On the Edge of the Loch: A Psychological Novel set in Ireland (46 page)

Suggested Discussion Points

Let’s not be stuffy about this; it doesn’t matter very much where or how you begin a book discussion. The most important thing you can do is express your views, then be willing to listen and learn from others. And keep in mind that it’s not about another person’s opinion being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.

Saying what kind of story it is, is a good place to start, and what genre you feel it belongs in. Then perhaps commenting on the structure, settings, time period, the main characters and their goals and relationships, etc.

Or, begin with exploring broader aspects of the novel, such as the impression or effect the story had on you. You decide: work with my suggestions below or develop your own approach. And remember, you’ll encourage others if you begin with questions rather than opinions.

THE STORY AND THE WRITING

• What are two or three themes in this book that stood out for you? (Themes are important ideas that repeat in the story.)
  
• How is the story structured (chronology, tense, narrative, style, etc)?
  
• Which character or characters are most responsible for driving the plot?
  
• What is clearly different about this story from other books you can compare it with?
  
• How would you categorise this novel (in which section does it belong in a library)?
  
• What did you discover or learn from reading this book? Identify three things.
  
• What recurring metaphors did you notice, and how did you interpret them? (A metaphor is a word or phrase used to stand for something else. For example, a mountain might represent a challenge).
  
• Why do you think the author used flashback chapters?
  
• What did you notice about the dialog, how people talk?
  
• What did you learn or feel about the geographic cultures featured: Arizona, Aranroe, Baghdad, Dublin, prison, etc?
  
• Could you picture Aranroe village? Claire Abbey? Mweelrea? Intinn Island? Rock Cottage? Devil’s Cove? Finger Rock? The water scenes? Yablonski’s prison office? The Amiriya shelter? What was easiest to visualise?
  
• What stood out particularly about village life in Aranroe?
  
• Could you see the characters, how they looked and dressed and moved? If so, why was that?
  
• How do Tony, Lenny, Cilla and Aidan compare? Do they have traits in common? Elaborate.
  
• Which character was easiest to picture, and which was hardest?
  
• Tony’s was the only mind you were allowed to see into directly: his self-talk, memories, dreams, fears, hopes, ravings, mental stability, etc. With all other characters you were asked to try understand them based on what they did and said, or what someone, accurately or inaccurately, said about them. How did this contribute to the story?
  
• Did sound help you experience particular scenes? If so, pick out one. For example, could you hear the ocean and storm? The sliding steel door of Yablonski’s prison office? The train station? The sound of footsteps?
  
• Significant events in Tony’s and Lenny’s pasts are not revealed until later in the story. How did this affect your experience of the book?
  
• What similarities, if any, did you find between particular pairs of characters? For example, Emer and Tony? Tony and Leo? Emer and Cilla? Gussie and Tony? Aidan and Liam Foley, or any other pairs?
  
• What specific emotions did reading the story arouse in you?
  
• Which character did you care most about?
  
• Which character caused you most negative feelings? Identify the feelings and say why?
  
• Was Róisín’s suicide justified, given her grave illness? Why do you think as you do?
  
• Was anyone else responsible, even partly, for Róisín’s suicide? Why do you think as you do?
  
• In what way was Lenny’s childhood abnormal? What do you feel was lacking? Elaborate.
  
• Did one or more characters who did not actually appear in the book have a bearing on events? Elaborate.
  
• Is Liam Foley what you see as a typical cleric? If not, how is he different?
  
• How did you interpret the final chapter with Tony and Cilla? Did you notice anything ‘different’ about it? Should you re-read it?
  

THE MAIN CHARACTERS

Tony

• Why do you think Tony, at fourteen, was so disturbed by the idea of emigrating?
  
• What traits characterised Tony’s pre-prison period in Newark?
  
• How would you describe Tony’s personality?
  
• In your opinion, what drove Tony so hard?
  
• How would you describe Tony’s state of mind? (pick any stage or time period)
  
• What do you think was Tony’s most redeeming quality?
  
• Why did Tony seem afraid of intimacy?
  
• Which of Tony’s strengths might also have worked against him?
  
• What was Tony’s biggest weakness or flaw?
  
• Why was it that Tony found Cilla so attractive?
  
• Would you have made a friend of Tony. Why? Explain your answer.
  
• In what major ways did Tony and Aidan differ?
  
• Can you identify similarities between Tony and Aidan?
  
• Which character did Tony learn most from?
  
• How did Tony view Aidan?
  
• Which events in Ireland caused Tony, in his adult years, to grow as a person?
  
• Describe how and why Tony’s thinking in relation to his mission changed late in the story?
  
• Did Tony sacrifice his dream to allow Aidan to recapture the love he, Aidan, had lost? Explain.
  
• Where did Tony ‘end up’?
  

Lenny

• What factors or events had the biggest bearing on how Lenny saw the world?
  
• How would you describe Lenny’s behaviour as an adult? (pick any stage or period)
  
• What did Lenny want most in life? If you feel this changed along the way, please explain.
  
• What reasons caused Lenny to want to escape Aranroe?
  
• Why did Lenny get into so much trouble as a child in school?
  
• Why was the relationship between Charles and Lenny so problematic?
  
• Lenny and Tony made a perfect couple: what do you think?
  
• Looking at Lenny’s whole life, who let her down most?
  
• How did you view the friendship between Lenny and Emer?
  
• How would you characterise the relationship between Lenny and Cilla?
  
• Why was Lenny eager to abandon everything in New York and go to Iraq with Aidan?
  
