[F2F Book Discussions] January 2015: Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool | Moderator: Louize

[Meliza]

Louize: Is the group activity for those who will attend the f2f only? Or is it also open for those who only participate online?

[Louize]

Meliza wrote: "Louize: Is the group activity for those who will attend the f2f only? Or is it also open for those who only participate online?"

For as long as you have an fb account or email. Kahit nasa Africa pwede, hahaha! :D

[Louize]

Biena (The Library Mistress) wrote: "Kwesi made me read a Clare Vanderpool book last year. I liked it. I shall hunt for a copy!

^___^"

Yayain mo si Kwesi, dali!!! :)

[Cary]

my answer:

Question #1
(view spoiler)[
Jack reminds of David from the Book of Lost Things. I understand that he's on the process of healing from the pain brought about by a lost loved one.

Early, on the other hand, reminds me of Stargirl because he's strange.

On my music during rainy days, I love playing Relient K's High of '75. I like hearing this line from the song: 'So lately the weather has been so bipolar and consequently so have I. (hide spoiler)]

[Louize]

Here is the list of the people joining the Group Activity.

(view spoiler)[
Picture Scavengers
(I'll be asking my daughter's help with the groupings later.)
I will be sending you a message via Facebook, so you'll know to which group you belong. Once you received the message, choose a leader who will be in-charge of choosing individual/s to the perform the given task/s.

We will be using Facebook messenger for this activity because Facebook has a time stamp. The time stamp is important because the first group to submit the picture required will win the points. If the task requires multiple pictures, the time stamp on the last picture will be accounted for, not the first one.

You will win individual points if your picture is chosen (by our Judge) as the best picture of the given task. So, be creative.

Now, don't worry if you don't have a Facebook account. You may receive and submit your completed task through your leader via email or viber. He/ She will be in-charge of posting the photo on Facebook messenger.

Game starts on January 12, Monday, 8am.

Questions are welcome. And Godspeed to all scavengers!
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Louize]

Summary of points (as of 1/10/2015)
Ronnie = 8
Tina = 8
Ingrid = 6
Meliza = 3
Tintin = 5
Monique = 5
Lynai = 5
Gwaxa = 3
Maria = 3
Ella = 3
Kristel = 3
Angus = 3
Bennard = 3
Cary = 5
Mawi = 5
Gay = 3
Mae = 3
Aaron = 3
Kwesi = 3
Rollie = 3

[Gay]

Question 1:
(view spoiler)[Jack is in the process of healing and accepting the fact that his mom is already gone. Also, he's trying to figure out how to fit in in his new school and in his father's world.

Early is eccentric but I like him anyway especially with his taste in music.

Pi is a curious boy. He is a seeker who looks for the answers to all his questions.

I don't listen to anyone or any song in particular during rainy days. i just play whatever is on my playlist. (hide spoiler)]

[Ingrid]

Question 1
(view spoiler)[ 1. What are your first impressions of these characters?

Jack is sad. And lonely. Grieving? Trying to cope with life, in general.

Early is... eccentric. I do think he has some sort of disability or gift, depending on perspective.

Pi, I believe, is a figment of Early's imagination. But I could be wrong, haha.

2. Following Early's example, do you have a particular singer or song on a rainy day? Any reason why?

No particular singer or song. I sleep, or curl up in bed and read (when I can) :) (hide spoiler)]

[Louize]

Group Activity starts today. Leaders pls. check your FB messages for the task instructions. Happy hunting!

[Vera]

Any news about availability of this book in NBS or FB? Would like to join in for my first ever book discussion. :)

[Louize]

Hello! We started the Picture Scavenger Hunt yesterday, and here's another chance to earn points:

Question #2 = 5pts

(view spoiler)[
1. Earlier in the story, Jack ditches Early at the Regatta. Why does he think Early doesn’t feel disappointment or pain or being left out? At what point does Jack realize that Early does have these feelings?

2. Early was angry when people say that Pi's dead, he insisted that Pi is just lost. Like most of you, Jack thinks that Pi is just a figment of Early's imagination. Now that they are well into their adventure, do you think all the events were just coincidences? What are your thoughts on the parallelism of Jack & Early's adventure and Pi's number story?

3. “The ones who are most consumed with their hunt – desperate, you might say- for what they think they are after, it is often a far cry from what they are really after. It is a fact, too, that sometimes, they not really looking for anything at all but are running away from something instead.” (Gunnar, pg. 169)

Are other characters running away from their own burdens? Do explain, please.

(hide spoiler)]

[Cary]

(view spoiler)[ 1. Maybe because Jack thinks that Early knows that he is different from everybody and Early doesn’t mind being different. And because he is different, he is used of being misunderstood and “disliked” by everyone. So when Jack ditched him, Early didn’t feel disappointed because it was kind of a normal thing for him already.

Jack realized it when he found out that Early still chose to help him during the contest despite of what he’s done.

2. I still believe that Pi is just a make-believe character and the parallelism of their story is just coincidences. I’m still curious to know the truth about Pi’s story, though.

