Part 2: Chapter 19-21

[Karena]

Please keep conversation to these chapters. Beware there will be spoilers!

[Pink]

I've finished and enjoyed the book, though I found it drifted off a little in parts. Im glad it won the poll as I probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise.

I haven't commented on individual chapters as I hadn't realised there were 3 different threads for this book. I wonder if this is necessary with shorter book like this, as I find it breaks the flow of conversation between everyone. Just a thought...not a criticism and of course it's nice to have different threads for longer books with more distinct sections.

[Jean]

Yes, I also thought it drifted every time Zellaby started going on about philosophy. He lost me a couple times. But a very compelling book.

I was intrigued by a question posed by one of the Children towards the end, "Can any State, however tolerant, afford to harbor an increasingly powerful minority which it has no power to control? Obviously the answer is...no." Ideally, I would say this isn't true, and societal majorities and minorities should be able to compromise and work together, allowing society to improve and evolve over time. But in reality, this is how society has worked for ages. Whether presented with a true threat, like the Children wiping out humankind, or only a perceived threat, history is full of examples of powerful minorities being silenced in society.

[Kathy (ebookkat)]

I thought the ending was very clever. It was obvious something had to be done with the Children because every time the Children felt threatened people ended up harmed or killed. I thought the Children would be killed, but I was surprised by how it was done.

I like how the book was broken into multiple threads. I think it works well for both short and long books. I prefer book clubs that discuss books using multiple threads. It gives the participants a choice. They can use the last chapter thread to talk about the whole book or they can use multiple threads and focus only on the chapters covered in the thread. Sometimes when only one thread is used the conversation drifts away from the focus of the book. The multiple threads help keep the conversation to what was in the chapters of the thread.

[Pam]

The book plodded in the beginning, but picked up in Part 2. Zellaby was clever to gain the trust of the children. His solution appeared to be the only one available to rid the town of the children altogether. His letter to his wife didn't say when he discovered his death was imminent, so it is hard to know if he planned their demise all along. A book worth reading.

[Christine]

I really liked how the book began with some light hearted humorous moments and then transitioned into a bit of a horror. While the book did meander a bit I found it interesting to think about how would our society handle a superior species? The book also brought out the question of what makes a superior species? Does the collective consciousness really make for a superior species?

[Christine]

RitaSkeeter wrote: "C wrote: "I really liked how the book began with some light hearted humorous moments and then transitioned into a bit of a horror. While the book did meander a bit I found it interesting to think a..."

I probably should have put "superior" in quotes as that is how the children thought of themselves but not necessarily my view. One of the beauties of not having a collective consciousness is that we are all free to interpret "superior" in are own way. In many ways I felt the children were at a disadvantage because they all thought collectively- no variation in thought, dress or actions.