The lesser of two evils

“The devil… sends errors into the world in pairs – pairs of opposites. And he always encourages
us to spend a lot of time thinking which is the worse… He relies on your extra dislike of the one
error to draw you gradually into the opposite one.” Can you think of any particular errors
Christians might be tempted to make out of a frantic desire to avoid their opposites?

humans

“Never, never pin your whole faith on any human being.” Is Lewis telling us never to trust
anybody?

Perfection

Is it possible to be perfect, as Christ told us to be? In what way(s)?

Niceness

“A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from
God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world – and might even be
more difficult to save.” Do you agree that “niceness” can make people more difficult to save?
How?

Gaining by losing

It’s one of Lewis’ main premises that in turning to Christ we become real personalities, and more
ourselves. Do you agree that in order to gain your life you must lose it? What does the losing
involve?

Your view

Did reading this book make you view what it means to be a Christian in a new light?
Specifically, how?

October 2012: The Hobbit or There and Back Again by JRR Tolkien

Overall

What were your thoughts in general? Are you planning on seeing the movie?

Trolls

Why is it important that Gandalf is not present when the expedition
meets the trolls?

Goblins

What does Tolkien tell us about Goblins?

Bilbo and Gollum

How are Bilbo and Gollum alike? What skills does Bilbo show in dealing
with Gollum?

The ring

Why doesn't Bilbo tell the dwarves about his ring?

Beorn

Discuss Beorn's character. Is he virtuous? Vicious?

Gandalf

Why is it necessary that Gandalf leave the expedition ?

Arkenstone

Why does Bilbo give up the Arkenstone? Why does he return to the Mountain?

Home again

What does Bilbo gain from his adventure? How does he feel about home upon his return?

September 2012: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Start of the journey

At the start of his journey, when Santiago asks a Gypsy woman to interpret his dream about a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids, she asks for one-tenth of the treasure in return. When Santiago asks the old man to show him the path to the treasure, the old man request one-tenth of his flock as "payment". Both payments represent a different price we have to pay to fulfill a dream; however, only one will yield a true result. Which payment represents false hope? Can you think of examples from your own life when you had to give up something to meet a goal and found the price too high?

Personal Legend

Paulo Coelho once said that alchemy is all about pursuing our spiritual quest in the physical world as it was given to us. It is the art of transmuting the reality into something sacred, of mixing the sacred and the profane. With this in mind, can you define your Personal Legend? At what time in your life were you first able to act on it? What was your "beginner's luck"? Did anything prevent you from following it to conclusion? Having read The Alchemist, do you know what inner resources you need to continue the journey?

Diversion

One of the first major diversions from Santiago's journey was the theft of his money in Tangier, which forced him into taking a menial job with the crystal merchant. There, Santiago learned many lessons on everything from the art of business to the art of patience. Of all these, which lessons were the most crucial to the pursuit of his Personal Legend?

The Crystal Merchant

When he talked about the pilgrimage to Mecca, the crystal merchant argued that having a dream is more important than fulfilling it, which is what Santaigo was trying to do. Do you agree with Santiago's rationale or the crystal merchant's?

The Englishman

The Englishman, whom Santiago meets when he joins the caravan to the Egyptian pyramids, is searching for "a universal language, understood by everybody." What is that language? According to the Englishman, what are the parallels between reading and alchemy? How does the Englishman's search for the alchemist compare to Santiago's search for a treasure? How did the Englishman and Santiago feel about each other?

The alchemist

The alchemist tells Santiago "you don't even have to understand the desert: all you have to do is to contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation". With this in mind, why do you think the alchemist chose to befriend Santiago, though he knew that the Englishman was the one looking for him? What is the meaning of two dead hawks and the falcon in the oasis? At one point the alchemist explains to Santiago the secret of successfully turning metal into gold. How does this process compare to finding a Personal Legend?

Why?

