The Writing Circle: Early Chapters (through Chris's first chapter)

[StewiesMom]

Deanne75 wrote: (in part)

  The characters I disliked immediately were Gillian and Adam.

I'm surprised that so many people dislike Adam.  I don't dislike him, I pity him.  He's immature.

[kpatton]

I'm probably one of many but the chapter that surpised me the most was Gillian's chapter.  I was surprised that she invited Adam in and let him spend the night.  I am still trying to figure out why she did that.  In so many ways she has appeared distant and in some ways superior to the others.  By letting Adam spend the night, she felt like she was opening up and being more vulnerable.  However the next morning when Adam left, she was again distant.

Kathy

[donelsonj]

I have found the book to be a little hard to get into. The "chapters" about each character and their writings are just starting to make sense, as I learn a little more about what makes each character click through their writings. I liked when, I believe it was Nancy, said that you can't write about characters that are smarter than the author. It made me look more closely at what each author was writing and what their characters were like.

I have found Nancy to be a central character as she seems to still be more on the outside looking in - describing what she "sees" and her take on everyone's interactions.

Gillian is my least favorite character so far, but I do not feel that I know enough about her yet to make a judgement. Her relationship with her stepson and his mother seem very selfish, as does her reactions and interactions with the Writing Circle.

Reading this on the Nook and the way the Chapters are organized makes it difficult to follow with the group outline as I'm not sure what chapter I'm on. I hope I do not give "away" anything.

The book is starting to become more interesting as I learn more information about each character and their lives outside the "circle".

[momofprecious1]

What effect does switching the perspective from chapter to chapter have on your reading? Which characters did you want to stay with longer? 

I'm not crazy about the switching of the characters in each chapter. I feel like when I'm getting to know that character & get interested in their story I'm interrupted & then forget all about them. I think I've learned the most about Nancy.

Is Nancy the "main" character for you? If you feel she is, what do we gain or lose by not sticking only with her perspective to this point in the novel?

Yes, Nancy is the main character & like I mentioned about I think I'm losing interest because of the change of character in each chapter.

Whose chapter is most surprising for you?

Definitely the chapter about Adam & Gillian.

[MelissaW]

I've had a hard time reading this book so far because of how the chapters switch from one character to the next.  I realize that each chapter is introducing us to the specific character and maybe giving us some background on other characters, but overall, I've found it hard to keep everything organized in my mind about the story.

I thought that Nancy was the "main" character of the book, but the way that the characters are the focus of the chapters has made it hard for me to follow her story.  I'm hoping that once we are done with the introduction of the members of the Leopardi Circle, the story will focus more on Nancy and will be easier to follow.

[crazyakchick]

violetangel wrote:

Gah!  I went rounds about symbolism with my playwriting instructor!  

Why does everything have to mean something???  Sometimes a mattress salesman is just a mattress salesman (or in my case a cell phone on a table is just a cell phone on a table)!!!

Sometimes I think people (occasionally myself included, but less so after being accused of symbolism where there was none), particularly in book discussion groups tend to ascribe meaning to every little thing when in reality sometimes things just are what they are.  

(Not fussing at you in particular SunItCloud!    Your mattress salesman thing just happened to be the most recent.  No offense meant!)

i don't know about anyone else, but i find i read differently for a book club.  really, if we didn't know we would be discussing this book, would we even care what virginia's husband did for a living?

[thewanderingjew]

Probably not, or if it occurred to us, we wouldn't think too much about it! The book club makes makes the book more interesting.

crazyakchick wrote:

i don't know about anyone else, but i find i read differently for a book club.  really, if we didn't know we would be discussing this book, would we even care what virginia's husband did for a living?

[violetangel]

Ah, but see, not everything is put somewhere for some ulterior or unspoken motive.

In the case of the cell phone on the table, the character had been on the phone earlier and I didn't script her to go into the house to take it back inside.  Because she was enjoying having her morning diet Coke while sitting on the porch watching the ocean - and it would have been more movement than necessary.  Not for any other reason than that.

