Book Selections

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

September Book Selection Follow-Up


Every Day
We had a great first meeting with a lot of good discussion about Every Day.  The opinion about the book was not unanimous, which always makes things interesting.  Several people submitted questions, so I've posted the questions that were drawn out the hat for you to ponder:

1.My morals, values and sense of self have always been highly influenced by my family.  How cold A develop a sense of morals, values and acceptable behavior without a constant single family presence?

2. Why do you think A fell in love with Rhiannon over everyone else?

3. What do you think about the "gift" that A gave Rhiannon at the end of the book?

4. We're never given any clue to A's gender and gender roles are a significant theme in this book.  What might the author's purpose be for including them in a YA book?

5. Is A human?  What does it mean to be human?

6. How did A develop his convictions and values?  Why would these be important to follow?

7. How fulfilling would life be if relationships and goals could not continue past 24 hours? Could life feel meaningful without long term goals and accomplishments?

The discussion included questions about A's behavior.  Was he a victim?  Were the people A inhabited victims?  Many people in the group disagreed with what A did at the end for Rhiannon (see questions 3) and felt is was a little heavy handed. While everyone agreed that A started to behave recklessly by following Rhiannon around, regardless of the person A was inhabiting, some felt that it made A seem more flawed and realistic.  Others thought it made A seem like a stalker. 

In examining A's rules and values, there was some discussion about the stability that the rules provided to A in an existence that seemed to have no discernible purpose.  One interesting  point was that A's exposure to a variety of religions and cultures might have also shaped the rules and values that A lived by.  A's online life was also brought up.  Why didn't A have more of an online existence?  Why not a twitter account? 

We had a wide range of opinions on this book:

Kathryn was not a fan and you can read her review here.

Kate loved it, and you can read her review here.


1 comment:

  1. Unfortunately I missed the meeting today. Hopefully I can make it next month.
    It looks like from the questions there was some interesting discussion. Question #1 is a good one. Where did A develop his sense of right and wrong without out constant and consistent influence? I guess that is a nature vs nurture argument. I thought along the lines of question #7 while reading the book as well. A had no life of his own so there wasn't a purpose, just existences.
    Overall I really enjoyed the book. Good pick. Can't wait to see what's up next.

    ReplyDelete