Challenge: 50 Books discussion
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April Group Read: The Immortalists
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I've completed the first two sections (Simon and Klara), and am partway through Daniel, but I feel I can answer the first question now. (Apologies for all of my spoiler tags; I don't want to ruin the book for anyone who's still reading!)
Being the omniscient reader, I'm going to say that yes, their fates were preordained. It seems to me that (view spoiler). Therefore, yeah, their fates were preordained.
Now, we could say that (view spoiler) could have done something differently, but then we get into that whole Timeless/any-other-time-travel-reference-in-pop-culture question of whether fate will find you NO MATTER WHAT. And honestly, I kept waiting for a twist in that section that, like, that character *thought* they were going to die via so-and-so, but then they really died because of such-and-such. Surprise! Or because they specifically avoided so-and-so, they then got caught up in such-and-such instead, which had the same end result. For example, (view spoiler). Preordained.
Where I am in the book now, we know what happens to Simon and that Klara knows what happened to Simon and what the fortune teller's prediction for him was. It seems to me that could have influenced the way Klara lived her life. What I'm waiting to find out as I read Daniel's and Varya's sections is what they know about Klara, and if that influenced their lives.
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Sort of related to your question #4, I was surprised that it seemed as though each character fully believed the fortune teller's prediction. In a group of four people, wouldn't at least *one* of them be suspicious or disbelieve it? None of these characters' stories seemed to reflect that at all. Even with them being children (or young) when they heard the predictions and maybe being gullible or vulnerable at the time, as they grew, wouldn't at least *one* of them no longer believe it, or at least not believe it until others' predictions became true?
As for each sibling getting his or her own section, I really enjoyed the first two (Simon and Klara), not as much the third (Daniel), and the fourth (Varya) started really slow for me, but picked up about halfway. I don't know if that was because the first two siblings' stories were exciting and captured my attention, or because by the third section I was kind of tired of the story. And the fourth, I think was because I didn't like the way Daniel's section ended, and/or because I didn't like the premise of the beginning of Varya's story, and/or because I didn't like the twist her story took. What did others think about Varya's story? Was it just me that found it meh?
One thing I loved -- and sort of related to your question #5 -- was how Klara said she saw herself as a bridge between past generations and future generations, and then we see Ruby become a magician. It was sort of like, yes, Klara really did bridge the generations, not just passing on the family's genes, but also passing on the legacy of (female!) magicians. And then with Ruby becoming a magician, I could foresee *her* becoming that bridge between past generations (Klara Sr. and Klara Jr.) and then generations later from her (perhaps Ruby Jr.).
I'm curious to know what our nominator thought of this book and the questions you've brought up.
2. The novel takes place in very different settings --- 1960s New York City, the San Francisco dance scene, glitzy Las Vegas hotels. In what ways do these locations affect the characters? Why do you think all four of the siblings moved away from New York City?
3. THE IMMORTALISTS is narrated by the four siblings in separate sections. What was your reading experience when you switched sections? Did you identify more closely with certain siblings?
4. The power of belief --- whether it be magic, religious faith or storytelling --- is an important theme in the novel. How does belief affect each of the siblings? What is different or similar about the stories they tell themselves?
5. At its heart, THE IMMORTALISTS is a family love story, exploring both past and future generations of the Gold family. In what ways does family history shape us? What kind of legacies do the four siblings leave behind?