Discussion questions

[Ann]

These were questions in an other online book group, for which I'd read this novel last month:

1. How does the poem cast light on the novel?

2. How well does John Singer as confidant draw together the strands and theme of the novel?

3. Mick Kelly is said to be loosely based on the author. How well drawn is that character?

4. Of the disparate characters in the small town, which are successfully, and which best characterised?

5. How effective is the novel as a series of portraits of isolation?

6. Given the deaths of Singer and Antonapoulos, and Dr Copeland's removal, is the novel ultimately pessimistic?

7. Do we expect Mick Kelly to have a fulfilling life?

[Matthew]

Having just finished the novel this week, questions 6 and 7 really stand out for me. I though the strongest sections of the book dealt with Mick’s transition into the adult world, particularly the prom party section, and the conclusion was powerfully ambivalent. I loved how this was expressed:

“It had to be some good if anything made sense. And it was too and it was too and it was too and it was too. It was some good. All right! O.K.! Some good.”

I think initially this reads as the character trying hard to convince herself her life has meaning in the face of a disappointing and demoralising future. The repetition gives it the flavour of a mantra or incantation. But then there’s the idea that the expression of a thought leads to tangible change. If Mick is in a position to make herself believe she has worth, then she has or will have worth. Also, the character wants to believe but also the reader wants this to be true, so it’s a collective effort on behalf of both reader and character to influence the reality of this mantra and make it tangible. For me, this is what the book is ultimately expressing – “a glimpse of human struggle and of valour. Of the endless fluid passage of humanity through endless time”

[Ann]

Matthew wrote: "Having just finished the novel this week, questions 6 and 7 really stand out for me. I though the strongest sections of the book dealt with Mick’s transition into the adult world, particularly the..."

That 'good' quote stood out for me as well. We have to believe this way in order to survive. Even Jake is described as having 'hope in him'.