• Who was Lenny’s best friend(s)? Give reasons for your answer.
  
• What qualities did you admire most in Lenny? Explain.
  
• Why were people generally so loyal to Lenny?
  
• Given that Aidan was ‘dead’, why did Lenny keep visiting the train station?
  
• Why do you think Lenny acted the way she did toward those closest to her?
  
• What was Lenny’s biggest flaw or weakness (pick any stage or time period)?
  
• What was Lenny’s strongest trait?
  
• How would you characterise Lenny’s mental state (pick any stage or period)?
  

Cilla

• How would you describe Cilla to someone who never met her?
  
• What feelings did you have for Cilla?
  
• What did you admire most or dislike most about Cilla?
  
• What do you think Cilla found hardest about living in Aranroe?
  
• What do you think would be Cilla’s idea of an ideal life?
  
• What were Cilla’s strongest traits?
  
• Why did Cilla project an air of independence and capability?
  
• At times Cilla seemed fearless; but what made her feel insecure?
  
• In what significant ways did Cilla and Lenny differ from each other?
  
• Did Cilla have a closeness with anyone apart from Tony?
  
• What changed about Cilla when she had drunk a few glasses of wine?
  
• What was it that made Cilla’s attraction to Tony so problematic for her?
  
• What action or scene revealed most about Cilla?
  
• Did you see Cilla as an outsider in her village? Explain your view.
  
• Despite conflicting objectives, Cilla and Tony got along well. Why was this?
  
• What drove Cilla to risk her life more than once? Foolishness? Bravery? Or some other trait?
  
• Cilla sometimes seemed like a simple country girl. Did you see her that way?
  
• What do you imagine Cilla would have done if she and Tony hadn’t met?
  

Aidan

• How would you describe Aidan to someone who hadn’t met him?
  
• In what way did Aidan differ from other main or secondary characters?
  
• How would you explain Aidan’s life in Dublin?
  
• Were particular traits lacking in Aidan? Explain.
  
• Was Aidan justified in giving up on Lenny?
  
• What strengths did you see in Aidan?
  
• What was Aidan’s greatest flaw?
  
• What psychological factors caused Aidan and Lenny to fall in love in New York?
  
• What needs did Aidan and Lenny have that made their connection so strong?
  
• What values motivated Aidan most in life?
  
• How would you describe Aidan’s decline from who he had been in New York and prior to that?
  
• How would you have advised Aidan in his Dublin period, before he and Tony met?
  
• Did you consider Aidan brave? Explain?
  
• Did you see Aidan as naive or compassionate, or either? Explain.
  
• How do you think Aidan viewed Tony?
  
• Did you see Aidan as a misfit?
  
• What was it about Aidan that you feel impressed or affected Tony most?
  
• Were Aidan and Lenny opposites or similar? Explain your view.
  

SECONDARY AND MINOR CHARACTERS

(Secondary characters can affect the direction of the story; minor characters rarely do)

• How did you feel about the female characters: Eva Kohler? Kate? Róisín? Emer? Peggy? Eilis? Siobhan? Caitriona? Mairead? Etc.
  
• How did you feel about the male characters: Old William? Charles Quin? Ravarro? Paddy? Fr Coy? Liam Foley? Leo? Tom Quilty? Gussie? Dermot? Fogo? Larry? Etc.
  
• Which secondary characters did you find most interesting or likeable? Select two and say why.
  
• Which two secondary or minor characters did you dislike most? Say why.
  
• How did Paddy, Liam and Leo differ from each other, and what did they have in common?
  
• Did one minor character intrigue you more than others? Explain.
  
• Was there a minor character you’d have liked to see more of in the story? If so, explain.
  

MISCELLANEOUS ‘IF’ QUESTIONS

• If you could invite any four of the characters to dinner together, who would you choose? Why?
  
• If you could interview one of the characters, who would you choose? Why?
  
• If you were shipwrecked, which character would you wish to have with you? Why?
  
•  If you needed advice about life or achieving a big goal, which character would you consult? Why?
  
• If you could choose just one of the characters as a friend, who would it be? Why?
  
• If you could discuss this book with author Joseph Éamon Cummins, what three questions would you ask?
  
• If you could discuss just one main character with the author, who would it be? Why?
  
• If you could discuss just one secondary or minor character with the author, who would it be? Why?
   
  

Final Note : AUTOBIOGRAPHY OR NOT?

Here’s my take on a particular question that arises at workshops and seminars, often from philosophy enthusiasts.

Occasionally I am asked if I believe that all fiction is, in a certain sense, autobiographical. It’s not a silly question. Writers are constantly recording impressions from their personal interactions with life. Some of these impressions are factual: the behaviour of the old guy on the bus, the passionate language of the hippie hiker. But even a whiff or a whisper can flower into utter fantasy, the human imagination at work. Consciously and unconsciously the storyteller works this mix of impressions into a coherent narrative soup. In this act of creation the events of a story can indeed be said to be experienced, felt, and lived through by the author. Therefore, some ask, isn’t this, by definition, autobiographical? The point can be argued, but until we agree a broader definition of ‘autobiographical’, I think no.

A REMINDER . . . REVIEW REQUEST

Now that you have read this far,
do
please take a few moments to post a review on Amazon.com or GoodReads.com. Your comments will be valued by literary fiction lovers all around the world and will help this novel reach interested readers.

Many thanks.

Joseph Éamon Cummins

Joseph Éamon Cummins