3. I think yes. Jack, for instance, only joined Early in his quest because his father failed to fulfill his promise to spend time with him. He was looking forward to their time together but his father disappointed him, so to divert his frustration, he decided to join Early.

Early, on the other hand, is still on the denial stage of losing his brother so he made up the story of Pi in his mind as an excuse for accepting the reality that his brother is not coming anymore. (hide spoiler)]

[Angus]

Question #1
(view spoiler)[
1. Jack is annoying me (I think he thinks that he's cool but he's not). Early is a doormat (so far, he has no feelings). Pi reminds me of Richard Parker from Life of Pi (not sure if this is a good or a bad thing).
2. I don't have a Billie Holiday. I base my playlist on my mood. Besides, I prefer listening to the sound of rain when it's raining.
(hide spoiler)]

[Maria Ella]

Question 1:
(view spoiler)[1. Jack is annoying as a teen, maybe because he had a sad history. Early is okay though, YOLO - he has a gift so it takes a bit of genius to be in sync with him. Pi is just there - not sure how to put it - maybe like an imaginary buddy?

2. When there is a rain, I play my random #laslasplaylist. The songs depend on the mood. There is the Saudade Sunday where I play Yiruma's sad piano pieces. Then there's Moony Mondays where I play the tagalog songs of UP Dharma Down. If the rain falls other than the Sunday or Monday, I just shuffle any sad song that will give me the feels. Actually, I look for a seat near the glass pane (or a huge window) and just look at the raindrops and internalize the melodies or introspecting the things that I did for the sake of living/loving. Talk about being a hormonal whale hahahah (hide spoiler)]

[Marie]

Pahabol! :-D

Question #1
(view spoiler)[
By now, you've met our three (3) main characters -The Stranger (Jack), The Strange (Early), and The Stargazer(Pi).
1. What are your first impressions of these characters?

Jack is lost, lonely, and in dire need of a friend. He is a kid so as with any kid of that age, he still feels the need to fit in. He is intelligent and he is strong. He had just lost his navigator (his mom), the replacement navigator (his dad) is MIA, so at that moment in his life, he just wants to find another way to navigate and collect his bearings again.

Early is unusual. Unlike the kids of his age, he doesn't feel the need to fit in. He seems to be an autistic savant, particularly in relation to numbers and mathematics. Early is creative, good with his hands, and knows a lot of stuff.Despite being a loner, he does feel deeply, and he cares a lot about Jack.

Pi is the number pi (3.141592...) personified. Because Early is a savant he has the privilege of being able to Pi as a distinct individual with such an interesting life story. Personally, I imagine him as having the personality and face of Pi Patel (Life of Pi).

2. Following Early's example, do you have a particular singer or song on a rainy day? Any reason why?

Not really. My favorite activities when it is rainy is to sleep or read on the bed. I don't really want to listen to anything when I do those. But if I have to do chores or anything, and it's rainy, I usually listen to jazz or old light songs.
(hide spoiler)]

Btw, can I still join in the Navigate Me activity? Ok rin naman if not. Pasensya na, nahuli kasi. :-)

[Monique]

Question No. 2.

(view spoiler)[
1. Jack attributes it to Early being the "strangest of boys," as someone who is so used to being alone that he actually prefers it, as a loner and an eccentric. It was later, when Early said something about Jack ditching him and that friends never leave each other (something to this effect), when Jack realizes that Early DID in fact feel hurt with what happened at the regatta.

2. I think that Early, special as he is, saw Pi's story as his and Jack's own, as can be shown by the similarities/parallelisms between their stories. No, I wouldn't say exactly that they were coincidences because Early reads Pi's story from the numbers, but still, as storyteller, he had absolute free rein where he wanted Pi's story to go. (view spoiler)[Not sure how far along you guys are with your reading so I'm enclosing my next statements in spoiler tags. Open at your own risk! (view spoiler)[Perhaps because Early wanted to be justified in saying that Fisher is still alive that he was subconsciously channeling this desire in his heart into Pi's story, so much that everything that was actually happening to him or to Jack can be found in Pi's story. (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

3. I think at some point everyone runs away from something or someone, and the first characters who come to mind are Jack's dad (view spoiler)[and(view spoiler)[ Fisher (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]. Jack's dad, by uprooting his son from Kansas and doing the things he did (view spoiler)[throwing or putting away Jack's mom's stuff (hide spoiler)] was running away from the inevitable: that he had to accept that his wife is gone. As for the other person I mentioned, (view spoiler)[Fisher was running away from the possibility that he could once more be someone, be himself, by staying in the woods and refusing to acknowledge his surviving family, including Early. (hide spoiler)]
(hide spoiler)]

[Louize]

Marie wrote: "Pahabol! :-D

Btw, can I still join in the Navigate Me activity? Ok rin naman if not. Pasensya na, nahuli kasi. :-)
..."

Yes! You still have until the 16th. :)

[Ingrid]

Question 2
(view spoiler)[ 1. Maybe Jack got so used to thinking Early was different, and that Early always gave off that sort of "detached" aura. Jack only realizes that Early is indeed human and that he has feelings too when the talk about best friends happened. I do think Jack knows that Early has feelings though; he just didn't know how to, say, deal? empathize? when Early's feelings do come out.