Why did Santiago have to go through the dangers of tribal wars on the outskirts of the oasis in order to reach the Pyramids? At the very end of the journey, why did the alchemist leave Santiago alone to complete it?

Treasures

Earlier in the story, the alchemist told Santiago "when you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed." At the end of the story, how did this simple lesson save Santiago's life? How did it lead him back to the treasure he was looking for?

August 2012: The Gable Faces East by Anita Stansfield

overall thoughts

What are your thoughts of the book?

Love triangle

How did you feel about the love triangle? Did you feel that Jess and Alexis were fair to Richard? Or that he was really okay with it? Thoughts???

Convenient Deaths

I have said before that some of her books have convenient deaths- so the person can be with the other person they are meant to be with. Did you feel like it was natural?

Ending

How did you feel about the way the book ended?

July 2012: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Opinion

In her Introduction to this Modern Library edition, Anne Perry asks, “What is there in The Woman in White that transcends the change in culture from 1860 to the present, and beyond?” How would you answer this question?

Laura

 Laura is presented as an ideal of Victorian womanhood, obedient, respectful of social conventions, and willing to sacrifice her own wishes for others. How does her double, Anne Catherick, illuminate the dark side of that ideal?

Marian and Fosco

Why is Marian so mesmerized by Fosco, who she says "has interested me, has attracted me, has forced me to like him"? Why is Fosco able to see Marian, despite her physical unattractiveness, as a "magnificent creature"?

Narratives

The use of multiple narrators was one of Collins's favorite storytelling techniques. What qualities does each narrator bring to the story? How does each change our view of the characters? Could the story have been told from a single viewpoint, and if so, whose?

Genre

Wilkie Collins has been hailed as the creator of the “sensation novel”. Citing examples from The Woman in White, how would you define this Victorian literary genre?

Experiments

In his preface to the 1860 edition of The Woman in White, Collins wrote, “An experiment is attempted in this novel, which has not (so far as I know) been hitherto tried in fiction. The story…is told throughout by the characters of the book.” Was the experiment a success? What is gained and what is lost in telling the story exclusively through first person narratives?

Vivid portraits

Collins has been widely praised for his fully drawn portraits. Which characters stand out as the most vivid, and why?

Foreshadowing

Throughout the novel, how does Collins use premonitions, coincidences and dreams to foreshadow key events?

Mrs. Catherick

Why does Mrs. Catherick allow her own daughter to be placed in an insane asylum, and how does she justify her actions?

Weakness

In his concluding narrative, Count Fosco describes “thefirst and last weakness” of his life. What is the nature of Fosco’s self-described “deplorable and uncharacteristic fault”?

June 2012: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Puritan World

Hawthorne came from a long line of Puritans (one of his fore-fathers was a judge during the Salem witch trials), and Puritan beliefs about subjects like guilt, repression, original sin, and discipline inform the book on every level. What is your impression of how the Puritan worldview is taken up and treated by Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter?

the intro

Kathryn Harrison, in her introduction to this volume, asserts that Hester Prynne can be seen in many ways as the first great modern heroine in American literature. Do you agree?

Dimmesdale

Dimmesdale is in many ways as central a character as Hester in the novel; for you as a reader, is he equally important to the story?

A

The highly charged symbolism of The Scarlet Letter is one of its most distinctive features. Discuss the central symbol of the story- the scarlet letter itself. What does it signify? How does it function in the novel? How does its meaning change over time?

Adultery

Critics have sometimes disagreed about whether Hawthorne condones or condemns the adultery of Hester and Dimmesdale in the novel. Can either view be supported? Which do you feel is the case?

Roger

Describe and discuss the character of Roger Chillingworth in the novel. What does he represent in terms of the larger themes explored by the book?

Hester

How does Hester change over time in the novel- and how does she change in the eyes of the society around her?

The scaffold

The final scaffold scene brings the various themes, characters, and plot lines woven throughout the novel to a powerful conclusion. Describe your response to the scene.