Nordic Book Club discussion

Thank you to everyone who joined us at Scandinavian House for are Nordic Book Club that delved into Helene Uri's book "Clearing Out" tonight! We had a wonderful discussion about the importance and complexities around memorabilia and language death related to the text. We hope to keep the discussion going online -- so please leave any comments and moments that stood out to you here.

1) How was your reading experience? Did you enjoy reading the book?
2) What did you think of Uri’s writing style?
3) What did you take away from the book? What symbolism did you find? What parts resonated with you?
4) What did you think of the main Helene and her character Ellinor?
5) What was the special relationship between Helene and her character Ellinor? How did it evolve?
6) What did you think about the different relationships between the other characters? How did they change and why? Ex: Ellinor and Anna Guttormsen.
7) How does learning they are part Sami change Helene and Ellinor?
8) What was surprising to learn about Norway and the Sami of Norway -- in terms of land, culture, modern identity and language?
9) What THEMES would you use to talk about this book? Ex: death, pregnancy, and memorabilia.
10) What importance does ‘language death’ play in the book and on a more personal and international level?
11) What do you think of the generational impacts implied in this book?
12) What do you think of the title of the book “Clearing Out” in English and “Rydde ut” in Norwegian?
13) How did you feel about the ending of the book? Did it feel complete?

I was so excited to see this post! I have this book and have even started reading it a little bit but need to finish some other books first. I'm going to save these questions for when I get to the book. Thanks for sharing your book club updates and questions here!