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Deb Grabetz
Support Team
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Posted: Mon Sep 29th, 2008 20:46 |
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1. Chapter 33 - 37: Did you find WJs revelation and the sort of resolution it brought about to be believable? Satisfying? Anything else?
Geez, I am such a sucker for seeing the good in people that I really believed WJ was sincere. Yeah, I know not always the smartest to think from the heart....!
2. "Why do you think Novalee decides to help WJ when she learns of his plight?"
Novalee has certainly matured, so I would say she went to help WJ because of the kind of person she is and that he is Americus father. I'm sure she had forgiven him long ago for what he did, abandoning her...maybe not forgot but had forgiven. So, it would be just like her to find compassion for his plight and try to make things as right as possible in her eyes. Boy, was I getting nervous though that she was going to offer to stay with that little Weasel after her expeience with Forney.....and sending him away with her *lie*.!!!!
3. "Why do you think Billie Letts chose Novalee, an uneducated, pregnant seventeen year old as her main character?"
Oh gosh, I peeked at the notes at the end of the book, so I'll have to pass!
4. "The theme of 'home' runs throught this novel. Would you characterize home as a place, a family, a state of mind, or as Sister Husband says, a place 'where your history begins?'"
I have always felt that "home" was about the people who lived there. I once read a wonderful story that I'd like to share that has always symbolized this for me. If anyone reads Daily Guideposts stories, this one came from that book many years ago.
The writer talks about her grandmother who lived in Ireland and how she would love to visit from the U.S. as a child. Her grandmother passed away and the writer pined for her grandmothers home. She was so sad when the home was sold and thought about it to the point that it was not a pleasant memory for many years. So, she decided at some point to take one of her children there to see her grandmothers old home.
They arrive in Ireland and the owner is kind enough to allow her in-- It is then, as the writer tells it, that she realized all this time she had pined for this "home" and once inside discovered that it was her grandmother that made it so special. The house was just a house--now inhabited by its new owner...and she still had her beloved memories of her grandmother! I've always loved that story!
5. "How did you feel when novalee spurned Forney? Did you believe they would ultimately end up together?"
Well, you have to admit, written any other way would have been predictable, boring and a love story...but I had a feeling that it was just leading into another chapter with a better ending. That is, until the WJ chapter, Billie had me going. Any of you??
6. "Do you believe that difference in education and social class matter in a relationship, and what do you think makes it possible to bridge such differences? Or do you believe that people with similar backgrounds tend to be better matched?"
Wow, I guess this could get pretty political so I will proceed with caution. In terms of compatibility I would say that similar backgrounds might make it easier in a relationship but there again, it depends on the two people. Social class it seems to me would be a big factor, maybe not at first but in the long haul of things...but remember how Novalee perceived herself and who she really was were two different things, which is most of what I took away from this book. I have always believed and have tried to teach my children that we can be and do anything we put our minds to....!
Claire, I would again like to thank you for such a wonderful start up to the book group. You are a great role model for any who choose to take on the task of club moderator! Thank you for your time and diligence! Deb
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Sarcoidosis/lungs, lymph,liver, GI, neuro, D12542, Ph17/07, MPh2 9/07, B12, cover up, NoIRs,return to work after 2 years off- 4/07D2511
5/09 D25<4
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Aussie Barb
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Posted: Tue Sep 30th, 2008 03:14 |
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| Thank you Claire and to all who have contributed to this thread. While I am unable to actually read the book, I have enjoyed reading your inputs one at a time. all best, Barb ...
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Barb: Dx Inflammatory Disease Endocrine Imbalance 2003| 24+ years not Dx| Cut D/exp July04| NoIR Aug04 Comm Beni| Sept05 off Thyroxine| CLICK ABCofMP
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eClaire
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| Joined: | Mon Sep 25th, 2006 |
| Location: | Virginia USA |
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Posted: Tue Sep 30th, 2008 08:33 |
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1. Chapter 33 - 37: Did you find WJs revelation and the sort of resolution it brought about to be believable? Satisfying? Anything else?
Well, I've heard that people when at the end of their lives often do a lot of spiritual work (and some do not), and it was clear that that one event--his being asked to feel his baby's heartbeat and lying about it--had stayed with him and bothered him for whatever reason. I think it natural when facing the end of one's life to salvage anything good even if it is only one thing.
2. "Why do you think Novalee decides to help WJ when she learns of his plight?"
Novalee was totally correct to be suspicious of WJs motivations and had he not been on his death bed (the problem with his liver was key), she'd had been better to leave well enough alone. However, like others have said, Novalee did what she thought was right and not necessarily what WJ had earned. Grace is not like that and Novalee showed true grace in the situation. Others had shown her grace and she was able to spread some around herself.
