Weddingbee boards

Sorry it took me til late to post this! I got caught up in working on some NWR crafting that I've been meaning to do for some time! Anyway, on to the book.

I really enjoyed this one! I've had it for quite some time and just never sat down and read it. With that said, I feel that it's waay short. I managed the first half or so within about 2 1/2 hours. Really an odd way of viewing things portrayed in there. My book has a group discussion section in the back, so I'm pulling a few questions from there and a few of my own. I feel that this book reflects, at least in part, the story of Aeon Flux. The government has created sameness, everyone is controlled by an all-seeing government, and they live in an enclosed area that nobody has seen outside of.

1. In the book, each family has two parents, a son, and a daughter. The relationships are not biological but are developed through observation and a careful handling of personality. Do you think this fosters a certain distance between each family member that makes the group easier to control overall?
2. What do you think happened to the previous pick for Reciever of Memory?
3. In Jonas' community, every person and his or her experience are precisely the same. The climate is controlled, and competition has been eliminated in favor of a community in which everyone works only for the common good. What advantages might "Sameness" yield? Is the loss of diversity worthwhile?
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages in a community being so accepting of euthanasia?
5. Do you think other members of the community wanted to allow "the Stirrings" to continue as Jonas did? What do you think would happen if people suddenly decided to stop taking the pills?
6. What do you think would be the eventual effect of the breeders being picked for their proclivity to hard labor and not their intellegence or other features both physical and mental?

Feel free to post more questions that you'd like the group to discuss.

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1. I do think that separating the families in such a way makes them easier to control as nobody in the family is motivated by much of anything to protect their "family" members from the government and/or community. There is no love, no greed, no sexual tension, nothing holding the family together and keeping them from turning on each other if something happens.
2. The previous Reciever of Memory must not have been able to see red and feel the chill of snow. They must not have been willing or ready to find out how much more there is to the world.
3. "Sameness" would keep all types of discrimination away. The community could work in harmony with nothing truly between them. They have all been through much of the same thing and therefore have no need to fight over anything in their lives. As perfect as this sounds, it's not worth the loss overall. Without variety life loses much of its meaning. There is no true desire for anything. People tend to trod through life not knowing, not being enlightened as to what they could be, what they could do. The loss of individuality should be mourned not relished.
4. The advantage would lie in being able to put people with painful terminal illnesses "out of their misery" so to speak. They wouldn't have to spend months or years waiting to die while enduring horrible pain. Also, it's a form of natural selection at work by getting rid of the children that would hold a community such as this back. The disadvantage being that their is no fear of death and therefore life loses much of its meaning. Why bother with living a full life when death is so readily available.
5. I think there are a few who may possibly not taking the medication for the stirrings. I'm sure someone in the community was too embarrassed to say something when it came time to describe their feelings or dreams and therefore managed to eventually get around to not taking them forever. If the community stopped taking the pills, there would be chaos because none of them would be able to control their arousal.
6. Over time the group becomes more and more sheeplike as we are observing here. They are completely losing all ability to fight the government and to think for themselves. I wonder how the men are chosen.

Please tell me that someone else read the book.

Awe, Toffee, no one checked in with you!! I am not part of the book club, but I just wanted to let you know that I read The Giver a few years ago and thought is was amazing. It was very thought provoking! My FI actually recommended it to me, as he read it in school when he was young.

You questions are wonderful! I haven't read the book recently enough to answer them, but I hope the bookclub checks in soon :) I am currently reading "Crow Lake" by Mary Lawson and "Schindler's List"

I read the book last year. It was a good one, but these questions don't seem to be jogging my memory much :[ I'm sorry! I wish I could be of more help. Enjoy the rest of the book!

Is anyone still interested in me posting the second check-in or did nobody read it this time around? I thought it was an interesting book, but I can't decide if I really like it or not.

@Vallhalla That's the reason we bought it (and a bunch of others). It was recommended by my fiance who had read most of them when he was younger. Is Schindler's List anything like the movie?