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

[Louize]

Kristel wrote: "Helloooo friends, I'm hopelessly behind but I'll try to participate anyway. [spoilers removed]"

Condolences, Kristel.

[Mawi]

Question 3

(view spoiler)[It depends on what ‘beliefs’. Like, if it is something that would really affect others in a good way, then I would go to great lengths to prove my belief. But otherwise, I would just probably state my views, leave it at that, and let other people believe what they believe. (hide spoiler)]

[Tin]

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?

If I were Early, I would therefore possess his abilities, and most likely do as he did. But if I am my own self (which I am :D), I don't think I would go as far as the Fall Math Institute to prove a point. Not unless the world's existence is at stake. But I do tend to voice out my opinions/beliefs, although only to family and close friends, as to how far I'd go to prove it depends on whether I'd be causing discord (and my mood at that time :D). (hide spoiler)]

[Aaron Vincent]

QUESTION 1

(view spoiler)[
1. I like Jack as the narrator but I dislike Jack as the kid. I love how Jack the narrator eloquently express his grief and loneliness that I can emphatize with what he is going through. At first, Jack the kid on the other hand was the perfect embodiment of his name. Jack, common.

I guessed Early was just a figment of Jack's imagination the way that Pi was only in Early's imagination, the entire story didn't really happen and Jack was really sent to an institution not a military boarding school. This is a first impression, remember? The novel hasn't gone past my cynicism yet.

2. I don't have a particular band or artist that I listen to when it rains but I had one perfect stormy afternoon listening to Mumford and Sons that I always associate them with rain since then. Especially the first few lines of Ghosts That We Knew:

You saw my pain, washed out in the rain
Broken glass, saw the blood run from my veins.
(hide spoiler)]

QUESTION 2
(view spoiler)[

1. Jack assumed that with the way Early acts that he prefers solitude and only barely tolerates his company. He was also in a hurry and people in a hurry makes choices that they will regret later on. I think he only came to his senses about Early's disappointment when he himself experienced it on the Regatta. It's easier to empathize with other people when we have or had the same plight they have.

2. With this novel being set in the WWII, I imagined that Jack narrates this story in his old age at the present. Memory is an unreliable thing. Maybe old Jack jumbled it all up and that is why there plenty of convenient coincidences. Old age and weak memory also make people prone to delusions.

3. Fisher. Fisher was running away from his life he believes is void. He is trying to compensate for the guilt he have for surviving. All his friend died so he also decided that he must leave the life as he knew it.
(hide spoiler)]

QUESTION 3
(view spoiler)[
1. If I'm Early, (view spoiler)[which is rare because I'm always late. Badum tss (hide spoiler)] I would do the exact same thing. I'm Early therefore I have his psyche, his past and whatever makes Early Early.

How far would I go to prove something I believe in? Depends on what that something is. If it's something trivial, very far. Violence might even ensue. There's nothing to lose when someone rejects it no matter how hard I try because it's trivial. If it something character-defining, not that really far. I might say that I don't care to enforce my perspective to other people. I might say that it is cooler to live and let live. But those mights are half-truths. I won't go over and beyond proving something I believe in because I'm afraid of the rejection. When people rejects something that defines your character or your story, it is heartbreaking. It is as if they would be rejecting you.
(hide spoiler)]

[Vera]

Question 2:

1. Because Early is strange and seems detached from everyone else, Jackie thinks he is incapable of feeling left out. But as he was leaving the dock and starts to row, he knew he was wrong. He realized this more when Early makes a comment about friends not leaving friends behind.


2. Not coincidences really, but Early is doing his very best to make the similarities too similar. Pi's is a great and wonderful story, and Early is on a quest to find him. It's not too surprising for them to find themselves in similar situations and knowledge of Pi's story has helped them be prepared.


3. Early may be running away from the reality that his brother is dead. Jackie is definitely running away from the truth that he is a lonely boy, that he misses his mother, and that he longs for his father. Gunnar? He's run away from the woman he loves for fear that she won't accept him.

[Vera]

Yay! I finished it!

Question 3 answer:
I would like to think that I would go as far as Early to prove something I really believed in. Most of the time, I still do. But I find that the older I get, the lesser I care about being "right" about something..

I truly enjoyed this month's reading and hope to participate in next month 's F2F. Thanks

[Louize]

Thank you, everyone, for participating!

Thread for the F2F38 is now open.