Lit Lawvers discussion

Dear Readers:
Did we want to post some discussion questions now as everyone gets started so we have something to think about as we read OR wait until mid/end of the month when most of us are done with the book?

Michelle wrote: "Dear Readers:
Did we want to post some discussion questions now as everyone gets started so we have something to think about as we read OR wait until mid/end of the month when most of us are done w..."

If you have "starter" questions that don't have any spoilers, that would be awesome! I'd love to have a discussion already in mind when I start reading.

Sounds good. I'll get some non-spoilery questions together - 3-5 I think should be good? - and post.

Here are some discussion questions I found. I tried to ensure that they were general and not too spoilery:

1. Is Iris responsible for Laura's death? At what points could she have changed the course of events?

2. . How do the newspaper articles advance the unfolding of the plot? Do they serve as an objective record of the events in the characters' lives?

3. How does the science fiction story constructed by the unnamed lovers mirror the story of the lovers themselves and the circumstances surrounding their affair? In what ways does it parallel events in Iris's life, both as a child and as an adult?

4. Atwood has said that the form of The Blind Assassin was influenced by early twentieth-century collages, in which newspaper excerpts were glued onto canvas and then painted around and over—thus framing two ways of representing reality, each of which contradicted the other but also complemented it. How many "kinds" of writing are in The Blind Assassin, washroom graffiti included? What purpose does each form of writing serve?

5. The era of the Great Depression was also an age of extreme fashion-consciousness among the wealthy. What role do clothes play in The Blind Assassin, in both the historical and the contemporary sections of the book? What do they reveal about the characters, and what do they conceal?

6. What are the various meanings of the title The Blind Assassin? Which characters act as blind assassins by uncomprehendingly causing the demise of other characters?

7. How do the multiple levels of The Blind Assassin interact with one another? Do they unfold in concert, shedding light on one another, or is the relationship among them only apparent at the end of the book? What does the use of this narrative technique reveal about Atwood's methods of storytelling?

Is it just me or are others having a rough time getting into the book? I'm on page 44-45 and am just now getting a bit more into it.

I'm having a hard time. I propose we continue the discussion into February... especially since we're only doing 1 book a month now.

I agree. It's been a rough go... Pretty ambitious book to read coming back from holidays in retrospect

Agreed on this end.

Oh thank God! I've been trying to get into this book and after about 75 pages I'm still wondering if I'll make it through. I'm glad I'm not alone.

I'm nearing the finish. I have been reading this in fits and starts, but I'm still enjoying it.

Laura, you're a better woman than I. I legitimately considered reading the Wiki entry for this book. Oops.

I can't even fathom how high school students gets through this book. I expect the answer is that they don't.

OMG! I nominated the book (which I feel horrible about now) and can't get through it! I've tried and tried & am only on page 48 or 49.

Christine, I almost did the same, but am persevering...barely... High school students read this?!?! Poor kids.

No worries, I nominated Freedom last year. Talk about tedious.

Heh. I finished this last week and even though it was well-written and all that stuff, I'm not entirely certain it was worth the effort and hours I put in. But I'd love to hear others' thoughts.

I'm plowing through it. I like both stories, but I really don't see the point (so far) of the "story within a story" concept. It seems like an exercise in art for art's sake. Maybe I'm just not a sophisticated enough reader.

OK GROUP. It's been 6 weeks on this book. It's time to discuss or cut bait. Beginning Friday 2/15, discussion will be open to spoilers to give the people who have finished an opportunity to have a meaningful discussion.

If you haven't finished the January book by Feb 15, let's be real: you're probably not going to finish it. :) Myself, I'll be reading the synopsis so I can at least follow the discussion.

Sorry for voting for the long, hard to read book!

fwiw, i liked this book. i've been having trouble finishing any fiction book since lawschool (class of '10), but i'm getting better! i struggled with the beginning of this one. i thought there was a lot of flip-flopping between not only the narrator voice, but also between time periods, which led to some head scratching on my end. i did like the way it came together at the end, which is not to say i liked the ending.