2. "There are no coincidences. Just miracles by the boatload." Hehehe.
I was thinking at some point that maybe it was all just a dream, Inception lang ang peg.
But in trying to make sense of what just happened, I think Jack unconsciously associated real life with Pi's stories because he was engrossed more than he cared to admit to himself.

3. (view spoiler)[ May I just say, ANG DAMI KONG HUGOT SA LINE NA YUN. MYGAHD. (hide spoiler)]

Now that I've finished the book, I could say most, if not all of the characters, were running away from something. Jack ran away from being left alone (left by his mother, and his father wasn't able to come) so he sought Early's company and went along with his crazy adventure. Jack's Father was trying to run away from the loss of his wife, moving to Maine and all. Gunnar ran away too (see Chapter 21). And MAJOR SPOILER, OMG(view spoiler)[ Fisher. PLOT TWIST TALAGA YUN (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Veronica]

Question #2

(view spoiler)[
1. Jack often called Early, “the strangest of boys.” Early didn’t seem to care what the other boys thought of him so Jack assumed that he was incapable of feeling hurt or disappointed. After the race, Jack went to Early’s workshop and found him packing for his quest. While they talked, Early mentioned that Billy Holiday and Mozart could have been friends and that if they went on a boat trip, she would never leave Mozart behind. That was when Jack began to realize he had hurt Early.

2. This is the part I found most troublesome. :D The grown-up skeptic in me could not fathom how event after event coincided with Pi’s story. But I am not the target audience of this book. I think Vanderpool uses her creative license to teach kids that there is a spiritual experience to be had in some coincidences, however extreme. And I think that’s a good thing.

Speak of coincidences, how awesome is it that we’re discussing this book in 2015? Pi Day is celebrated by its fans every March 14th. This year, the celebration will be extra special because the the date is 3-14-15. Haha

3. I think almost all of the major characters were running away from something, be it a loss (Jack and his dad) or a regret (Gunnar, McScott, and (view spoiler)[ Fisher (hide spoiler)]) they could not face. I think that Early was the only one not running away from something. The strangest of boys was actually true to his hunt.
(hide spoiler)]

[Lynai]

Question #2

1. Earlier in the story, Jack ditches Early at the Regatta. Why does he think Early doesn’t feel disappointment or pain or being left out? At what point does Jack realize that Early does have these feelings?

ANSWER: Jack is too focused on his own struggles and problems, on his own grief and loneliness, he fails to acknowledge that Early is human too and has feelings. And, just like the other answers above, Jack feels that since Early seems different, then there is a chance that he (Early) won't feel hurt at all if he (Jack) ditched him. (view spoiler)[ (Isn't it true that sometimes when we are depressed and feeling down, we are focused more on our own feelings rather than on the feelings of others?) (hide spoiler)]

It is when Early starts to talk about friends who never leave each other that Jack realizes he has hurt Early's feelings. That Early sees him already as a friend, or wants them to be friends.

2. Early was angry when people say that Pi's dead, he insisted that Pi is just lost. Like most of you, Jack thinks that Pi is just a figment of Early's imagination. Now that they are well into their adventure, do you think all the events were just coincidences? What are your thoughts on the parallelism of Jack & Early's adventure and Pi's number story?

ANSWER: Yes, I still think the events in the boys' adventure are coincidences, although Early clearly doesn't believe them to be such. And since this is a middle grade/children's book, I was willing to overlook some seemingly unbelievable coincidences and just enjoyed the reading experience.

Jack has unknowingly and unconsciously become so involved in Early's story about Pi such that he feels that what Early believes in is really true: that Pi is not dead, he is merely lost, and therefore his brother, Fisher, is not dead, too. Jack wants to believe Early because he, too, wants to believe in hope and a happy ending. Early is the encouragement that Jack needs to go on living and cope with his disappointments and loneliness.

3. “The ones who are most consumed with their hunt – desperate, you might say- for what they think they are after, it is often a far cry from what they are really after. It is a fact, too, that sometimes, they not really looking for anything at all but are running away from something instead.” (Gunnar, pg. 169)

Are other characters running away from their own burdens? Do explain, please.

ANSWER: Oh, yes. Gunnar, the "pirate" (sorry, forgot the name), Martin's mom, Jack's dad, Fisher -- they are all running from their guilt and the burden of their past mistakes. But it is only when they finally confront and accept the truth can they finally find the freedom and peace that they have been looking for, and Early, this little savant boy, taught them that.

[Louize]

Veronica wrote: "Speak of coincidences, how awesome is it that we’re discussing this book in 2015? Pi Day is celebrated by its fans every March 14th. This year, the celebration will be extra special because the the date is 3-14-15. Haha"

Wow, that's really fun to know. I didn't even know that people celebrate that. Cool!

