual interaction with Lily. Was it only Linda's warped mind imagining that he thought that? In my mind, the confusion about what really did happen or was only imagined and then the question of imagined-by-whom is one of the weaknesses of this book.
https://www.bookbrowse.com/booktalk/messages.cfm?threadid=09E1A8FD-A8E2-206E-93C696460FFA8D3A&r=7
2017-12-23T14:34:33-05:00What do you think compels Linda to take the shoes to Lily's house?What's Your Reaction to the Author's Genre Category?!On page 289 of the book, in the pages devoted to an interview with the author, Emily Fridlund is quoted as saying that she considers this book to be a love story? Do you agree or not? How would you defend or rebuke this genre choice for THIS book?
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2017-12-23T14:25:47-05:00What's Your Reaction to the Author's Genre Category?!RE: Why do you think Linda is interested in what happened between Lily and Mr. Grierson? How do you think Linda feels about Lily's lie and do you think her opinion of Lily changes over the course of the book?Lily was another character whose life story seemed to lack some development, but then, this community of disturbed people would be missing coping skills in the first place. At times I think Linda wavered between sympathy and a slight feeling of kinship ("hey, neither of us is really accepted with our peers here in school"), and then ultimately there seemed to have been some envy that Lily used her accusation of the teacher as a way change her life and to escape her past - albeit in a small way.
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2017-12-23T14:20:45-05:00Why do you think Linda is interested in what happened between Lily and Mr. Grierson? How do you think Linda feels about Lily's lie and do you think her opinion of Lily changes over the course of the book?RE: How does it affect you to know that four-year-old Paul is dead before you are introduced to him as a character? Does this change how you understand and take in the events that occur later on?The time of the child's death did not affect my feelings or frustrations with this book. At time I felt that there could have been a chance for a good story to develop. And the presence of the child was neither the strong point nor the weakness in this book.
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2017-12-23T14:13:26-05:00How does it affect you to know that four-year-old Paul is dead before you are introduced to him as a character? Does this change how you understand and take in the events that occur later on?RE: This book is narrated in a nonlinear fashion. How do you think this structure serve the story that Linda is telling? Why do you think the author chose to tell it this way?I agree with kdowney25. I disliked the way this story was written that half way through I had to jump to the end. I just wanted to be done too.
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2017-12-21T17:50:53-05:00This book is narrated in a nonlinear fashion. How do you think this structure serve the story that Linda is telling? Why do you think the author chose to tell it this way?RE: Is the trial the first time Linda realizes what being a Christian Scientist means? Did she think that Leo was totally responsible up until this point? Why does she tell the court that Patra "did nothing" for her son?I don't think the trial was the first time that she connected Christian Scientist with the lack of medical intervention, I got the impression that she didn't care about the religious context, but only the motivation of the people involved. Interesting that in her family the father did not seem to be a dictatorial sort, but seemed to share with her mom in chores, etc. And yet Linda accepted the control that Leo exerted over Paul and Petra and accepted Petra's passive acceptance of the death of her child. Until the trial, at least, when she seemed to realize that Petra let Paul down in the most fundamentally unnatural way.
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2017-12-21T17:36:28-05:00Is the trial the first time Linda realizes what being a Christian Scientist means? Did she think that Leo was totally responsible up until this point? Why does she tell the court that Patra "did nothing" for her son?RE: In the last chapter, why do you think Linda imagines herself in the scenario with Lily?I too felt the book effectively ended with Paul's death. The Lily story line seemed like a distraction, or, more likely, the author's attempt to show the inevitable future of Linda if she stays in her then current state. I really thought the story should have followed the tension between the right of a child to survive with medical intervention and the right of parents to follow their religious beliefs. The effect of Pauls' death and the reason was never really hashed out for Linda to reconcile and yet she felt guilty.
https://www.bookbrowse.com/booktalk/messages.cfm?threadid=0A565C70-00C7-0464-E7F1CCDDA09BE2BA&r=13
2017-12-21T17:31:03-05:00In the last chapter, why do you think Linda imagines herself in the scenario with Lily?How did you enjoy reading History of Wolves?I feel like I had to put my thoughts about this somewhere, so I started a new thread. I have rarely, maybe only three times in my entire life, chosen not to complete a book. If it weren't for my commitment to BookBrowse, I may not have finished this. I had to force myself to continue reading after about the halfway point. I finished the book, but not because I couldn't wait to see what happened. I just couldn't wait to be done. To be fair, though, this has been an extremely busy time for me and I didn't really have a lot of time to read. But I can't help but think that if I had found this book more compelling and less confusing, I would have made more of an effort to find more time to read. When I first started I thought I might recommend this to my book club. Not going to happen.