Sometimes things really are JUST what they appear to be.

DiniB wrote:

violetangel wrote:

Gah!  I went rounds about symbolism with my playwriting instructor!  

Why does everything have to mean something???  Sometimes a mattress salesman is just a mattress salesman (or in my case a cell phone on a table is just a cell phone on a table)!!!

I used to feel this way.  However, I feel authors make very deliberate choices.  Virginia used to be married to a self-absorbed biographer.  Now her husband is a mattress salesman who has a degree in history.  Nice juxtaposition to Bernard.

So, cell phone on a table.  Without context, I can think of a couple of scenarios.  Isolation...abandonment...foreshadowing of bad things to come because the lines of communication have been disconnected and left behind?  If it has no meaning, then why add the detail? 

I studied art history.  A still life of fruit or a flower arrangement is not really a picture of fruit or flowers.  It is a reminder of mortality, death and decay. 

[roxikringle]

Perspective switching is usually not a problem for me and adds to the richness of the story. I had a hard time figuring out who was important and why I would want to care for any character.  Each character is given equal weight in the early chapters, but are they all equal? Is this is a story about the writing circle or relationships of the circle or the changing dynamics of circle? I didn't get the answer until close to the end when I finally sorted out who was important and driving the story and who were supporting characters.

I would describe the home lives of the characters as detailed and shallow. It helps explain what happens later, the choices they make and the loyalties they form. The detail in the early chapters is beautifully written, but it doesn't leave me caring any more for any of the characters or help me sort out where the story is headed.

[donna128]

What effect does switching the perspective from chapter to chapter have on your reading? Which characters did you want to stay with longer?

While the book switches perspective from chapter to chapter, I find that the story is written more as a narrative.  With the switching of perspective from chapter to chapter, I find it easier to transition if the book is written in the "first person" as opposted to narrative.

What effect does switching the perspective from chapter to chapter have on your reading? Which characters did you want to stay with longer?

I am not relating to the people in the Circle itself.  At this point, if I had to choose, I think I would say Paul, Gillian's step son.

What effect does switching the perspective from chapter to chapter have on your reading? Which characters did you want to stay with longer?

I think the book is a little disjointed and does not easily flow from chapter to chapter.  Perhaps this is because I have not yet bonded with each of the characters and I have to stop and recall each characters history before continuing.  This may not be an issues as I continue with the book.

Which characters do you take to immediately? Do you dislike anyone immediately?

I have taken an immediate liking to Virginia and Paul.  I have not taken an immediate dislike to anyone.

[DSaff]

Interesting thoughts, and they have made me think. Thanks 

StewiesMom wrote:

DSaff wrote:

Normally I don't have trouble switching perspectives, but that is because I can easily look back. Reading on the Nook makes that a lot more difficult, so I will be resorting more to handwritten notes for the next section. I would love to spend more time with Nancy in hopes of reading more of the story I think she is writing at the beginning.

Yes, I think Nancy is the main character of the book. It would be easier to see what she thinks of the others and the situations that come up if it were written from her point of view, but the story seems to be working as written. I like hearing how each character feels, what they think, about the events happening around them. I equate it with the movie, "Vantage Point."

The character I dislike the most right now is Gillian. She seems to be very high-brow and seems to look down on others. But, I will be interested to see what I think of her as I continue to read. Many times the ones we love to hate become more endearing as the story continues. However, we will see.  <grin>

Hi Donna,

I would like to disagree with your statement on Gillian.  I don't feel that she actually looks down on anyone.  She isn't aware of anyone else.   In order to look down on someone, she would have to be aware of them.  Don't get me wrong, I do not LIKE Gillian, instead I feel that she is so self absorbed that it doesn't even really enter her conscious that other people have feeling, worries, likes and/or dislikes.  Yes, I'm aware that she is in a writing circle with other people, but I don't think she connects with any of them.  The first scene where I began to develop this theory was when the reference to Nancy having met her twice before without realizing they had met the first time.  If I interpreted that passage correctly, Gillian didn't realize they had met the first time because she was unaware of Nancy being there.  