[Louize]

Hi, guys!
I will be closing the Individual activity: Navigate Me (a.k.a. spreadsheet) this evening at 6pm. Pwede pa kayo humabol! :)

[Tin]

Question 2: (view spoiler)[
1. I think this has something to do with how strange Early seems to most kids. Kinda like Spock, or Sheldon Cooper. Haha. Jack found the opposite when Early expressed his hurt feelings after the race, saying something about friends never leaving friends behind.

2. It may be that Early wills the story to be parallel to his and Jack's by interpreting and fitting certain puzzle pieces in a way that coincides with Pi's. Pi and his adventure is after all a creation of his own mind.

3. Yeah some of them are, Jack and Jack's dad, Gunnar, Fisher they are all running away from something that caused/causing them distress and grief. They pre-occupy themselves with a hunt, or a task, or something or anything to escape that horrible feeling of grief/sadness/loneliness etc. The running away is a form of a coping mechanism, I guess. (hide spoiler)]

[Vera]

Question 1 answers :)


1. First impressions:
Jack - He's like fish out of water. Not only does he have to deal with the loss of his mother, but he has had to deal with reuniting with his father and learning that they are complete strangers. Then he has to go attend a new school. I can't even begin to imagine how lonely that must feel.
Early - Strange doesn't even begin to describe him. But he is someone i'd like to be friends with. I think he's a free spirit.
Pi - Reminds of Pi from that movie Life of Pi. I wonder what adventures he'll be having?

2. Rainy day music playlist? I wish i had one. Any recommendations?

[Angus]

Question #2
(view spoiler)[
1. Jack did not think of that. He's just plainly insensitive and self-centered. He realized that Early has feelings too when he was let down himself. Misery loves company?

2. I think that Early has a super fantastic imagination. And that he's neurotic and a little bonkers. I wouldn't say that the events are coincidences. Early finds ways to make Pi's story connect with real life.

3. Early and Mrs. Johannsen are both so wrapped around their stories and their insistence that their loved ones are not dead. Gunnar is suspending the possibility of rejection, which, in a sense, is running away.
(hide spoiler)]

[Meliza]

Question #1
(view spoiler)[
1. Jack - I pity him because he is still mourning for the death of his mom and his father seems distant. But I was also kinda annoyed about what happened with the swimming and the rowing, when he pretended that he can but can't.

Early - This kid reminds me of the protagonist in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and my late cousin. He is frank, knowledgeable and talks a lot. I liked him when I met him in the book.

Pi - Like them, I also thought of Pi Patel in Life of Pi because of his association with the number pi and his adventures at sea. While reading Pi's chapters, I just felt that I'm reading Early's thoughts so reading about him makes me feel about Early and not so much about Pi.

2. I don't have any particular song on a rainy day. I seldom listen to music while it rains. But if I do, I prefer mellow music.
(hide spoiler)]

Question #2
(view spoiler)[
1. Maybe because Jack thought that Early is more focused on facts than feelings. He only realized Early's feelings were hurt when he talked about friends and Mozart and Captain America, that friends won't leave friends.

2. I wouldn't say coincidences. Because Early has newspaper clippings and it seems he does a lot of research so I think his Pi story is derived from those. And when they did encounter something in their adventures, he readily associates them with Pi's. It was all because of Early's imagination.

3. "It is a fact, too, that sometimes, they not really looking for anything at all but are running away from something instead.” --- (view spoiler)[relate din ako dito chos! (hide spoiler)]

Jack is running away from his loss and his Dad by going with Early. Early is running away from the loss of his brother by initiating their adventure. Jack's dad is running away from his wife's death. Even Gunnar and Mrs. Johannsen. Most of them are running away from a loss of something, trying to do other things or go somewhere else rather than face what happened. (hide spoiler)]

[Louize]

Hi, guys! Most of you are probably done or almost done reading by now.

Question #3 = 5 pts.
(view spoiler)[
This is our last question. Cut-off for scoring is on January 23, 12 noon.

1. Near the ending, Early found Pi. He proved it at the Fall Math Institute, contradicting Professor Douglas Stanton's theory. If you are Early, how far would you go to prove something you believe in?
(hide spoiler)]

[Marie]

Question #2
(view spoiler)[
1. Earlier in the story, Jack ditches Early at the Regatta. Why does he think Early doesn’t feel disappointment or pain or being left out? At what point does Jack realize that Early does have these feelings?

I don't think Jack meant to hurt Early. They were still in the getting to know stage at that time, and he didn't realized that Early feels and reacts the same way as 'normal' people do. It is with this mistake and the resulting consequences that he got a deeper understanding of Early. Early forgave him eventually, and as a result of the entire thing, their friendship grew deeper.

2. Early was angry when people say that Pi's dead, he insisted that Pi is just lost. Like most of you, Jack thinks that Pi is just a figment of Early's imagination. Now that they are well into their adventure, do you think all the events were just coincidences? What are your thoughts on the parallelism of Jack & Early's adventure and Pi's number story?

The story reads like a mashup of 'Huckleberry Finn' and 'Big Fish'. I'll actually call it as doing borderline magic realism.

There's no such thing as coincidences, especially when it comes to very deliberate things, such as a fiction.

