Literature and Language June Book Club Questions

Attention: This post is over 2 years old and the information may be out of date.Attention: This post is over 2 years old and the information may be out of date.

The Literature and Language Book Club will meet from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, June 20 in Room 3N-6 at Harold Washington Library Center to discuss People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.

Here are some discussion questions from litlovers.com to consider as you read:

  1. When Hanna implores Ozren to solicit a second opinion on Alia's condition, he becomes angry and tells her, "Not every story has a happy ending." (p. 37). To what extent do you believe that their perspectives on tragedy and death are cultural? To what extent are they personal?
  2. Isak tells Mordechai, "At least the pigeon does no harm. The hawk lives at the expense of other creatures that dwell in the desert." (p.50). If you were Lola, would you have left the safety of your known life and gone to Palestine? Is it better to live as a pigeon or a hawk? Or is there an alternative?
  3. When Father Vistorni asks Rabbi Judah Ayreh to warn the printer that the church disapproves of one of their recently published texts, Ayreh tells him, "better you do it than to have us so intellectually enslaved that we do it for you." (p.156). Do you agree or disagree with his argument? With the way he handled Vistorni's request?