Bethlehem Public Library - Book Discussions discussion

November 1 we will meet on Zoom to discuss There There by Tommy Orange. Sign up here: https://bethlehem.librarycalendar.com...

I just listened to this brief commentary about the book: https://www.npr.org/2018/06/18/621011...
It points out some of the weaknesses of the book, but overall praises it. There is a related, also very short, feature on him and the book linked on the page: https://www.npr.org/2018/06/08/617604...

The publisher provides many questions for discussion. I will post only a few of them here:

Tony Loneman’s perspective both opens and closes There There. Why do you think Orange made this choice for the narrative? What does Loneman’s perspective reveal about the “Urban Indian” identity? About the landscape of Oakland?

For me, I felt like Tony was very lonely and not at ease in himself. He was filled with so much self-loathing that he had a hard time accepting the good things he was told by his grandmother and by his counselor at the Indian Center. Maybe he just had too much stacked against him, or maybe it was because he was still young and had yet to live through any transformative experiences. I think he attached himself to Octavio because Octavio opened up to him (even though he knew it was because Octavio was drunk), and then when Octavio helped him make money to give to Maxine and when Octavio was there for him when he needed things he became loyal. He was loyal, at the end, to those two sides of himself. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to rob the powwow and walked away. But the violence claimed him when he heard gunshots and saw that Charles and Carlos had turned on Octavio, and he started shooting.

On page 58, Opal’s mother tells her that she needs to honor her people “by living right, by telling our stories. [That] the world was made of stories, nothing else, and stories about stories.” How does this emphasis on storytelling function throughout There There? Consider the relationship between storytelling and power. How does storytelling allow for diverse narratives to emerge? What is the relationship between storytelling and historical memory?

Examine the structure of There There. Why do you think Orange chose to present his narrative using different voices and different perspectives? How do the interlude and the prologue help to bolster the themes of the narrative? What was the most surprising element of the novel to you? What was its moment of greatest impact?