ANA Book Club?

[msmaggie]

I read Hunger Games last year and enjoyed it.  Someone in my book group recently gave me a copy of The Help to read, but I found it to be a very painful reminder of living in tobacco country in N.C. during the early 60's.  I was in high school when it was integrated for the first time, and I remember only too well the designated drinking fountains and segregated restaurants in town.  I also remember being labeled a n*****-lover because I refused to agree with their racist policies.  Not a fun time in my young life, as I recall.  Reading the book was difficult.
Priscilla

[leapyrtwins]

Monday works for me.

[Soundy]

after the struggle to get Rain finished I am about 2/3 through Hunger Games  ... what can I say ... nothing good on TV at 3 this morning when I woke up and had no good reason to run to Walmart  ... I am not sure there is a good reason to visit Walmart at 3 ... but I do it quite often

Monday is good for me

My dad was raised in Mobile and had some bad experiences , which in his mind made all people of color the enemy ...he would have been in trouble had he not been in the army and away from the area at the worst of the 60s ... we were in Alaska from 62-68 and then in Los Angeles from 68-73 and watched things from a far  ... he told me once that if I had lived in Mobile I would have been dead in a ditch ...Oh well better dead in a ditch than a racist ... I try to raise my kids that way which is sometimes a challenge living in Pulaski , known as the birth place of the KKK ... some things die hard in the south and racism is one of them ... it is alive and well here ... we need a vaccine ...

Have the Help here somewhere and  need to re-read it ... have another book that is similar to it ... these topics may be painful but I think need revisiting ...grrrrrrrrr trying to make a point that I have lost ... I have a thought rattling around in my head but it isn't typing well ...

[leapyrtwins]

I, too, am 2/3 of the way through the Hunger Games.

I'm finding it very good reading.

Thanks to whomever suggested it 

And did someone say there was a sequel?

Jan

[Kaybo]

YES - the sequel is already out and the 3rd one is due (I think) in August...Addi will know.  So great to not have to look for the book...well, except for in Addi's room!! 

K   

[saralynn143]

Do we have a king/queen to begin the discussion?

Sara

[cindyj]

You can put the crown on, Sara

Cindy

[Kaybo]

agree

[saralynn143]

I'm game. I'll start with asking about the AHA moment that several of us mentioned. I'm wondering whether it is the same one or perhaps there were more because I thought there was a LOT of foreshadowing in the book. Mine was that Philip would kill Endo-san, specifically with the sword that Endo-san presented him.

Sara

[Kaybo]

I was wondering what the AHA was for everyone too.  I didn't really have an AHA - I have had a few other things on my mind lately!   

K   

[Soundy]

I felt early on , as in the first 20 pages or so , that Phillip would be somehow a traitor through association with Endo-san ... I felt he was being a spy of sorts or rather accessory to a spy ...what made me think this was the pictures in Endo-san's house on the island ... the feel they gave Phillip ...the way he described them made me think they were observation photos not for pleasure

I also thought that eventually Phillip would have to kill Endo-san and the sword would be the way he would do so

I also thought Endo-san played on Phillips issolation(emotional) from his family along with the fact he was physically alone aside from a few servants ... he filled a void in Phillips life

[msmaggie]

I could tell early on that Endo-san was using Philip.  I guessed that he was a spy because he took too many pictures and asked too many questions.  Like you , Soundy, I felt that he was "grooming" Philip by forging a very close relationship that served to isolate him from his family.
Priscilla

[leapyrtwins]

So here's my question.

If you were in Philip's shoes, would you have turned traitor also in order to save your family?

Or would you have followed his sister's thinking that nothing was worth betraying your country?

Jan

[msmaggie]

I will jump in.  I think that Philip did what he did for possibly a couple of reasons.  He never felt like he was a part of the family because he was the only Eurasian child, and then his father started paying attention to him.  He may have been discovering what it felt like to be a contributing member of the family instead of just an onlooker.. He may have felt a new connection that he wanted to preserve, no matter the cost.  On the other hand, he may have done it out of guilt that he had not previously made that much of an effort to be an active part of the family.  I think he discovered, too late, how much he really loved his family and made the only choice he could.  I am not totally sure what choice I would have made, but since I am a mother, I probably would have done whatever it took to protect my loved ones.

[msmaggie]

I know I had a more coherent answer in my head at some point, but this is the end of a 12 hour day and coherent thoughts are in short supply!
Priscilla