For those of you that haven't or couldn't attend book club lately, we'll be publishing the previous months' discussion questions here. I hope eventually to post discussion questions for all of the books we've covered since I took over a couple of years ago and beyond, all the way to the beginning over a decade and a half ago. It will take a while. Until then, we will be posting discussion questions on a weekly basis. Here are the questions from a 2013 title, The Human Comedy. We hope these questions spark discussions of your own.
The Human Comedy
by William Saroyan
Summary:
The inspiration for the major motion picture Ithaca, directed by and starring Meg Ryan—with a cast that includes Sam Shepard, Hamish Linklater, Alex Neustaedter, Jack Quaid, and Tom Hanks
The place is Ithaca, in California's San Joaquin Valley. The time is World War II. The family is the Macauley's—a mother, sister, and three brothers whose struggles and dreams reflect those of America's second-generation immigrants. . . . In particular, fourteen-year-old Homer, determined to become one of the fastest telegraph messengers in the West, finds himself caught between reality and illusion as delivering his messages of wartime death, love, and money brings him face-to-face with human emotion at its most naked and raw.
Gentle, poignant and richly autobiographical, this delightful novel shows us the boy becoming the man in a world that even in the midst of war, appears sweeter, safer and more livable than out own.
Discussion Questions
Why do you think the author refer so often in narration to Homer as "the messenger", rather than by his name or by another term?
What do you think is the significance of the old man's story of the rabbits in chapter nine?
What do you think is meant by the author making the immigrant Mr. Ara the more compassionate and wise of the two shopkeepers, with Mr. Covington oriented more toward money and prestige?
What do you think are the metaphoric implications of the title of chapter twenty-two, "Let There be Light"? In other words, what "light" do you think comes into existence in this chapter?
What did you think the book was about?
Did you feel that the book fulfilled your expectations? Were you disappointed?
Did the author seem to appear in the book? How? Why? Was the presence of the author disruptive? Or did it seem appropriate/fitting?
Did you enjoy the book? Why? Why not?
How did the book compare to other books by the author (or other books in the same genre)?
What about the plot? Did it pull you in; or did you feel you had to force yourself to read the book?
How realistic was the characterization? Would you want to meet any of the characters? Did you like them? Hate them?
Did the actions of the characters seem plausible? Why? Why not?
If one (or more) of the characters made a choice that had moral implications, would you have made the same decision? Why? Why not?
How does the setting figure into the book? Is the setting a character? Does it come to life? Did you feel you were experiencing the time and place in which the book was set?
How would the book have been different if it had taken place in a different time or place?
What are some of the book's themes? How important were they?
How are the book's images symbolically significant? Do the images help to develop the plot, or help to define characters?
Did the book end the way you expected?
Would you recommend this book to other readers? To your close friend?