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2017-12-18T16:47:49-05:00How did enjoy reading History of Wolves?RE: This book is narrated in a nonlinear fashion. How do you think this structure serve the story that Linda is telling? Why do you think the author chose to tell it this way?I normally don't mind a non-linear narration, but I really disliked it here. There were several years between sections and some things included in the narration I thought were pointless. A few times I found myself thinking what does this have to do with anything? I had a difficult time getting through this book and couldn't wait to get to the end, just because I wanted to be done.
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2017-12-18T16:31:58-05:00This book is narrated in a nonlinear fashion. How do you think this structure serve the story that Linda is telling? Why do you think the author chose to tell it this way?RE: In the last chapter, why do you think Linda imagines herself in the scenario with Lily?I'm with you. Marianna. I just wanted to be done.
https://www.bookbrowse.com/booktalk/messages.cfm?threadid=0A565C70-00C7-0464-E7F1CCDDA09BE2BA&r=16
2017-12-18T16:26:41-05:00In the last chapter, why do you think Linda imagines herself in the scenario with Lily?RE: In the last chapter, why do you think Linda imagines herself in the scenario with Lily?I totally did not understand this last part. I found it very confusing and had to reread it a few times, and still left with a feeling of "what??") But quite frankly I was so glad to finally be done with this book that I probably didn't attend to it as carefully as I should have.
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2017-12-18T16:25:57-05:00In the last chapter, why do you think Linda imagines herself in the scenario with Lily?RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?Perhaps if Linda had been alone with Paul when she realized how sick he was, she would have taken action. But since his parents were right there all along, and they kept saying everything would be fine, I don't think she had any responsibility in Paul's death. She probably felt uncomfortable and worried, but if Paul's parents weren't concerned, then there really wasn't a need to do anything. At the end of the book when Patra spoke to Linda in the parking lot at the trial, I think Patra was feeling guilty and angry about her son's death and wanted to blame someone for it other than their religious beliefs. She told Linda it was her fault because Linda had thoughts about Paul being sick. Her negative thoughts prevented him from getting well. As an already confused teenager, this certainly did nothing to help her get over the situation.
https://www.bookbrowse.com/booktalk/messages.cfm?threadid=0A2B2BC7-0A94-7F3E-73C62E20F238CD6E&r=18
2017-12-18T16:17:10-05:00Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?RE: Linda claims not to know there was something seriously wrong with Paul, but there is obviously something motivating her to continue to check on Paul and Patra. Is she revising her memories? Or is there something else driving her to stay nearby?Perhaps Linda felt intuitively that something was wrong with Paul. But as a teenager, and an outsider in the family, it seemed like she was dismissed and deemed of little consequence by Leo. Since his parents seemed to think nothing was concerning, why should she? Linda seemed to be obsessed with this family. Or at least Patra. Things changed when Leo was home though. Patra was different towards Linda and always deferred to Leo. Linda's narration as an adult probably wasn't really concious revision of memories. Perhaps more of memories from a different frame of reference and set of experiences since the events.
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2017-12-18T16:04:33-05:00Linda claims not to know there was something seriously wrong with Paul, but there is obviously something motivating her to continue to check on Paul and Patra. Is she revising her memories? Or is there something else driving her to stay nearby?RE: How does it affect you to know that four-year-old Paul is dead before you are introduced to him as a character? Does this change how you understand and take in the events that occur later on?I thought it was a very different and compelling way to begin a book. I kept wondering what was going to happen to him, and several times during his adventures in the woods with Linda, I found myself thinking maybe this is when it's going to happen.
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2017-12-18T15:48:31-05:00How does it affect you to know that four-year-old Paul is dead before you are introduced to him as a character? Does this change how you understand and take in the events that occur later on?