Literary Ladies,
How was your reading this month?
This discussion will be more free-form so, feel free to raise questions and comments and discuss with the other members.
My number one question is thus: Do you think that Christine was right in going with Raoul, or do you think that she should have stayed with the Phantom?
Also, would you classify Erik as a true antagonist, or is he just the misunderstood protagonist? Just something to think about…
This is a book to ponder and I would love to hear your thought and questions.
I am so excited about this month, I can hardly contain myself!
The Phantom of the Opera is one of my favorite books of all time! Gaston Leroux perfectly combines little bits of mystery, humor, romance, horror, and adventure to make an absolutely incredible story.
Have fun this month, enjoy the book (I know that you will) and I can hardly wait to discuss it with you at the end of February!
You can purchase it from the LLDS store
Generally considered the first English sensation novel, The Woman in White features the remarkable heroine Marian Halcombe and her sleuthing partner, drawing master Walter Hartright, pitted against the diabolical team of Count Fosco and Sir Percival Glyde. A gripping tale of murder, intrigue, madness, and mistaken identity, Collins’s psychological thriller has never been out of print in the more than 140 years since its publication.
(From the publisher.)
I know that this was a busy month for many of you, with the holidays and all, but I hope that some of you took the time to read ‘The Woman in White’… it was certainly worth the time and effort!
As much as I would love to talk about the fabulous book all over again, you can read the majority of my thoughts on the book (and the movie version) here: http://www.literaryladies.com/2010/12/my-thoughts-on-the-woman-in-white-book-and-movie/
If you read ‘The Woman in White’ this month, please take a moment to share a quick thought or write several paragraphs. Whatever you have time for and what suits your fancy.
For those that are interested, here are the discussion questions for this book:
1. Laura is presented as an ideal of Victorian womanhood, obedient, respectful of social conventions, and willing to sacrifice her own wishes for others. How does her double, Anne Catherick, illuminate the dark side of that ideal?
2. Why is Marian so mesmerized by Fosco, who she says “has interested me, has attracted me, has forced me to like him”? Why is Fosco able to see Marian, despite her physical unattractiveness, as a “magnificent creature”?
3. One critic has suggested that Marian and Fosco might be considered the true protagonists of The Woman in White. (In many ways they are much closer to Collins’s own bohemian sensibilities than Hartright and Laura.) In what sense might this be true? How would you interpret the story’s conclusion— especially Marian and Fosco’s fate—in this light?
4. The use of multiple narrators was one of Collins’s favorite storytelling techniques. What qualities does each narrator bring to the story? How does each change our view of the characters? Could the story have been told from a single viewpoint, and if so, whose?
(This set of questions issued by Penguin Group USA)
The question or topic that I want to pose to you for discussion is this:
What are your thoughts on how Collins portrays women in ‘The Woman in White’? From Marion to Laura to Anne…
How does Collins paint them?
*No plot spoilers*
I finished reading this month’s book today and it was incredible. It was wonderful. For me, it started out rather slowly, but, towards the middle and end I could hardly bring myself to put it down.
I understood the book well, but, to reinforce the story in my mind, I rented and watched the movie version starring Tara Fitzgerald as Marion and Justine Waddel as Laura. I enjoyed in immensely, but they did change some vital parts of the story. In the book, Hartright describes Marion as being “ugly”, yet, in the movie, Tara Fitzgerald was anything but. The mystery and Sir Percival’s Secret were changed drastically, the book was much “cleaner” -to put it in that sense. The book has a “clean” story and they altered that in the movie by putting in some more risqué references.
As I said before, I watched the movie to help me to grasp a better understanding of the novel. Instead, it succeeded in confusing me thoroughly and I had to go back in the book and read passages over again. To me, the book was 100 times better! There were many differences in the movie that I haven’t mentioned including the fact that, in the book, Marion’s last name in Halcombe and in the movie, it is changed to Fairlie, the same as Laura’s.
 Marion (Tara Fitzgerald) and Laura (Justine Waddel)
 Walter Hartright (Andrew Lincoln) and Marion (Tara Fitzgerald)
I adored the length of the book because it gave me time to become emotionally involved with the characters. I don’t think that Wilkie Collins characterized his characters extremely well, so it took me a long time to connect with them. But, once I did, and had been with them for 600 pages, I was sorry to see the book end. In my opinion, the movie moved along much to quickly for you to feel anything for the characters.