I was late to join in, and I'm already looking forward to moving on to Argo.

I've stalled out - Sorry to the group for even nominating the book. Sounded good, but dear God it was a tough read! I've read the "cliff's notes" in order to follow the discussion, although I'm sure my contributions will be more of the griping kind.

Onward and upward...Argo is next and then The Fault in Our Stars. Picking up Stars tomorrow from library, looks like I'm buying Argo. :)

I am really enjoying the few pages I can read at a time, but I'm spread too thin to get into a book that requires this much thinking. I love the main character's flashbacks of her childhood though. I like reading her describe things with an adult understanding of what she witnessed and sort of understood as a child. I wish it was all like that. I could do without the story within entirely.

TBA is due back at the library 2/18. I bought Argo and will be starting it next week. Hopefully that one goes a little quicker.

The part of TBA that I liked was the story within the story within the story...so the made up story about the civilization more than any part of the book. The childhood flashbacks came in second, and I could do without the "I'm old and frail and going to die soon so let me unburden myself" meanderings about eating donuts and spilling coffee while trying to confess whatever her sins are (which according to wikipedia was the affair with the object of her sister's affections).

It's due back today...and I forgot it on my kitchen table. DAMMIT!

I agree about liking the story within the story and the flashbacks--and being just BORED and annoyed with the current day story. She just wasn't very likeable as a present narrator.

Michelle wrote: "It's due back today...and I forgot it on my kitchen table. DAMMIT"

Renew it online!!

I didn't mind her old-lady musings. I kind of liked them. I wish it was told in a narrative to someone else, I feel like it would have had more of a point than -- what? Confessing her sins to herself? Shit, this isn't Atonement.

Christine wrote: "Michelle wrote: "It's due back today...and I forgot it on my kitchen table. DAMMIT"

Renew it online!!"

You are BRILLIANT! Renewing now!

Hello Lit Lawvers,
Sorry for being so late. I learned belatedly that you were reading The Blind Assassin, and had intended before this to participate in the discussion after reminding myself about this book, which I read in October 2008 with my book group of 10 women. At the end of each year, my group ranks the 12 books we have read, and Blind Assassin was unanimously ranked number one. Just now I opened my paperback and saw that I had written notes inside at the beginning in an attempt to keep the characters straight. The plot is very complex and intricate, and the intellectual challenge at times was quite daunting, but ultimately very satisfying by the end. My favorite parts were the meetings of the secret lovers and the science fiction story with the blind boy. I thought it was very imaginative and well-plotted the way all of it tied together in the end and the secrets were revealed. However, for those in this group who are overburdened law students or practitioners, the extra "work" of this novel may have been a bit too much to take on.
V.S.

I'm still struggling to get through this one. I like it but the story doesn't make me want to stay up all night reading like the last selection did - I've renewed it twice and there is another hold so I am reluctantly returning it to the library half-read. I'm a book club failure.

Don't worry, I failed on this one too. I may end up buying e-copy (or borrowing from Lendle) for my vacation and see if a 3 hour layover can't make me plow through it. I found it interesting and engaging, but overall just too much work to keep everything straight. FWIW, I felt that way reading A Dance for Dragons (the most recent in the Song of Ice and Fire series), and I still haven't gotten through it.

I couldn't get through it either AND I struggled through the beginning and end of Game of Thrones (the 1st book in the Song of Ice & Fire series) - the middle was pretty good.

I may try to get through it later - same thing happened with The 3 Musketeers, but then I picked it up again & not only got through it but loved it.

That reminds me, I've got to return it today or it'll be overdue...

Christine wrote: "Don't worry, I failed on this one too. I may end up buying e-copy (or borrowing from Lendle) for my vacation and see if a 3 hour layover can't make me plow through it. I found it interesting and en..."

Dude. Trust me: the end of ADfD is more than worth soldiering through all the boring parts. Keep going.