Lulu and Elissa: BBR Thread Home Fire

[kisha, The Clean Up Lady]

This discussion thread is for Lulu and Elissa's BBR

[Lulu, The Book Reader who could.]

Thanks Kisha!

[Elissa]

Thanks kisha! For anyone else following along, we’re reading Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie.

[Elissa]

Just a quick note to check in - so far I haven't had much time to read, but I keep thinking about the book as I drive (there's been alot of driving for work over the last few weeks). I'm really enjoying the quick, sharp contrasts of action, dialogue, and depth of meaning. Here's one of my favorites so far:
"What were you praying for?" he asked.
"Prayer isn't about transaction, Mr. Capitalist. It's about starting the day right."
"You had to put on a bra for God?"

[Diane]

I love that quote in prayer. Perfect!!

[Lulu, The Book Reader who could.]

I just downloaded the audio version. I'm gonna start it this afternoon.

[Lulu, The Book Reader who could.]

This book is kinda sad. :(

[Lulu, The Book Reader who could.]

I have so many questions.

[Elissa]

Well hang on to them for just a little longer, I’m almost done!

[Lulu, The Book Reader who could.]

Lol. Will do!!

[Elissa]

Ok I’m done. Whew - a sad story indeed. I never read Antigone, I understand it’s a modern retelling of the play, so perhaps my first question is not about the story itself, but about the book: how is it eligible for the Man Booker award, which is given for original work?

So what did you think of the story? A lot of reviews are quite negative about the character portrayals, and I can see that they (the characters) didn’t have a lot of empathy, I didn’t connect with them on an emotional level, but they were so interesting and intriguing from a psychological standpoint, the story really kept me going.

[Lulu, The Book Reader who could.]

I think the eligibility requirements recently changed. I’m not sure what the rules are now, but a lot of people don’t appear to be happy with these changes. Lol

It’s was an extremely sad story in general, although I didn’t feel sorry for any of the characters. I wanted to give Isma a hug and feel for her, but we didn’t really get to know her enough. That kinda threw me off, because I honestly thought this was gonna be her story. Lol.

[Elissa]

I think that's really well put - I didn't feel sorry for any of the characters, in spite of the sad situation they were in, (mostly) not of their own doing. I felt sorry for society that it's come to this, perhaps. On the other hand, while I don't believe that someone should die for the stupid mistakes they make growing up, neither do I believe that someone just gets to say "I'm so sorry, I made a stupid mistake, can I come home now?" and all is forgiven, especially from a national point of view.

One question I had: who do you think were the bombers in the park at the end? Who was "waiting for" Eaamon?

You said you had lots of questions as well?

[Lulu, The Book Reader who could.]

So that is really the only question that remains with me. A part of me thinks Eaamon's dad had him set up. But would he sacrifice his son for government? To try and prove a point? To reverse the attention back to himself? To be a victim of the system that he seemingly hates?

I don't know....that ending had a Romeo & Juliet feel to it. lol

[Elissa]

Huh - I didn't think of it being the Eaamon's father, for two reasons: first, isn't the bomb scare in London supposed to be a mixup over which Lone was in danger? Second, in the play (yay wikipedia) the son kills himself. So did Eaamon arrange it? After all, no one else knew he was going there, right? It must have been one of the two. Or did I miss a clue?

[Elissa]

Here's another question: given that neither one of us thought the characters were particularly sympathetic, would you have finished it if not for this assignment?

For me, I don't think I would ever have picked it up, but having started it, the psychological intrigue kept me going, so personally, I probably would have finished it.

[Lulu, The Book Reader who could.]

So honestly. This is my second reading. lol. The first time I made it to chapter 4 and just stopped, but I'm glad I gave it another shot and finished it.

I think I only ask about Eaamon's death, because of the tweet w/ the video and Lone's assistance saying it had been deleted, but Eaamon didn't delete it.

Also, there was a part where Lone made a phone call to get it all sorted out. I think this was right after the assistant mentioned the video. Lone didn't mention anything to his wife, he said he wanted to handle it first and then notify her. And then the next thing you know, the family is being rushed to safety.

It was all kinda strange to me.

[Elissa]

Your notes sent me back to reread the ending, and now I’m pretty well convinced that Eamonn did it to himself. He (or Alice) would have been the one that took down the notification of his location, and when the guys strapped the bomb to him he didn’t panic or freak or try to yank it off, he just immediately told Anika to run.

Also, during the whole prior scene we were in the dad’s head, he was thinking of chess moves that would save his career at the expense of embarrassing his son, not killing him. Ambitious yes, heartless, no.

[Lulu, The Book Reader who could.]

ah! ok! That makes sense!

So overall, this wasn't a bad read. lol