Have any of you finished the book and/or seen the movie?
If so, how would you compare and contrast them?
One of the greatest mystery thrillers ever written, Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White was a phenomenal bestseller in the 1860s, achieving even greater success than works by Dickens, Collins’s friend and mentor. Full of surprise, intrigue, and suspense, this vastly entertaining novel continues to enthrall readers today.
The story begins with an eerie midnight encounter between artist Walter Hartright and a ghostly woman dressed all in white who seems desperate to share a dark secret. The next day Hartright, engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie and her half sister, tells his pupils about the strange events of the previous evening. Determined to learn all they can about the mysterious woman in white, the three soon find themselves drawn into a chilling vortex of crime, poison, kidnapping, and international intrigue.
Masterfully constructed, The Woman in White is dominated by two of the finest creations in all Victorian fiction—Marion Halcombe, dark, mannish, yet irresistibly fascinating, and Count Fosco, the sinister and flamboyant “Napoleon of Crime.”
(From Amazon.com, the Barnes and Noble edition of the book.)
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As a word to all of you: The Woman in White is a very long book and it has a rather slow beginning. I’ve currently read 200 of its 600 pages and I’m just really starting to enjoy the story. I know that December it a busy month for many of you, but, if you decide to participate this month, don’t give up too soon! This book is fascinating and well-worth your time.
Happy December and Happy Reading!
I’m only a few days late on this one! *smiles*
So… did you all get to read the fabulous ‘Mysterious Benedict Society’? I had never read it before this month and I finished it in less than three days… I loved it!
I was able to do some research and I found these questions to help prompt your thoughts (You can also comment with ANY aspect of the book that you either liked or disliked, the questions are just there for fun.) I plan on answering some of them too, but probably after my mom, dad, and new sister get back from China…  Until then, I’m swamped.
Discussion Questions:
1. Mr. Benedict recruits children who are all alone in the world. Why? Is it a good reason, or a bad one?
2. Reynie says he doesn’t like television. Do you believe him? How do YOU feel about television? What kinds of messages really do come through TV, radio, and movies? Are they usually positive or negative?
3. Why is it so important for the Society to stay together and work as a team? Even though Constance seems to be a burden at times, what does she bring to the mission?
4. This book shows kids living very independently. For instance, before Mr. Benedict found them, Constance was living in a city library, Kate had joined the circus, and Sticky stowed away on a river barge. Do you think it’s really possible for kids to live like that? Do you think kids should be allowed such independence? Would you like to live on your own? What would you do?
5. At The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened (L.I.V.E.), the children in the Mysterious Benedict Society are taught that there are no rules. What is ironic about this statement? Is there any truth to it?
6. There are several ranks at LI.V.E., including Executives and Messengers. What are the benefits of being an Executive? A Messenger? How do the kids serving in these roles differ from the members of the Mysterious Benedict Society? How are they the same?
7. What is the Whisperer? Why does it make the Messengers feel so good about themselves? Why are Reynie and Sticky so terrified to become Messengers? Are their fears founded?
8. Ledroptha Curtain and Mr. Benedict are both men guided by very strong beliefs that are very different — in what ways are
they similar? Do you think that they could ever work together? Why?
9. Which of the four members of the Mysterious Benedict Society do you think has the best skill? Why?
10. What is YOUR special skill? What role would you play in the Mysterious Benedict Society?
11. How has the Mysterious Benedict Society helped each member grow? What do you think will happen to each of them in the future?
For some fun, check out the Curiosity Chronicle- the book’s official website… it has games, downloads, and other oddities
ARE YOU A GIFTED CHILD Looking for special opportunities?
When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear listener, can test your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.
As our heroes face physical and mental trials beyond their wildest imaginations, they have no choice but to turn to each other for support. But with their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all?
Welcome to the mysterious benedict society.
(From Barnes and Noble)
To purchase this book (from Amazon) please go HERE or visit the Literary Ladies Store.
And Then There Were None by Lèrowen on Polyvore.com
The above collage was made by our new member Lerowen… I think that it is positively wonderful!
Anyway, sorry I’m a few days late everyone! I’ve got my chemistry final exam on Tuesday and I’ve been swamped with studying!
How did you all enjoy this month’s book? I’ve talked to some of you and it sounds like this was a popular one! (It’s one of my favorite books!  )
Anyway, I look forward to hearing your thoughts, and, if it suits your fancy, to reading and joining in discussion around the following questions OR whatever caught your interest.
