The Writing Circle: First Impressions

[NikiGunn]

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

Switching perspectives don't bother me. Some of these changes are jarring but that isn't always a bad thing. I haven't really wanted to stay with characters longer, except maybe Paul.

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?

So far Nancy seems to be the main character but that's only because it feels like we've spent more time with her. Plus, she's new to the group so naturally a new reader would identify more with Nancy.

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

I don't really like anyone or am interested in anyone yet. I think I actually dislike all of them so far. Of course, I dislike some well loved characters in other works, so it isn't necessary for me to like the characters. This might have something to do with the shifting character focus from chapter to chapter.

Whose chapter is most surprising for you?

It surprised me that Gillian would sleep with Adam. Even though he got rid of the mouse and returned her work, it doesn't seem like that would be enough to allow him to stay after invading her sanctuary.

@Sunltcloud -- I carry my Nook everywhere with me, too.

[Sunltcloud]

NikiGunn,

I agree with you about Gillian. Why would somebody who is trying to get away from everything be so agreeable to a "sleep-over" by a relative stranger? I didn't see any signs of her being attracted to him. It just doesn't make sense. The mouse incident doesn't make sense either. A woman who goes to a place that is so isolated would have to have some kind of determination to be self-reliant. A dead mouse seems like a minor incident to me. What about a prowler?  A storm that knocks out all the lights? A tree falling on the roof. Did the dead mouse shake her up so much that she sleeps with Adam to say "thank you?"

I ride a trike (old lady's bike) and today I packed my lunch, put on my backpack - my nook inside - rode to the park and read for two hours. After I finished the next assignment in "The Writing Circle" I read a chapter of "Eat, Pray, Love" that I had downloaded to see if I would like the book, and then switched over to a free (google book) travel memoir about Corfu in preparation for a cruise. Before I went home I began "Stones into Schools" which I had actually paid for and had downloaded a couple of months ago. That's what I like most about my nook; I can read different things without taking three or four books along.

NikiGunn wrote:

It surprised me that Gillian would sleep with Adam. Even though he got rid of the mouse and returned her work, it doesn't seem like that would be enough to allow him to stay after invading her sanctuary.

@Sunltcloud -- I carry my Nook everywhere with me, too.

[Melissa_W Moderator]

LoL, I knit and read with my nook at the same time sometimes, too

Sunltcloud wrote:

Well, does that mean that it is time for nook? My nook is always in my purse and I read wherever and whenever I have to wait (unless I knit,  and many times I do both.)

thewanderingjew wrote:

I am actually enjoying the book on my laptop, much to my surprise. This is probably due to the fact that this book is an easy, pleasant and engaging read so far. I have finally sorted out how to highlight and/or make notes so I can access the notes. Actually, I discovered that you don't have to click on highlight. You just select annotations after you highlight the selection and then write away! Still, a hard copy would be more accessible since it could go everywhere with me and my laptop does not!

[candeny6]

After re-reading the preface and short story at the beginning of this book, you can plainly see that the house where the man was watching from the window could only be Gillians cottage.  I'm not positive that the two stories are connected to each other.....I think that the character driving the car with no headlights could have been the young doctor in the past because it does state that he put his headlights on, and at some point had neglected to do in the past.

While the Preface and short story are intriguing, as others had noted, I don't feel that it made a particularly strong impression on my expectations of the book after reading the small snippets.  I had forgotten about the truck and the woman before I got to chapter 2, and I was still hooked on the book.