The two stories is as it is. I didn't question the stories. Sometimes it's like Early is predicting their adventures via Pi's story, sometimes he uses their adventures to fuel Pi's story. In the end, it's all just one story, interweaved together: Early, Jack, Pi, Captain Baker, Fisher, Jack's mom, MacScott, Gunnar, Mrs. Johannesen, even the boys at Morton Hill Academy... everyone. Which is one of the themes of the story. To quote Jack's mom: "You have to look for the things that connect us all. Find the ways our paths cross, our lives intersect, and our hearts collide."

3. “The ones who are most consumed with their hunt – desperate, you might say- for what they think they are after, it is often a far cry from what they are really after. It is a fact, too, that sometimes, they not really looking for anything at all but are running away from something instead.” (Gunnar, pg. 169) Are other characters running away from their own burdens? Do explain, please.

Almost all the major characters in the book (except Jack's mom, and the Morton Hills boys) are running away from something. Even Pi is running away from something. I think everyone else have detailed these characters na & the particulars of their flight.

(hide spoiler)]

[Alexa]

Omg I just saw this -.- but then again I just started reading haha. Anyway, sorry if this has been asked already, I can't open spoiler tags in the Goodreads app kasi, but does Early have a form of synesthesia, do you think?

[Marie]

Question #3

(view spoiler)[
1. Near the ending, Early found Pi. He proved it at the Fall Math Institute, contradicting Professor Douglas Stanton's theory. If you are Early, how far would you go to prove something you believe in?

Jack observed that Early is always sure. That is because his savant mind can find interconnections between information that to us is disparate and seemingly random. If I was like Early, and I know something for sure, then there's no limit at all.

The more interesting question is, if it was yourself, how far would you go to prove something you believe in? The answer to that is that there ought to be no limit too, except that fear and self-doubt can hinder me. I'm trying to remove these barriers though, so just you guys wait. :-)
(hide spoiler)]

[Monique]

Question 3

(view spoiler)[
If I were Early, I'd do the same thing, because I'm certain of my theory and I know that I can disprove Professor Stanton's. That would be saying that, if I'm sure and confident of what I believe in, I will go as far as my abilities can go to prove it. (hide spoiler)]

[Louize]

Blue wrote: "Omg I just saw this -.- but then again I just started reading haha. Anyway, sorry if this has been asked already, I can't open spoiler tags in the Goodreads app kasi, but does Early have a form of ..."

(view spoiler)[
Vanderpool did not use the term to stay true with the timeline, but I personally believe that Early is a multiple synesthesiae savant. (hide spoiler)]

[Angus]

Question #3
(view spoiler)[
1. If I were Early, I would prove what I believe in to a nearby friend. I would contradict as many things that the professor says as I can to that friend until this friend gets impatient and annoyed, and finally encourages me to prove what I believe in to more people, or to the whole audience. (The size of the audience depends on how passionate and confident I am on the subject.)
(hide spoiler)]

[Alexa]

Louize wrote: "Blue wrote: "Omg I just saw this -.- but then again I just started reading haha. Anyway, sorry if this has been asked already, I can't open spoiler tags in the Goodreads app kasi, but does Early ha..."

(view spoiler)[That's pretty interesting. It would explain a lot, like how he can tell the stories of the numbers consistently as well as remember them much better than other people. Was synesthesia only discovered after the 40's then? (hide spoiler)]

[Louize]

That's pretty interesting. It would explain a lot, like how he can tell the stories of the numbers consistently as well as remember them much better than other people. Was synesthesia only discovered after the 40's then?"
(view spoiler)[
There were earlier studies dating back to 1812 by a German scientist (can't remember his name :)), but the study was only pursued in the 1990s. Same with autism, before 1943, there was no intensive study of these conditions, until Hans Asperger.
(hide spoiler)]

[Alexa]

Louize wrote: "That's pretty interesting. It would explain a lot, like how he can tell the stories of the numbers consistently as well as remember them much better than other people. Was synesthesia only discover..."

That's fascinating to know, thanks Mommy Louize!! ^__^

[Ingrid]

Question 3
(view spoiler)[ If I were Early, I'd probably do the same thing, knowing I'm correct and that I strongly believe in disproving the said theory.

Pero sa totoong buhay lang, I'm not as assertive, and I don't exactly have strong opinions. I do know certain things to be true, and I have beliefs I hold dear. I guess for as long as mine are respected, I'd be more than willing to respect others beliefs too, no matter how opposite and/or strong they may be. No need to be brash. Do unto others, yes? :) (hide spoiler)]

[Maria Ella]

Make habol rin~~
Question #2

1. Earlier in the story, Jack ditches Early at the Regatta. Why does he think Early doesn’t feel disappointment or pain or being left out? At what point does Jack realize that Early does have these feelings?
(view spoiler)[Jack feels too self-absorbed at this point, I guess. He was not minding the emotions of Early, as the person close to him. He know that there is something different about the latter, but because Jack doesn't consider himself as Early's friend yet, he doesn't mind ditching Early.

