Kate’s Comments (group member since Feb 02, 2013)

Kate’s comments from the DG Reads- Sailing Through Pages group.

Yay! Thanks!

In the previous incarnation of this group, we would have a book that was the book for that month and then questions posted about that book at beginning of the month (I think). Whenever you finished reading or wanted to comment, you could just comment and discuss online. I was only a participant, not an admin of it, so I'm not sure how they posted the original questions or anything.

Yes definitely!

I found it difficult to get into as well, but once I was into it I really wanted to finish!

3. Who was most loyal? At first I thought Roger was definitely the most loyal, but when I started thinking about, he tended to get caught up in his own feelings rather than what Mosey really wanted. Patti I really think was the most loyal because she does what is right for her friends. Big is really loyal too, though, She doesn't give up on Liza's rehabilitation and doesn't judge her when she knows that Liza stole Mosey; she doesn't treat Mosey any differently once she knows she's not really her granddaughter. It's a difficult question.

Not part of the questions, but did anyone else notice that some of the references weren't quite right? Mosey talks about Disney World and Big Ben, but Big wouldn't have been able to afford trips to Disney World and especially London. Also, being from the south I found some of the southern-isms a bit too much.

Nichole- I agree that you can go all out for your wedding and your good friends should definitely be happy to be involved! I think with the characters in the book, the issue is that maybe their not as good of friends as they think or they've simply just lost touch. Facebook does change a lot of things, because we all have Facebook friends that we haven't been truly close with for some time. But I saw that issue in much of the book. The characters seemed willing to marry or move for people when they rarely had (or at least described) feelings of love. There just not much evidence of real, loving relationships, friend or otherwise.

I agree with Nichole. I wasn't a huge fan of the book and didn't truly connect with any of the characters. There were moments I liked but they were few and far between. I can definitely understand getting tired of others' wedding mania, as I've been there myself.

I wasn't sure about the book when I first started it, but couldn't put it down and ended up enjoying it by the end. Not sure if I'll read the others, but on to the discussion!

I agree with Nichole - what keeps Zoe going is hope. Once she opens the letter, her worst fears could be realized and her purpose, her hope for any kind of future would be gone. Since Nick hadn't shown signs of being sick before he left, she could still hope that he was alright and keep going. Everyone else she had known and loved were gone. What choice did she have?

I'm gonna address the question about Irini and the Swiss living after they are apparently killed. While it does seem purely sensational on first glance, it helps to point out the lengths to which the disease has changed humanity. It brings up the question, yet again, of what humanity is if there's no apparent end to it? Part of what makes us human is that there's an end (sorry to be morbid) so we have to do what we can why we can. Would we lose that if, like the Swiss, we could seemingly never die?

And speaking of the disease, there was a question at the end concerning whether the experiments of Pope Pharmaceuticals were a criticism on science going too far, and I think that in many ways they are. Everything that brings on the end - the weather, genetic modifications - are things that the scientists in the book eventually realize they shouldn't have messed with without more understanding. I think it brings up the point that we don't understand the world like we think we do.