Bartow County Library System’s Comments (group member since Nov 20, 2012)

Bartow County Library System’s comments from the Bartow County Library System Online Book Chat group.

We'll use the discussion questions provided by Random House to start the conversion on "The Dinner." Please list the question number when providing a comment to a discussion question. Feel free to add questions of your own or general comments as to your impression of the novel.

1. How did your opinion of Paul and Serge shift throughout the novel?

2. How might the story line have unfolded if it had been told from a mother’s point of view?

3. In what way do the courses of a meal— from aperitif to digestif— echo the experience of savoring a suspenseful novel?

4. As the waiter described each delicacy in The Dinner, did the food appeal to you, or did you share Paul’s belief that it was pretentious?

5. What do you think of the sympathy Paul and Claire feel for their son?

6. As a parent, how far would you go to defend your child?

7. Do Michel and Rick represent the indifference of their generation, or are teenagers more socially conscious in the Information Age?

8. How much influence do Claire and Babette have over their husbands?

9. How do Claire and Babette define good mothering?

10. The novel opens with Paul’s commentary on how much Serge irritates him. What accounts for their attitude toward each other?

11. Does Paul’s animosity run deeper than typical sibling rivalry?

12. Discuss Paul’s and Serge’s career paths.

13. What does it take to succeed in politics compared with succeeding in the classroom?

14. What skills do the Lohman brothers share?

15. Ultimately, who is to blame for the homeless woman’s death?

16. What does the novel indicate about the responsibilities (or irresponsibility) of the upper class?

17. What separates sympathetic souls from heartless ones?

18. Discuss the portrait of a marriage that Paul paints as he recalls Claire’s illness and confronts the possibility of losing his family.

19. Why is Claire so protective of Paul?

20. What keeps Paul and Claire's relationship going?

21. In chapter 30, we see the details of Paul’s approach to history and humanity. As you watched him lose his teaching job, did you perceive him as someone who is ill or simply selfish? Or rational?

22. What does the story of cousins Michel and Rick say about nature versus nurture?

23. How do you think Beau/Faso sees his adoptive family?

24. What have they taught him about getting ahead?

25. How did you react to Claire and Michel’s “solution”?

26. What commentary does the novel offer about the author’s homeland?

27. What aspects of The Dinner would change if it were set in Washington, DC, rather than in the Netherlands?

Hi! The Book Chat schedule for 2014 is posted! Take a few moments to view what we are currently reading and the Upcoming Reads. Have you read any of the books on the list? Which ones did you like or dislike? What are you planning on reading over the holidays?

This is the second novel I have read by Penelope Lively this year. I enjoyed both. I was a bit frustrated with the female characters in Heat Wave, but the ending made it all worth while!

Summary
The world knows Madame Tussaud as a wax artist extraordinaire.... but who was this woman who became one of the most famous sculptresses of all time? In these pages, her tumultuous and amazing story comes to life as only Michelle Moran can tell it. The year is 1788, and a revolution is about to begin.

Smart and ambitious, Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. From her popular model of the American ambassador, Thomas Jefferson, to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie’s museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, and even politics.

Her customers hail from every walk of life, yet her greatest dream is to attract the attention of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI; their stamp of approval on her work could catapult her and her museum to the fame and riches she desires. After months of anticipation, Marie learns that the royal family is willing to come and see their likenesses. When they finally arrive, the king’s sister is so impressed that she requests Marie’s presence at Versailles as a royal tutor in wax sculpting. It is a request Marie knows she cannot refuse—even if it means time away from her beloved Salon and her increasingly dear friend, Henri Charles.

As Marie gets to know her pupil, Princesse Élisabeth, she also becomes acquainted with the king and queen, who introduce her to the glamorous life at court. From lavish parties with more delicacies than she’s ever seen to rooms filled with candles lit only once before being discarded, Marie steps into a world entirely different from her home on the Boulevard du Temple, where people are selling their teeth in order to put food on the table.

Meanwhile, many resent the vast separation between rich and poor. In salons and cafés across Paris, people like Camille Desmoulins, Jean-Paul Marat, and Maximilien Robespierre are lashing out against the monarchy. Soon, there’s whispered talk of revolution.... Will Marie be able to hold on to both the love of her life and her friendship with the royal family as France approaches civil war? And more important, will she be able to fulfill the demands of powerful revolutionaries who ask that she make the death masks of beheaded aristocrats, some of whom she knows?

Spanning five years, from the budding revolution to the Reign of Terror, Madame Tussaud brings us into the world of an incredible heroine whose talent for wax modeling saved her life and preserved the faces of a vanished kingdom. (From the publisher.)

Register at the Reference or Information desks or online at www.bartowlibraryonline.org. You will receive a program packet at the reference or information desks after registering.
Read three books (audio books included).
Attend one program listed in the brochure.
Submit Completion Form by March 15th for a reusable library book bag and a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card! A drawing of completed entries will also be held at each branch for a $25 gift card.
Completion forms are available at Reference and Information desks or online.
Repeat. You may enter to win prizes more than once by reading 3 more books and attending another program!

Lot's of opportunities to win special program prizes!

A coworker maintained a list of books she read in 2012. I thought this sounded like a fun idea since I have no idea how much I read, or even what all I read within a year. Goodreads has a fun Challenge for tracking your 2013 reading. On your homepage, select the 2013 Reading Challenge and track your progress towards your annual goal. You can also review the list of books you've read during the year.

Book Chat is not reading a book for December so let's share what we are reading.