(PLEASE note: You don’t need to fill out answers to all of the questions unless you want to. Just read through them and pick something that you feel like sharing or discussing further. It’s up to you and there are no rules about how much you can share- or how little. *smiles*)
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First, there were ten – a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they’re unwilling to reveal – and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion…
Reading Group Guide Questions
1. Who is telling the story of And Then There Were None? What effect did the tone, voice, or language employed by the narrator have on you (i.e., it was frightening)? Explain.
2. What is a motive? (Distinguish between the words motive and motivation.) What motives, if any, did each of the ten guests have for committing these horrible murders?
3. Did you “see it coming”? If not, before you read the “Manuscript Document,” what did you think explained the murders? If you were asked to rewrite the story’s conclusion, which character would you make the murderer and what would see as his/her motive?
4. Which one of the killings depicted in the novel seemed especially accurate or believable to you, and which one seemed especially incredible or fantastic? How would you rewrite the former murder so that it is less realistic, or the latter so that it is less farfetched?
5. Discuss the depiction of group psychology in this novel. Are there any scenes where events or ideas are altered or influenced by how the characters interact with one another? Also, does the dynamic of group psychology in this novel strike you as realistic, frenzied, contrived, simplified, or otherwise?
6. Think a bit more about how this story is told, especially its remarkable plot. What are the inherent problems a storyteller might encounter in killing off all of his or her main characters one by one? And what are the problems an author might face in basing his or her plot on a familiar nursery rhyme? How does Christie successfully avoid these problems, or if you think she fails, how so?
7. Were there moments when you as a reader thought the characters were acting in ways such as you yourself would have acted? If so, explain.
If not, how and why would you have behaved differently?
8. Though there isn’t a real “main character,” Vera Claythorne is one of the more fully developed ones (if only because she lives longer). What do you think of the way that she dies and do you think it is consistent with her character up until that point?
9. The effect of guilt emerges as one of the major underlying themes in the book. Based on your own experience, how accurately does Christie portray the different human responses?
10. Talk about the idea of “justice” in the mystery. Did people “get what they deserved,” or were any of the characters punished unfairly? Does “just behavior” (i.e., Warfield punishing the others for their prior actions) mean that you are a “good” person? Why or why not?
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CHRISTIE ON “And Then There Were None”
And Then There Were None is one of the most carefully planned of Christie’s mysteries; she herself considered the plot “near-impossible.”
“It was so difficult to do that the idea had fascinated me…I wrote the book after a tremendous amount of planning, and I was pleased with what I had made of it.”—Agatha Christie: An Autobiography, 1977.
The rhyme comes from a Victorian music hall show song written by Frank Green in 1869, an adaptation in itself of the American comic song, Ten Little Indians, written by Septimus Winner, published in 1868.
© 2006 Agatha Christie Ltd, A Chorion Company. All rights reserved.
“Somehow, that was the most frightening thing of all…”
- Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None, Ch. 5
Get ready for ‘And Then There Were None’ by Agatha Christie- Literary Ladies’ book for the month of June!
In the novel, ten people, who have previously been complicit in the deaths of others but have escaped notice and/or punishment, are tricked into coming onto an island. Even though the guests are the only people on the island, they are all mysteriously murdered one by one, in a manner paralleling, inexorably and sometimes grotesquely, the old nursery rhyme, “Ten Little Indians”… It is Agatha Christie’s best-selling novel with 100 million sales to date, making it the world’s best-selling mystery and the seventh most popular book of all time.
-From Wikipedia
You can purchase the book from Amazon by following this link: And Then There Were None
Sorry this is slightly late, all! I still hope that many of you were able to finish reading the beautiful novel ‘Jane Eyre’ this month and will be ready to partake in this discussion.
For those of you who participated in the ‘Emma’ discussion, this time I wanted to try something a little bit different. This time, instead of posting pre-written discussion questions, I’d like to give you think chance to come up with discussion questions of your own.
What interested you? Who was your favorite character? Why? What personality traits or quirks stood out to you? Is there something about the language itself that you found particularly striking?
It’s up to you. The possibilities are endless.
Personally, I adored ‘Jane Eyre’, but I won’t say anymore here, and I’ll post it in the discussion area like I should… I’ve very excited to here the thoughts of all of you lovely Literary Ladies!
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