AVFTGS: Chapters 1 (Found Objects) through 7 (A to B)

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Please use this thread for discussion of Chapters 1 through 7 of A VIsit From the Goon Squad.

[Melissa_W Moderator]

What do you think of the title in relation to Sasha's "habit" - she doesn't have anything in her apartment that is "found" (unless you count Alex).

[Fozzie]

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Melissa_W wrote:

What do you think of the title in relation to Sasha's "habit" - she doesn't have anything in her apartment that is "found" (unless you count Alex).

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Ironic, isn't it?  I could argue that the little girl's scarf is a found object since it had fallen to the ground, but, rather than return it, Sasha had kept it.

I am curious to find out what triggered Sasha's problem.  On page 8, reference is made to her father:

More than once, Coz had tried to connect the plumber to Sasha's father, who had disappeared when she was six.  She was careful not to indulge this line of thinking.  "I don't remember him," she told Coz.  "I have nothing to say."  She did this for Coz's protection and her own --- they were writing a story of redemption, of fresh beginnings and second chances.  But in that direction lay only sorrow. 

Were you as shocked as I was when the owner of the wallet from the purse in the bathroom agreed to leave the matter just between she and Sasha?!  The wallet owner must have seen something in Sasha to realize her sincerity.

[Melissa_W Moderator]

I was reading a little on kleptomania (which is seems Sasha might have) and I feel like the things Sasha takes might be considered "found objects" to her, no matter that the compusion had her steal them.  She "found" them and they came home with her.

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Fozzie wrote:

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Melissa_W wrote:

What do you think of the title in relation to Sasha's "habit" - she doesn't have anything in her apartment that is "found" (unless you count Alex).

---

Ironic, isn't it?  I could argue that the little girl's scarf is a found object since it had fallen to the ground, but, rather than return it, Sasha had kept it.

I am curious to find out what triggered Sasha's problem.  On page 8, reference is made to her father:

More than once, Coz had tried to connect the plumber to Sasha's father, who had disappeared when she was six.  She was careful not to indulge this line of thinking.  "I don't remember him," she told Coz.  "I have nothing to say."  She did this for Coz's protection and her own --- they were writing a story of redemption, of fresh beginnings and second chances.  But in that direction lay only sorrow. 

Were you as shocked as I was when the owner of the wallet from the purse in the bathroom agreed to leave the matter just between she and Sasha?!  The wallet owner must have seen something in Sasha to realize her sincerity.

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[Fozzie]

I have finished this section of the reading and have a couple of thoughts:

After reading the first two chapters of the book, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, based on the characters and the stories about them.  However, I find that I do like the book a lot, despite the characters and their stories.

Did anyone else have trouble figuring out who was narrating each chapter?  I had to look for information in the text.  I could not tell by the voice and read until I figured out who it was, and then went back to the start of the chapter to reread.

I found one reference to the tile on page127: 

Bosco:  “Time’s a goon, right?  Isn’t that the expression?”

Jules had drifted over from across the room.  “I’ve never heard that,” he said.  “’Time is a goon?’”

I’ve never heard that expression either.  However, this section of the book depicts the characters at many different times in their lives and their thoughts include some contemplation of how time has affected people and relationships.  Maybe the goon squad is a group of people from your past who remind you of a certain time in your life.  We’ll see how that holds up over the rest of the book.

[Peppermill]

Sorry I haven't been here, guys.

I did enjoy most of this book a couple of months ago, now I need to reread and get back with the program, because I really am interested in the discussion on this one!

goon:  Etymology: partly short for English dialect gooney simpleton, variant of gony, gawney; partly after Alice the Goon, a subhuman creature appearing in the comic strip Thimble Theatre by E. C. Segar died 1938 American cartoonist
1 : a man hired (as by a racketeer) to terrorize or eliminate opponents : THUG, HATCHET MAN
2 slang a : a dull or unattractive person lacking conversational ability, esprit, or other social graces <I'm mad about my Fine Arts prof ... I know he's a goon, but I can't help it -- Herman Wouk> b : DOPE, SAP, BOOB  <don't be a goon ... don't be positively medieval -- Catherine Hutter>

"goon." Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (26 Mar. 2012).

[Peppermill]

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Melissa_W wrote:

I was reading a little on kleptomania (which is seems Sasha might have) and I feel like the things Sasha takes might be considered "found objects" to her, no matter that the compusion had her steal them.  She "found" them and they came home with her.

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Fozzie wrote:

---

Melissa_W wrote:

What do you think of the title in relation to Sasha's "habit" - she doesn't have anything in her apartment that is "found" (unless you count Alex).

---

Ironic, isn't it?  I could argue that the little girl's scarf is a found object since it had fallen to the ground, but, rather than return it, Sasha had kept it.

I am curious to find out what triggered Sasha's problem.  On page 8, reference is made to her father:

More than once, Coz had tried to connect the plumber to Sasha's father, who had disappeared when she was six.  She was careful not to indulge this line of thinking.  "I don't remember him," she told Coz.  "I have nothing to say."  She did this for Coz's protection and her own --- they were writing a story of redemption, of fresh beginnings and second chances.  But in that direction lay only sorrow. 

Were you as shocked as I was when the owner of the wallet from the purse in the bathroom agreed to leave the matter just between she and Sasha?!  The wallet owner must have seen something in Sasha to realize her sincerity.

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Sasha seemed to have a way about herself of "seducing" people?   I don't remember how her kleptomania and attraction to "found" objects fits into the rest of the story, but will have to revisit.

This is a book that did strike me as worthy of a revisiting, at least in part because I certainly didn't entirely the first time through -- although there is a chunk, including the powerpoint presentation that I really haven't read.

[Fozzie]

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Peppermill wrote:

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Sasha seemed to have a way about herself of "seducing" people?   I don't remember how her kleptomania and attraction to "found" objects fits into the rest of the story, but will have to revisit.

This is a book that did strike me as worthy of a revisiting, at least in part because I certainly didn't entirely the first time through -- although there is a chunk, including the powerpoint presentation that I really haven't read.

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Now that you mention it, I don't think the kleptomania was much a part of the rest of the book.  It seems to me there was one time when it did, but I don't recall it specifically.  I think the kleptomania provides a framework for Sasha and her personality.

Do read the Powerpoint section!  It ties a lot of the book together and is very clever.