Ganun naman talaga eh. Siguro me mentality siyang - Close ba kami? (hide spoiler)]


2. Early was angry when people say that Pi's dead, he insisted that Pi is just lost. Like most of you, Jack thinks that Pi is just a figment of Early's imagination. Now that they are well into their adventure, do you think all the events were just coincidences? What are your thoughts on the parallelism of Jack & Early's adventure and Pi's number story?
(view spoiler)[Ang galing lang nya magkwento. It may not be coincidences, but the parallelism is so wild, I feel like playing a Final Fantasy game or Tales of Destiny.

What I liked about Early as he narrates the story of Pi is (view spoiler)[OPEN AT YOUR OWN RISK! (view spoiler)[

For me, they are blue and purple and sand and ocean and rough and smooth and loud and whispering, all at the same time.

(hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

tapos the point that Jack introspected that - (view spoiler)[

I wished I could see what he saw - color and landscape, texture and voice.

(hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

3. “The ones who are most consumed with their hunt – desperate, you might say- for what they think they are after, it is often a far cry from what they are really after. It is a fact, too, that sometimes, they not really looking for anything at all but are running away from something instead.” (Gunnar, pg. 169)

Are other characters running away from their own burdens? Do explain, please.
(view spoiler)[Jack is running from the sad memory of his mom. Then his dad, who cannot accept that his wife is gone. I still remember the love story the parent shared with Jack, ang cute lang.
(view spoiler)[random sharing - I know someone who does that before. Little do people know that it pays for them to hear your consolation, that they know that you are there. THIS IS SAD, VERY SAD ONLY. (hide spoiler)]
(hide spoiler)]

[Maria Ella]

Question 3

(view spoiler)[I can be that Early... If you asked me this question 5 years younger. It is in my psyche to be the devil's advocate - to disprove a point.

(view spoiler)[Pero ngayon? I might do this to a friend, but not insist the point. I guess a form of disclosure, maybe, that this is what I believe. Ngayon ang edad ko ay pang-chill-pogi na lang dapat, unless me mga intense moments charot (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Tina]

Bago matulog, hahabol muna! :D

Question 2
(view spoiler)[
1. I think it may be because he thought Early felt differently, so he didn't think he'd feel the same things that "normal" people do. I think we do the same things sometimes - we think people will not get hurt because we probably won't be hurt if that happens, but as my best friend told me once, people perceive things differently than us.

2. Someone once told me, We see what we want to see. I think because Jack is really starting to get to know Early, and Pi's story is the reason why they went on their trip, it was easy to start framing and seeing things in that context. The coincidences start having more meaning, when in reality, they're all just coincidences. And us, as readers, we see it, too, and we sometimes think that it's strange, too.

Also, I think it's because Early believed it so much that Jack felt like he had no choice but to believe it, too.

Except...I don't know if I'm jaded or there's this disconnect, but I didn't exactly think that Early's story was coming true. I thought that it just seemed similar only because the story was told before the things happened, so you're kind of expecting it already.


3. I think most of the characters in this book were running away from their problems. Jackie is running away from his loss and his gap from his father. Gunnar ran away, too, as well as Fisher, and MacScott, too. I think it was only Early who didn't run away from his problems, in his own little odd way. (hide spoiler)]

[Veronica]

Question #3

(view spoiler)[
I would probably go to great lengths to prove what I believe in if the other person’s belief will cause him physical or emotional harm. Other than that, I think I am content to let others believe what they want. I will voice my opinion but leave it at that. Even if I’m a hundred percent sure of what I believe in, I figure the other person will find it out for himself sooner or later and that will be a more convincing argument than any I can offer. (I guess I’m not assertive either.)
(hide spoiler)]

[Cary]

Question 3
(view spoiler)[ I will go to the ends of the earth for what I believe in. I always stand on what I believe in, and I am sure of myself most of the time. That's why I can relate much with Early Auden. When people try to reject my idea or try to convince me otherwise, I tend to reject the people altogether (view spoiler)[ and I don't even feel guilty about it, haha! (hide spoiler)]. For me, life is too short to spend time with people who always try to pull you down or to convince others who don't share the same belief with mine. So I just wait until we see the result and prove them that I'm right. But lately, I also realized that I really need to change that attitude. It's ok to be firm with your beliefs but be open also with other people's idea. :D (hide spoiler)]

[Meliza]

Question #3

(view spoiler)[If I am 100% sure that what I believe in is true, I will definitely prove it to the other person. I will cite evidences. But if I'm not that sure, I tell it first to a friend. (Hahanap ng kakampi. Hehe!) I'll explain it to this friend and will ask him to help me prove my point to the other person who doesn't believe. And in these circumstances, I try to explain my belief in a calm way. But sometimes depende rin sa kausap. :) (hide spoiler)]

[Lynai]

Question #3

If I were Early, (view spoiler)[I wouldn't go to such extent as attending the Math Conference and disprove the professor. Most probably, I'd write an article disproving him or hold my own conference (haha) to disprove him. I am assertive but only when I'm with my family and close friends. I'd raise my voice, with matching hand gestures and facial expressions just to prove my point. But when I'm in public or with people I'm not really close or familiar or comfortable with, I usually keep my mouth shut and don't exert any effort to convince them about my beliefs. (hide spoiler)]