[pen21]

Sunltcloud wrote:

Well, does that mean that it is time for nook? My nook is always in my purse and I read wherever and whenever I have to wait (unless I knit,  and many times I do both.)

thewanderingjew wrote:

I am actually enjoying the book on my laptop, much to my surprise. This is probably due to the fact that this book is an easy, pleasant and engaging read so far. I have finally sorted out how to highlight and/or make notes so I can access the notes. Actually, I discovered that you don't have to click on highlight. You just select annotations after you highlight the selection and then write away! Still, a hard copy would be more accessible since it could go everywhere with me and my laptop does not!

thewanderingjew,

Yes, I think you are saying you need a nook. The handwriting is on the wall. Everyone on the island should have one.

pen21

[dhaupt]

pen21 wrote:

Sunltcloud wrote:

Well, does that mean that it is time for nook? My nook is always in my purse and I read wherever and whenever I have to wait (unless I knit,  and many times I do both.)

thewanderingjew wrote:

I am actually enjoying the book on my laptop, much to my surprise. This is probably due to the fact that this book is an easy, pleasant and engaging read so far. I have finally sorted out how to highlight and/or make notes so I can access the notes. Actually, I discovered that you don't have to click on highlight. You just select annotations after you highlight the selection and then write away! Still, a hard copy would be more accessible since it could go everywhere with me and my laptop does not!

thewanderingjew,

Yes, I think you are saying you need a nook. The handwriting is on the wall. Everyone on the island should have one.

pen21

Well my dears it's on my wish list, but I'll either have to win the lottery or the price will have to come down a little first. I have requested it for major gift giving, so maybe my family will get the hint, but then probably not, they're the type you have to hit hints over the head with. But for now I can just dream and continue reading on my desktop.

[pen21]

dhaupt wrote:

pen21 wrote:

Sunltcloud wrote:

Well, does that mean that it is time for nook? My nook is always in my purse and I read wherever and whenever I have to wait (unless I knit,  and many times I do both.)

thewanderingjew wrote:

I am actually enjoying the book on my laptop, much to my surprise. This is probably due to the fact that this book is an easy, pleasant and engaging read so far. I have finally sorted out how to highlight and/or make notes so I can access the notes. Actually, I discovered that you don't have to click on highlight. You just select annotations after you highlight the selection and then write away! Still, a hard copy would be more accessible since it could go everywhere with me and my laptop does not!

thewanderingjew,

Yes, I think you are saying you need a nook. The handwriting is on the wall. Everyone on the island should have one.

pen21

Well my dears it's on my wish list, but I'll either have to win the lottery or the price will have to come down a little first. I have requested it for major gift giving, so maybe my family will get the hint, but then probably not, they're the type you have to hit hints over the head with. But for now I can just dream and continue reading on my desktop.

Debbie,

You have to work on the kids. My son and his wife surprised me with one (combination Christmas and Birthday and whatever). It was much more than expected. I wasn't too sure  about it to start with. But I love it. If you want help, I could help email and regular mail hints to them.

pen21

[Katy_Beth]

Like I said in the other thread about the first section I really liked the preface and then sort of lost interest in the characters and their lives.  Going right now to try and keep reading for the next deadline. 

[roxikringle]

NikiGunn wrote:

It surprised me that Gillian would sleep with Adam. Even though he got rid of the mouse and returned her work, it doesn't seem like that would be enough to allow him to stay after invading her sanctuary.

I'm always surprised by how quickly people end up in bed together in books. I think that chapter says quite a bit about Gillian's narcissism, that she would hop into bed so quickly and without remorse, as well as Adam's naiveté. While Gillian saw the cottage at her sanctuary, and not to be disturbed, it is a place that is shrouded. I thought the line, "The idea of a view not seen, of something known about but denied was more interesting than an open view." (p. 49) described not only the property, but Gillian's character as well.

I know all the chapters open up the characters, but after reading some of the chapters I was wondering why that particular information was important and where it was taking the story.

[nymazz]

Rachel-K wrote:

What do you make of the early piece of a story we are given at the opening of the novel?

I thought it was very interesting and I 'assume' it will come to play further along in the book.

I was immediately curious about what happened to the doctor after he left the hospital, and how the baby's death continued to affect him later on, did he continue his medical career. 

Whose story might this be, and what does it lead you think might happen with it?

