Washington Post Reads discussion

Here are a couple of questions to start, but feel free to discuss anything from these chapters.

1. The book's timeline, locales, different voices and unusual text treatments (Hollywood film pitch, biography, unfinished novel, how-to book) are jumbled. Did you find it confusing, hard to follow, irritating? Or was the variety intriguing? What might the author be hoping to achieve by scrambling everything up? How would the book be different if it were told in chronological order with a straightforward narrator?

2. Talk about contrast between the grand Hollywood projects of the past, like Cleopatra, and the reality show that Michael Deane and Claire are producing. What does it say about our current culture or collective imaginative life? Does Jess Walter suggest a solution to what he is criticizing?

3. What did you think, initially, of Shane's Donner Party pitch to Michael Deane? Did you agree with Michael...or laugh with Claire?

**Questions from Lit Lovers.

I'm not wild about the din of voices in the book, but that's personal preference. I like to Pledge Allegiance to a voice and a character, thank you, then follow it through trials (and, as required by law, tribulations).

Here it's hard to get traction with anyone, what with the jumps in POV and time. It was especially irritating when Pat was introduced. I had all I could do to hang in there, as his is a most UNinteresting story.

Finally, thus far, I have to say that this appears to be one of those books written with the movies in mind (so perhaps it's an inside joke on Jess Walter's part). Contrived, is what I mean, from the funny but admirable Italian yokel (Pasqual) to the movie starlet. And then, the Michael Deane thing. And Richard Burton cameos. I mean, how do you say, "Lay it on with a trowel" in Italian?

Entertaining and easy reading, yes. Great stuff? I'd say it's both far and from in that category....

I too did not much like Pat's story. Found the middle of this book quite boring, I liked the beginning chapters much better.

Diane S. wrote: "I too did not much like Pat's story. Found the middle of this book quite boring, I liked the beginning chapters much better."

Well, I have a ways to go (on p. 201 of the paperback), but it has definitely hit the mid-book Sargasso Seas, so to speak....

One of the interesting things about the transitions in Beautiful Ruins is the way in which the author presents each chapter as its own distinct and complete jump, with varying effectiveness. For instance, I found the transition from Porto Vergogna to Hollywood in the early going, to work perfectly – the perceptions of Hollywood from Pasquale and others in 1962 to the present day Hollywood insider point of view was both effective and funny. I didn't enjoy the transition to chapter 4 (The Smile of Heaven) as much – although the segment itself did grow on me. I also wasn't wild about the lead-in to Pat's first chapter. It might have been interesting to blend his character in more gradually – snippets within chapters (without the reveal of who he really is) rather than a full-blown chapter all at once. The author deserves credit however, for going all in – the commitment to uniquely different characters and chapters is unflinching.

I thought the contrast from old to new Hollywood worked nicely. There's enough humor and irony applied to each era that you don't really get a sense of favoritism – especially given that Michael Deane serves as both a common and evolutionary link. And after all, the contrast isn't simply cinematic – the author skewers pop culture and all media across the board.

When it came to the pitch, I agreed with neither Claire or Michael – the way it was presented allowed the reader to be “in the room”, to feel like like a potential suit, listening and judging. The Donner take seemed intriguing although a bit long. Still, the upshot of the whole thing is the dawning realization on Claire's part that Michael's actually banking on a pass from Universal as a means to escape his deal and control his new found reality show success. This in turn triggers more motivation and reveals – Shane may have seemed completely committed to his story in the beginning but the idea of Michael's ruse brings out the player in him – could he make fifty, maybe eighty grand off pitching a dead idea?

Newengland wrote: "I'm not wild about the din of voices in the book, but that's personal preference. I like to Pledge Allegiance to a voice and a character, thank you, then follow it through trials (and, as required ..."

Agree that the "din" in chapters 5-11 make it difficult to connect with anyone and just the jumping around is irritating at this point. I really don't need stories to be told in chronological order, but this feels more random than designed. Pat is unsympathetic in every way. Hoping that the later chapters can redeem the book. Fingers crossed.

I didn't mind the book tacking from past to present, and from character to character. On the contrary, I thought it was done smoothly and effectively. I did get a little slowed down by the Donner Party story but skimmed over it at that point to get back to the rest of the book. Delving into Pat's problems, painful as it was, made sense to me because if his story had been told in bits and pieces, it might have added too many central characters to the narrative. Although he is important, he's not as significant as Pasquale or Dee.

Seems to me that novels like this one might be the solution to what Walter is criticizing.

David wrote: "One of the interesting things about the transitions in Beautiful Ruins is the way in which the author presents each chapter as its own distinct and complete jump, with varying effectiveness. For in..."

I agree with you on The Smile of Heaven. It had to grow on me, too. However, in the end, it nearly brought tears to my eyes, thinking of the effect that one episode had on a soldier who hadn't seen a lot of action but who wanted desperately to return to normalcy anyway. Then, just when you think Walter was being sentimental about war - BAM! Here comes the realization that Alvis Bender was likely glossing over the facts anyway. Was Maria always a prostitute, as she claims in a later chapter. I tend to think so. (Clue: the soldier Bender gave her all of his money and cigarettes following their encounter). BRILLIANT!

I truly admire Walter's ability to globe-trot from scene-to-scene and character-to-character without losing us, the readers. The character's individual stories are painted with just a few strokes, but those strokes were precise enough for me to have a real feel for the characters and their dilemnas.

Shane's Donner Party pitch was pretty laughable in the sense that it's such an overtold story. It provides a nice contrast to the story of war-torn Italy. In my experience, we don't hear many stories that deal with post-WWII in terms of how it affected Italy. I'd like to think that was intentional on the part of the author, but as a writer I know that much of a story evolves organically and therefore strikes the writer as brilliant only in retrospect.

I have to add here that if there's one character in the story who struck me as unneccessary, it was Shane. But perhaps I've proved his necessity with the above.