[Mawi]

pahabol din... :D

Question #2
(view spoiler)[
1. I think it was because he never really thought about it. He was too focused on his own feelings and failed to see that Early has feelings too. He only realized Early was hurt when he mentioned instances of characters never leaving their friends. "That's not what friends do."
2. It may well be just coincidences. Everyone (Jack & the readers) are so in to the adventure that we all begin to see the parallelism between Jack and Early's trip and Pi's adventure.
3. I think most of the characters are running away from something. Jack, Early, Gunnar, MacScott, Fisher. All are running away or, at least, trying to suspend feeling pain/loss over something. (hide spoiler)]

[Alexa]

Will never be Early, because I'm soo late *ba dum tss* I'm just halfway but I want to answer at least a couple of questions already. Pahabol! :D

Question #1
(view spoiler)[
1. Stranger - I think he's trying to be strong and doesn't want to admit that he needs other people to cope. I am particularly fascinated by his relationship with his dad - hopefully he will see that his father loves him too.
Strange - I like him. First impression was that he's a very introspective boy, and knows himself really well, down to a point... but then not really, because there are parts of himself he can't understand still. I think change would unsettle him more than Jack.
Stargazer - I just remembered Pi Patel, actually, because the both went on a voyage-journey thinkg

2. Not really, but I prefer my music more subdued, so I sometimes specifically listen to vocal jazz and standards, or really old music in general (I share that preference with Early, haha!). Other days, it's my rainy day playlist.
(hide spoiler)]

Question #2
(view spoiler)[
1. I think it's because Early looks like he lives in his own world, kind of like children with autism? He realizes fully that Early does have feelings after the Regatta, when he visited Early's room - he hoped for a bit that Early wouldn't mention it, but he did, so now Jack's indeed sure that he has feelings. Or at least remembers.

2. I think that since he's trying to find his brother, Early thinks that following in his footsteps would give him some sort of clue about his whereabouts. He thinks his brother's journey mirrors that of Pi, so he follows Pi's adventure also, if only to feel the kinship through the experience.

3. “The ones who are most consumed with their hunt – desperate, you might say- for what they think they are after, it is often a far cry from what they are really after. It is a fact, too, that sometimes, they not really looking for anything at all but are running away from something instead.” (Gunnar, pg. 169)

Are other characters running away from their own burdens? Do explain, please.
Yes. Either they're running away or putting off trying to solve it. With Jack's dad, for example, he tries to fix his relationship with his son but doesn't really know what to do with him. Maybe he's still feeling lost after losing his wife, or still in denial about it. The characters in general are trying to run away from the things that hurt, kasi masakit eh. Maybe by running away, the pain will get left behind. It's easier to avoid confronting the truth because you can still nurture the hope that it will go away *hugot*
(hide spoiler)]

[Gwaxa]

Question 1
(view spoiler)[1. Stranger (Jack) - I thought he's hurting, lost and confused especially after his mother died and his father uprooted him from the place where everything and everyone are familiar.
Strange (Early) - Reminded me of all the bullied protagonists I've read in YA books. Though he wasn't really bullied but he had that weirdness that separated him from everybody in the school. He was a loner, too.
Stargazer (Pi) - I thought he represented Early in some way. That his story was really Early's, with some revisions and improvements, of course.

2. None really. But Early (and Ghoswritten's Tokyo chapter) made me curious about Billie Holiday. :)
(hide spoiler)]

Question 2:
(view spoiler)[
1. Maybe because Early seemed to live in a world of his own and Jack thought that he wasn't affected or bothered by the outside world. Jack realized that Early has feelings when he went to see him after the regatta and Early mentioned the Captain America and that he won't leave his friends.

2. Just like what Jack said about how once Early's got an idea about something, nothing can make him drop it or veer off from it. I think it's the same thing with the parallelism of their adventure to Pi's story. Early was seeing their adventure as Pi's because he really thought that his brother and Pi are the same. Coincidences? Not really. More like they were making the story fit and forgetting about the parts that don't.

3. “The ones who are most consumed with their hunt – desperate, you might say- for what they think they are after, it is often a far cry from what they are really after. It is a fact, too, that sometimes, they not really looking for anything at all but are running away from something instead.” (Gunnar, pg. 169)

For me, this applied mostly to MacScott. He was so consumed about being such a great shot and the hunt of the Great Bear because he was running away from the guilt of accidentally killing Martin Johanssen. Also, Jack's dad. With the cleaning of their house, to transferring Jack to Maine. He was running away from his wife's memory.
(hide spoiler)]

Question 3:
(view spoiler)[
1. If I were Early, I would also do what he did, considering that he was confident he could prove the professor wrong and his belief never wavered.
As for me in real life, I usually just voice my opinion and let others decide for themselves. Walang basagan ng trip, kumbaga. Although, I have very strong opinions most of the time so... Hahaha.
(hide spoiler)]

[Kristel]

Helloooo friends, I'm hopelessly behind but I'll try to participate anyway. (view spoiler)[Unfortunately I can't join you on Saturday because of a death in my extended family. (hide spoiler)]

Ms. Louize, may deadline po ba yung pag-answer ng questions? If not magsaspam ako mamaya lol. /o\

[Kristel]

Question 2

1 What are your first impressions of these characters?

Jack: To be honest, I struggled with Jack's first person POV for the first few chapters. I think part of it is because I'm reading it a little bit close to my first experience with To Kill a Mockinbird, which is a tremendous First Person POV novel. His voice didn't seem singular for me and he seems to be only a vehicle for telling Early's story.