Maybe I am reading more into this, but I just wanted to share my opinion on this character. 

[LarryOnLI]

I consider myself fairly well read and well educated.

I've been using the dictionary lookup feature on my NOOK more than any book I can remember reading.

[literature]

I definitely read a book differently when I read it for a book club.  I'll read every word and take notes as opposed to casually reading the book.   I belong to three book clubs but my allegience is definitely to the FL one.  Whenever I see one of the FL books on display in a book store, I have to go over and touch it.   After all, I know every secret contained therein.

Literature

thewanderingjew wrote:

Probably not, or if it occurred to us, we wouldn't think too much about it! The book club makes makes the book more interesting.

crazyakchick wrote:

i don't know about anyone else, but i find i read differently for a book club.  really, if we didn't know we would be discussing this book, would we even care what virginia's husband did for a living?

[nikijulian]

What effect does switching the perspective from chapter to chapter have on your reading? Which characters did you want to stay with longer? 

I really love this format. it helps keep the book moving along and keeps me interested in a variety of characters. I will say that with so many characters I wish there was more written about all of them.

[maxcat]

I think the home lives of each character are different because if everyone had the same homelife, it would be boring. Nancy likes her work on the medical newsletter and she is living with Oates who travels. This probably is ideal for her in that she can work on her newsletter better when he is traveling. Gillian and Jerry and Paul have a different homelife in that bringing up a teen is not easy and Jerry works odd hours as a doctor. Gillian, whenever she needs time out to write poetry, goes to her cottage. This seems to be an ideal way of living for them. Virginia, I think is very happy with Joe. More so than when she was married to Bernard. Adam lives  with Kim, his girlfriend and we don't hear much about his homelife only because he wants to devote himself to writing and finishing a novel. Bernard is happy with Aimee although he does seem sad that she has redecorated their home in white. He used to like the wood panelling and he misses some objects as Aimee is a very contemporary woman with modern decor in mind. Chris lives  to see his two boys that Susan, his last wife, has custody of. He surrounds himself with writing his latest novel, part of a series he is doing.

[violetangel]

LarryOnLI wrote:

I consider myself fairly well read and well educated.

I've been using the dictionary lookup feature on my NOOK more than any book I can remember reading.

+1!!!  I so agree with this!!

[Muzby]

I do not like the switching from one character to another.  If it were just a few different characters I don't think it would bother me so much, but there are just so many!!  It is like you are watching TV and someone keeps changing the channel right as it starts to get good.  How am I supposed to care about any of them when you just get little snippets?

[thewanderingjew]

Since so many of the characters seem to have some kind of a distinct personality issue or even disorder, and a dysfunctional relationship in his /her family or past, I was wondering if the author did this deliberately. I thought that since a writer is more creative and often marches to the beat of his/her own drummer, perhaps she was trying to make each "exceptional" in his/her own way.

Did anyone else wonder about the reason for so many flawed characters?

[Muzby]

LarryOnLI wrote:

I consider myself fairly well read and well educated.

I've been using the dictionary lookup feature on my NOOK more than any book I can remember reading.

Same here!!  I felt like the author would pick a word she possibly felt was too "common" and then looked it up in a thesaurus to find a more obscure word.  It was very odd to me.

[StewiesMom]

I tried to use the look up feature, but find it more useful to have my American Heritage Collegiate Dictionary nearby.  However, I have had several other books (even books categorized as Young Adult) that I had to look up words more frequently.  I just love my dictionary, as it allows my vocabulary to grow!

LarryOnLI wrote:

I consider myself fairly well read and well educated.

I've been using the dictionary lookup feature on my NOOK more than any book I can remember reading.