Joyce, Rachel - Perfect - Relaxed Buddy Read - Start date March 7, 2014

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

This topic is open for discussion of Perfect, by Rachel Joyce

BE PREPARED FOR SPOILERS

What is a buddy read?

About this Buddy Read
A “Relaxed Buddy Read” is similar to our usual “buddy reads” except there are less questions and break points. For example, a book may be split into three sections and those reading the book should pause at the end of the section to answer some discussion questions, make comments, or ask their own questions to other readers

Synopsis
In 1972, two seconds were added to time. It was in order to balance clock time with the movement of the earth. Byron Hemming knew this because James Lowe had told him and James was the cleverest boy at school. But how could time change? The steady movement of hands around a clock was as certain as their golden futures.

Then Byron's mother, late for the school run, makes a devastating mistake. Byron's perfect world is shattered. Were those two extra seconds to blame? Can what follows ever be set right?

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

Suggested discussion points

March 7 - Start reading!

March 9 - Pause to discuss the beginning ; Part 1 (Chapters 1-15; up to page 130)

March 11 - Pause to discuss the middle ; Part 2(Chapters 1-19 ; up to page 300)

March 12 - Discuss the end ; Part 3

Page numbers are based on this version of the book


Feel free to read at your own pace, but if reading faster please use spoiler comments when posting

[Jex]

I've added this to my calendar.

[Saxonjus]

Ok found the thread:)

[Renee]

Might join this too.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Great :)

[Saxonjus]

Ok so March 7 is the start date

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Yes - it will fly by!

[Sharon]

I would like to join this

[Samantha]

sounds interesting. ill give it a shot!

[Saxonjus]

Looking forward to the book

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Welcome :)

[Zita]

I'm going to join this one

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

The book is broken into three parts so I suggest pausing at the end of each part to discuss. Suggested schedule posted in message 2

[Amanda]

I'm still waiting for my copy to come in from the library :(.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

:( ah well, always better late than never!

[Renee]

I found some book club questions, but they are for when you have finished the whole book.

(view spoiler)[
1. The attempt to achieve perfection is central to both Diana’s and Byron’s behavior. Has the novel changed your perception of what it may mean to be ‘perfect’?

2. Rachel Joyce portrays time as a slippery and unpredictable concept. Has this affected your attitude towards the ways in which we measure the paths of our lives?

3. Responsibility is a theme that plays a key part in the novel. Who do you believe holds the greatest responsibility for the accident?

4. Is Jim’s mental illness the inevitable result of the events of his childhood?

5. Diana says, ‘I’m beginning to think chaos is underrated.’ Do you agree?

6. Byron identifies the moment at which he no longer considers himself to be a child. How does the novel question traditional definitions of childhood and parenthood?

7. Rachel Joyce writes beautiful descriptions of Cranham Moor and the English landscape. What is the significance of the natural world in the novel?

8. What is the significance of class in the relationship between Beverley and Diana?

9. Several characters struggle with depression and obsessive-compulsive behavior in the novel. How effectively do you feel mental disorders are portrayed?

10. Diana believes that the course of her life is determined by destiny. What part does spiritual belief play in the novel, and do you agree that our actions cannot influence our own fates?

11. Seymour and Andrea Lowe express strong views about feminism. How does Rachel Joyce represent the role of women in the novel?

12. How does Rachel Joyce represent the different time periods of the novel? Are there echoes from 1972 in the present or is it a world and time that has disappeared without trace?

13. Diana is lonely despite having a family and friends; Jim experiences intense loneliness. What do you think makes people feel connected to each other, and what creates fulfilling relationships?

14. Byron and James Lowe are best friends as boys, and the employees at Mr Meade’s café form bonds of kinship. How does Rachel Joyce represent friendship, and what do you think it means to be a true friend?
Who is the most powerful character in the novel, and why?

15. Eileen and Jim are damaged, in different ways, by their pasts. To what extent do you feel their private pain is transformed through the act of sharing?
(hide spoiler)]

I cut and pasted them with my eyes half shut because I've only read part one.

Enjoying it so far. The chapters are fairly short and easy to read. I like seeing mental illness covered from the perspective of the person who has it. It's sad to see how mental illness was managed back in the 1970's and 1980's. I remember when I was a kid and they closed down Lakeside - the institute in my town like Besley Hill (not sure if they used shock therapy there though). I remember guys like Jim being dumped into society who had been institutionalised most of their lives and they stuggled to fit in, just like Jim is.

Byron has such a burden to carry, trying to keep this secret. It's not fair on him. Though I think his mother is trying to protect herself by lying to herself and Byron. She doesn't want to get in trouble, though I don't know if she is more scared of the police or her husband.

[Zita]

I'm really enjoying it too. I think the characters are really interesting and I'm already well into part 2 as I can't wait to find out what's going to happen.
I too am enjoying the mental health aspect, having worked in mental health myself I can identify Jim's quirks in patients I've looked after.