3. "Why do you think Billie Letts chose Novalee, an uneducated, pregnant seventeen year old as her main character?"
I think that Novalee represented a good vehicle to demonstrate what is possible when we open ourselves to life and the experiences that come our way instead of shutting down when things get tough. There are plenty of people when faced with adversity who allow it to drag them under and others who use whatever small kindnesses as a rope ladder out of a difficult situation. Not saying that all people who find themselves without boots (i.e., have no boot straps with which to pull themselves up with) even get the sort of helping hands that Novalee encounters in this story, but there are some who do and yet become so busy focusing on the loss, the bad hand they were dealt, or playing the victim that they lose sight of the blessings gracing their lives.
4. "The theme of 'home' runs throught this novel. Would you characterize home as a place, a family, a state of mind, or as Sister Husband says, a place 'where your history begins?'"
Home for me is mainly a state of mind. Surely there are places (as in geography) that feel more like home to me: mountains, bluestone growing up out of the fields, chicory growing at the sides of the road. However, I was raised by a mother who referred to N. Ireland as home and that became a mythic place in my childhood and I must confess that when I am there, I feel that I am home. Also, being with someone I love, someone whom I believe loves me, I feel as if I were home and that could be anywhere on the planet, as for me home is really where the heart is.
5. "How did you feel when novalee spurned Forney? Did you believe they would ultimately end up together?"
I felt like Novalee was being very foolhardy attempting to make Forney's decisions for him. That was not her place. Afraid as she was that he'd take a job at the plastic plant, she could have said that she couldn't marry him if he resorted to that, that she couldn't stand by and watch him turn into all the folk she had seen at that plant. She could have said she thought he might want to attend college (she was after all and had also been able to support Lexie and her five children). She had a lot of options before her and so somewhere inside of herself she must not have thought of herself not worthy of any sacrifice that she imagined Forney might have made in order to be with her...and that was only her imagination talking.
6. "Do you believe that difference in education and social class matter in a relationship, and what do you think makes it possible to bridge such differences? Or do you believe that people with similar backgrounds tend to be better matched?"
Research shows that it does. Do I believe it? Well, all of my partners have come from similar socio-economic backgrounds and religious backgrounds and I can't tell you that I've seen the benefit. Educationally, I've had more education than just one, but all three felt that I was smarter even when such assessments meant nothing to me and even annoyed me when pointed out. Perhaps next time out I'll look for someone like myself who does not place a lot of stock on her partner's IQ, who sees it as incidental to who the person is. My experience has made me think that as a culture we've (our schools and families perhaps) have done a lot of damage when it comes to people's perceptions of themselves and their abilities, which run the gamut from people believing they are not creative, they are unable to draw, they can't sing, etc. Life is too short to be held back by messages we got in our youth. Who cares if you can't sing, if you enjoy it, let 'er rip.
7. As a homeless person longing for a home, Novalee's image of home is heavily influenced by the images she sees in magazines. How influenced are we all by portrayals of home and home life in the media, movies, and on televison?
My mother always made a comfortable and attractive home when I as growing up with little money. As crazy as our house was, it felt warm when you walked in the door. It was obvious to me that my mother had a talent for design and color as compared to my friends' parents. So except for televised design sets that were beyond our finances, the outside world did not hold a lot of influence on me about the way a home ought to look.
What did influence me was the way a home ought to be. Shows where parents actually spoke to their children when they were hurt or disappointed instead of yelling at them shaped for me the idea that yelling and screaming were unnecessary elements to homelife, and over time made my mother wonder what sort of alien she had given birth to and why I didn't buy into the screaming and name callling and eventual making up period where all the heart wrentching wounds were covered with bandaids and foregiven. I thank God for the example of rational discourse that I learned from watching television, for the vision of something better that it presented to me.
8. Anything you'd like to point out about the book or what you thought or were reminded of that you have yet to share?
I loved that Novalee was able to demonstrate how life could be if you remain open to life and what it has to over and to not letting setbacks be something that holds you back. Every moment in life can present a lesson to build upon and Novalee demonstrated that.
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42mo on MP; CFS FMS MCS COPD hypermob IBS/GERD osteopor; 125D48 25D<4;
NoIRs during most daylight outings; Ph1.Dec06 * ModPh2.Jun07 * AbxBrk.Mar-May08
* Ph2.Oct-Nov08 * Ph1.Jan09 * Olm.alone.Jun10
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