UB Libraries Book Group discussion

Hey All --
Just a reminder that the book group will be meeting in person on Tuesday, March 19th at noon in the sitting area outside the top level of the Student Union Theater.
Hope to see you there!

There were 4 of us who attended the in-person book discussion today. We missed those of you who could not make it!

Overall we liked Vox, although all agreed there was sort of a split in the book and that the second half was weaker than the first. We all liked the setting of the scene in the first part of the book, where the political/social culture limited women to speaking only 100 words a day. But then in the later part of the book, it was characterized as more of an action story and things were more rushed. It was noted that this was a pretty big cultural, educational, etc. shift in only one year's time.

Many of us were expecting or perhaps hoping for more of A Handmaid's Tale-like plot all the way through and we ended up discussing the Atwood book a bit too.

The effect on the various generations was noted and one attendee said she liked the plot line with Jean's son and the girl next door better than Jean's plot line. There was the effect experienced by Jean and her husband, by Jean's son, and then by Jean's daughter.

We also had a long discussion about the parallels existing between this story and the current political climate in the U.S. Apparently the author wrote this quickly in reaction to the results of the 2016 presidential election.

I hope I captured at least some of what was discussed. Please correct me as needed. And if you weren't able to meet with us, please discuss away! It was a thought-provoking work for sure.

I was so sorry to miss the in-person chat yesterday! I agree that the first half was much stronger; it felt ominous and well-paced to set the plot up but then the rush to the ending diluted the story for me. I felt like this was a really great concept for a story that I had been excited to read but could have been better executed. It makes sense to hear the author wrote this quickly.

I also agree that it was an enormous cultural shift in one year's time but one part did give me pause. The main character's activist roommate (whose name escapes me) was actively protesting and fighting other injustices before this one but too many people were just in their own world, never imagining the extent of the erosion of all kinds of rights. Very anxiety producing.

That part resonated with me also, Kath. We talked about how more people are actively participating and/or protesting since the 2016 presidential election. Some of us contact our congresspeople directly about issues, whether by phone or email. Some thought a phone call carried more weight in constituency tallies than an email -- does anyone know?

I feel like I've heard the same thing, about a phone call being more meaningful, Ellen, but don't know where I heard that.