Cat’s Comments (group member since Jan 03, 2018)

Cat’s comments from the EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club group.

Phil wrote: "Rachel wrote: "I'm enjoying it so far but, from what I've heard, I'm wondering how it became so well known - even so far as to become a "classic." Was there nothing else being written like this at ..."

Phil has a great response!

I just finished this last night (my first time as an adult, I previously had read it with my class in elementary school), and it definitely was a different experience. I remember as a kid, I was confused by the vocab but was inspired by Charles Wallace to open the dictionary to pick new words. I think the idea of children being smart and "heroes" to rescue the father/fight IT was really thrilling to me, especially because Meg (and even genius Charles Wallace) were flawed and very much children.

But man, I totally forgot how evocative the descriptions were. This was really a book that taught me to use my senses through words - I remember my teacher asking us to illustrate the characters (especially Aunt Beast!)

Stayed up late finishing this book (finally) - it feels like it took a while, but not in a bad way? I enjoyed the nostalgic tone of the book, and it made me a bit nostalgic for my school days too.

I guess I have two major questions/observations.

1. Really enjoyed the explanation (finally) from Madame and Ms. Emily, and I think it’s incredibly telling about the state of the world from her clear statement that it takes her a lot to not let her revulsion overcome her desire to do good... but even if they’re clones, why are they so revulsing? I just think that like, humans looking like humans (even or esp clones) would bring out empathy? But also how do you automatically know someone is a “student”, without looking at their records?

2. So Kathy is still a carer by the end of the book - is there a particular reason why people are caring long after they’ve expected to? Like I assume they would want donations once students are past a certain age, so it seems strange that Kathy has been able to outlive Ruth and tommy. Does this imply that she’s special or something, or just that she’s just a really good carer and it’s not her time to donate yet?

Is there any sort of reading schedule for this group/a certain number of pages to read before discussion, or just finishing the book and then discussing? Just downloaded the book last night and I'm excited to join in!