In terms of personality, Jack is struggling between being cynical and aloof and feeling lost at the same time. Like he's trying to project a smart-alec self to cover up his true self.

With Early, I also struggled a little with the part of my brain that tries to analyze the accuracy of the portrayal of autism. My younger brother (now 21) was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome so I was trying to match his behaviors with Early's. (The thing about the extremely quick conversation changes is pretty spot on.)

The Pi sections have been my favorite so far. I enjoy the literary trope of using concepts or inanimate objects as symbolism by the storyteller.

2. Following Early's example, do you have a particular singer or song on a rainy day? Any reason why?

When I've been drenched by the rain during commute I like to sing along to the Eraserheads version of Tuwing Umuulan (At Kapiling Ka) as a sort of catharsis from feeling frustrated and grumpy about the rain.

[Rhena]

Will just be leaving these answers here. Heehee.

QUESTION 1
1. What are your first impressions of these characters?

(view spoiler)[Jack: He just lost his mother, he can't grieve with his father, and he is taken away to live in an unfamiliar place. It must be a difficult time for him, and what I sensed while reading his first-person point-of-view is that he's like keeping a journal--writing down details about his new life to divert his attention and reminiscing memories with his mom so he won't forget. He makes himself sound tough, as if he'll be rereading what he wrote one day. This may be his way of coping.

Early: He is independent and very sure of himself. He seems to already have a lot going on in his mind and therefore too busy to care about what others think about him. I imagined him to be frail-looking but, apparently, he is strong enough to build and fix boats. Also, I think we'll agree on the music preference.

Pi: I just know him from his adventures so I'll say he's brave to venture out to the great unknown. Like most protagonists of tales of adventure. (hide spoiler)]

2. Following Early's example, do you have a particular singer or song on a rainy day? Any reason why?

(view spoiler)[No, not really. But if the rain induces me to want to lie on the bed, stare at the ceiling and evaluate my life, I'll probably put the Cinema Paradiso soundtrack on for maximum effect. (hide spoiler)]

QUESTION 2
1. Earlier in the story, Jack ditches Early at the Regatta. Why does he think Early doesn’t feel disappointment or pain or being left out? At what point does Jack realize that Early does have these feelings?

(view spoiler)[Jack saw Early as someone who is very much at ease at being alone and who wouldn't mind being left behind. But I think half of him believes Early gets hurt too; only, he wished the other half is right to cover up his guilt and justify what he did. He realized his deed did not go unnoticed when Early spoke about friends never leaving friends. (hide spoiler)]

2. Early was angry when people say that Pi's dead, he insisted that Pi is just lost. Like most of you, Jack thinks that Pi is just a figment of Early's imagination. Now that they are well into their adventure, do you think all the events were just coincidences? What are your thoughts on the parallelism of Jack & Early's adventure and Pi's number story?

(view spoiler)[Initially, the cynic in me viewed the adventures of Jack and Early as too contrived, considering that Pi's adventures were told first. The pirate. The "volcano." But then I made peace with the fact that Early needed Pi's stories to be true (view spoiler)[(since he needed Fisher to be alive) (hide spoiler)], and so his hyperactive imagination found similarities to what he and Jack were experiencing. Early is so convinced of the connection (view spoiler)[(remember when he tucked the barmaid's hair behind her ear, just like how Pi did it?) (hide spoiler)] that Jack and I eventually went with it too. (hide spoiler)]

3. “The ones who are most consumed with their hunt – desperate, you might say- for what they think they are after, it is often a far cry from what they are really after. It is a fact, too, that sometimes, they not really looking for anything at all but are running away from something instead.” (Gunnar, pg. 169)

Are other characters running away from their own burdens? Do explain, please.

(view spoiler)[Yes, almost all characters are. There's Jack and his dad, Gunnar, MacScott, and Fisher. They were either running away from a bitter past or the prospect of a dark future that they chose to be obsessed with the details of the present. (hide spoiler)]

QUESTION 3
1. Near the ending, Early found Pi. He proved it at the Fall Math Institute, contradicting Professor Douglas Stanton's theory. If you are Early, how far would you go to prove something you believe in? 

(view spoiler)[If I had Early's confidence, I'd probably stand up for what I know to be true. But since I freak out when all eyes are on me, I'm more likely to keep my beliefs to myself or share it only with people who I am comfortable discussing things with. (hide spoiler)]