I think this could be Nancys story about her father.  She wants to tell his story, its very important to her, and maybe it has something to do with what happened to him after that night, His grief was so strong he said he couldn't function as he needed to to go on as a doctor. I think when he left the hospital that night he never returned.

[thewanderingjew]

No, I am not ready for a Nook yet. I already bought a Kindle for my husband and he hasn't even used it since the holidays. He has returned to using hard copies. It is too expensive to take the purchase lightly so it will have to wait. One impractical purchase is enough for awhile.

Sunltcloud wrote:

Well, does that mean that it is time for nook? My nook is always in my purse and I read wherever and whenever I have to wait (unless I knit,  and many times I do both.)

thewanderingjew wrote:

I am actually enjoying the book on my laptop, much to my surprise. This is probably due to the fact that this book is an easy, pleasant and engaging read so far. I have finally sorted out how to highlight and/or make notes so I can access the notes. Actually, I discovered that you don't have to click on highlight. You just select annotations after you highlight the selection and then write away! Still, a hard copy would be more accessible since it could go everywhere with me and my laptop does not!

[alegremama]

I agree with you KEMFL. The beginning is confusing. I also lost interest in the characters and their lives.  The novel starts by bringing you into a mystery and then it just jumps into talking about these people. As you keep on reading you start to understand a little more what is going on.

What threw me for a loop was finally reading that the part about the couple with the dead baby in the hospital was just a story or "memory" about Nancy's father.

I really enjoyed the author's comment about nobody naming their daughters "Nancy" anymore....

My name just happens to be Nancy...

[Cycling_Chef]

I read the preface a few times because it was short and to make a mental note of the story the author is laying out. While reading I keep wondering which of the characters will be in the supposed "accident."

[KimberlyH]

The two short pieces opened the novel for me with questions about how these stories relate with and fit into the novel. This quickly pulled me into the story. The first half of this book was heavy on character and plot development. There was not much beyond daily life. This could loss a reader’s interest very fast - especially one as flippant as I can be without action. However, the character development was wonderful. There are people in my life that I have put into these roles and are currently doing unpaid acting jobs in my mind. They just seem to fit so perfect. I even fit one role (not telling).

I have not placed the “house on a hillside” story with its author yet. This is working from the assumption that it is one of the writings from a Leopardi Circle member.

The doctor and dead baby story reads to be from Nancy’s novel about her father. That was an easy link to make, but the piece takes too noteworthy of a place at the beginning of the book to be just the start of Nancy’s novel.

[Bonnie824]

I loved the idea of a writing circle and of having an ex married couple be members of the group. I found it kind of odd that one of the writers was a poet, as I usually think of them as having their own seperate critique groups.

The group, though, once I started reading, did not seem supportive or fun. I couldn't understand why they stayed together as none of them seemed to really enjoy each other or each other's writing.

[GuzziAlfa]

Kimberly - what a "novel" concept that the writing is Nancy's novel - this time without quotes.  I had not thought about that at all and your post just give me the hmmm, response.  I think you're on to something there.  Thanks for posting that.

John S.

[EiLvReedn]

What do you make of the early piece of a story we are given at the opening of the novel?

I was thinking boy amatuer writer! and hoped this wasn't the "real" story or book. Now that I've read on I realize it was Nancy's novel.

Whose story might this be, and what does it lead you think might happen with it?

I think the story is regarding Nancy's Dad.

[Goodword]

Yes, I also had the "amateur writer" thought about that section.  I can't quite put my finger on it, but I had the impression the author was trying too hard.  Once I realized it was Nancy's novel, it made sense. 

[DPHampton]

I opening story was captivating. I didn't know where it truly fit in until I got further into the book. I felt the earlier chapters were a little slow after that opening chapter but I was motivated to continue.

[midgefrazel]

What do you make of the early piece of a story we are given at the opening of the novel?

I had to go back and re-read the opening as once I was reading the following chapters, I'd forgotten all about it. Another book that I read had a similar start. It was the Memory Keeper's Daughter.