Byron's family dynamic seems rather odd. They all seem generally prim and proper and have old fashioned values. But Diana does seem to be hiding some sort of past from before she was married.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Part One

I agree with both of you about the mental illness aspect of the book. It was not something I was expecting.

I am assuming that Jim is James in the future? Or am I way off base? Just that Jim is a usual nickname for James and they both have the same OCD tendancies. I also think in the first bit where James is introduced he says something about how there used to be "two of us" which I guessed was referring to him an Byron?

Bryon's family is very "perfect". I think his father's mental abuse towards his mother is very insidious which is probably the worst kind. I don't know that his mother even realises what it is. She just takes it as part of being married. I particularly liked it when she questioned her "friends" on if that is all a woman could expect in life.

I'm not quite sure if the book is going to end up being amazingly clever or just awful. It seems it could go either way! I then looked at friends who have read it, and one gave it 5 stars and the other 1 star...lol!

Oh and I do really like the cook and Jim's diner (Eileen?). She seems to be the only one treating him like a person so far

So the burning question is - did the little girl get hit and injured/killed? There is paint on the wheel, but surely there would be more than that if they did hit her? I find there is still a question mark over that. and wouldn't that make the news??

Thanks renee for the questions - I haven't peeked. I will wait until the end as I think this is the kind of book you don't want spoiled!

[Renee]

I think Jim is James. Jim was dropped off at the Institute by Mrs Lowe and that is James last name. And Jim is a nickname for James. And they are both OCD. I think that's enough clues for a YA book for it to be right.

[Sarah]

Well my book is due at the library on the 10th, can I read it in a day?

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Ah I hadn't picked up the last name bit, thanks Renee!

I think it is a pretty easy read Sarah. You will get through a fair bit in a day :)

[Renee]

Karen wrote: "Ah I hadn't picked up the last name bit, thanks Renee!

I think it is a pretty easy read Sarah. You will get through a fair bit in a day :)"

I only realised I'd seen a surname when I was a couple of pages past it, then I had to go searching through the next chapter to see if they matched up. I was having wild and crazy ideas that maybe Jim was actually Byron who had spent so long emulating his best friend that he even tried to take on his name, but then I thought that might be a bit too much for a YA plot.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

I think that is plausible too Renee! Although Byron is only 11, the book is marketed as Adult Fiction, so anything is possible!

[Sheila]

I have to get this from the library again. I had the audio book and then had to return it. I enjoy everything you all have discussed about the book. I also like getting the two perspectives in different times. It makes me interested to see how stage one led to stage two. I am also really curious what will happen with Byron and his family. They just seem so ridiculous. The father is completely outrageous. I can't imagine living in such a suffocating environment.

[Renee]

Just finished Part 2
The more I read, the more I find that none of the characters are really balanced people. I really don't like Beverley, she is so manipulative. I wish Diana would stand up for herself, and go be a hippy woman of the 70's, or sell Avon. I understand why Diana's husband is so distrustful of her, but he needs to forgive and forget and move on, what he is doing is toxic.

I'm enjoying the suspense of how the two stories are going to come together.

[Saxonjus]

started the book & enjoying the 15 pages have read.I shall catch up

[Renee]

Karen wrote: "I think that is plausible too Renee! Although Byron is only 11, the book is marketed as Adult Fiction, so anything is possible!"

(view spoiler)[Looks like I wasn't as crazy as I thought. (hide spoiler)]

Part 3

(view spoiler)[

I had been half expecting Diana to commit suicide throughout the book, so was a little surprised when it seemed like more of an accident. I thought she had when one chapter ended with Byron trying to wake her and not being able to. I liked that Byron still lived at his house, even though it was now a new develpoment, and that he grew flowers in the dam that had caused so many problems.
(hide spoiler)]

I enjoyed this book, gave it 4 stars. I like how it all came together at the end. A sad story with happy bits.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

Part Two

I agree Renee. The characters all have major flaws. I can appreciate the very clever character writing, but at the same time, it is hard to feel connected to anyone in the story.
Beverley is a piece of work! I am glad the daughter's fake injury has been exposed in the end. She is just a nasty nasty woman.
In many ways this book reminds me of The Casual Vacancy. I am looking forward to seeing what happens next, although there isn't much book left! It has certainly kept me engaged so far even if the story is not a happy one

[Sarah]

Starting Part Two.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

The end
(view spoiler)[
I agree Renee, I expected Diana to kill herself too.
I did like that the boys were able to reconect by chance and there was some hope for Byron.
At the end of this book the Author writes that for her "this is a book about mistakes"... and "I suppose it is a book about sadness, too".
That is probably a much better summation than the synopsis on the back of this book! I found the story engaging and well written with clever, albeit extremely flawed, characters. In many ways this book reminded me of The Casual Vacancy, and I finished it with the same feeling of exhaustion and sadness.
I'm not sure this is a book I would recommend, and as much as I enjoyed The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry I think it would be a while until I picked up another of Joyce's work
(hide spoiler)]