Month: September 2010
Genre: Fiction Literature:
Book of the Month: Finny
Author: Justin Kramon
Question source: http://justinkramon.com/ReadingGroupQuestions.html
Discussion Questions:
1. We live with Finny for more than two decades in the book, seeing her at some of her best and worst moments. In what ways would you say Finny changes over the course of the book? In what ways does she stay the same? Do you think she “grows up” in the course of the novel?
2. Who are your favorite characters in the novel? What did you like about them? What particular scenes or moments in the book made you feel an attachment to them? What traits did you admire or disapprove of in them?
3. Judith is a complicated and controversial figure in the novel. Immediately, when Finny meets her at the Thorndon boarding school, Finny acknowledges her beauty, and also that Judith was “more like a grown woman than a girl.” Throughout the novel, Finny is aware of Judith’s physicality: her hair, her clothing, her breasts. As you read, what conclusions did you reach about Judith and her beauty? Do you like Judith as a person? Do you feel sympathetic to her? In what ways would you say Finny was correct about Judith being old for her age? In what ways would you say Finny was mistaken? What changes occur in Judith’s character over the course of the novel?
4. The theme of families plays a large role in the book. We see Finny’s difficult relationship with her family in the opening of the book, and the way she creates a kind of substitute family for herself, pieced together from the various people she meets: Mr. Henckel, Poplan, Judith. Would you say that Finny’s feelings about her biological family change over the course of the book? Do you think she becomes more or less understanding of them? Also, do you think her feelings about family in general change? How so? How are her views on family influenced by her experiences with others? Her mother? Sylvan? Earl and Mona? Any other characters?
5. Another big theme in the book is romantic love. Early in the book, thinking of her love for Earl, Finny comes upon the realization that “this feeling, this endless, inconsolable longing, would forever be a part of her life, a part of what it meant to truly love...in the end she could never say whether it was good or bad.” How would you say that the ideas in this passage play out over the course of the book? Is Finny’s love for Earl a “good” thing? Or is it more complicated? What do you think the novel’s view of romantic love is? Compare this passage to the passages on love at the end of the novel.
6. Finny often feels misunderstood in the book. She has trouble explaining herself to her parents, but also to her high school principal, Mrs. Barksdale, and to the man who cuts her hair in Paris, and to the men she dates after she moves to Boston. Why do you think she so often feels this frustration about misunderstanding? What do you think the importance of misunderstanding is in the novel? Are there also experiences of feeling understood?
7. Would you say that the book is told from the point of view of an old or young person? Is the language at the beginning of the book different from the language toward the end of the book? Similar? In what ways?
8. How would you characterize the tone of the book? Light? Heavy? How would you say that the tone of the language affects the more emotional scenes in the novel?
9. Do you think the book takes an optimistic or pessimistic view of people?
10. How would you characterize the humor in the book? Is it light-hearted? Dark? What does the humor call attention to? For example, you might look at the scene in the funeral home, when the Haberdashers are exchanging sneezes. Why would the author choose to put a comic scene in the middle of such a tragic period in Finny’s life? Are there other comic scenes that support or contradict your thoughts about this scene?
11. In the first chapter of Book 3, “Finny Gets a Glimpse into the Lives of Her Friends,” we learn of a number of changes in the lives of all the major characters. Examine how the lives of Carter, Judith, Sylvan, and Finny change over the fifteen years that separate Book 2 and Book 3. How would you characterize these changes? What are the attitudes the different characters take toward the ways their lives have gone?
12. Finny’s date with Brad Miller ends in a way she couldn't have expected, and Finny is troubled by her own part in what happened: “She felt a rush of shame for how she’d acted. Like a horny teenager, she thought. So frivolous. It wasn’t that Finny objected to sex, even casual sex; it was just the fact of getting it in this childish way, all the drinking and pawing at each other, the bribe of a fancy meal.” Why do you think Finny reacts this way? Do you think she’s right? How does it compare to other sex scenes in the book – with Earl, for instance, or when Finny and Earl chase the thief into the “Maison des Faintasies” in Paris? Do you think the book takes a certain view of sex?
13. Compare Finny to other books you know about “growing up.” How is it similar or different? How is a book about a young woman’s coming of age different than a book about a man’s?
14. What do you think about a man writing a book entirely from the point of view of a woman? Is it possible for a writer to make this shift? Does Kramon capture the feeling of being a woman? Does he miss things? What do you think, in general, of fiction writers writing about people who aren’t like them, or events outside of their experience?
2 comments:
Questions:
1. In the course of the novel we see Finny change. Finny started out as rambunctious misunderstood rascal of a girl who challenge everyone around her with her sense of sarcasm. As she ages and is exposed to people very different from her, she’s becomes less of a nuisance, learns to adapt and to actually care about what others may think of her, she becomes less verbally offensive and more apt to understand the things she is afraid of and does not know. However, it is Finny’s very wit and love for Earl that seems to remain the same. Considering Finny’s youth to the time of an adult we can see that her character grows and develops into a mature responsible woman.
2. My favorite characters were Finny, Carter, and Poplan. I liked Finny because she was a strange girl I could relate to and I especially liked how she was always able to bring light upon a situation and relieve tension. However, I didn’t like her weakness when it came to Judith. I liked Carter because he of all the characters was the most hilarious, vivacious and honest character. I liked Poplan because she was odd, liked odd things and didn’t think twice about being herself around anyone; and by being so unique she was able to identify quirks in others and turn it into an appreciated characteristic.
3. Judith was also another vivacious character. However she had a lot of issues. She doesn’t seem to be capable of thinking of consequences that may befall her or the people she loves. Judith puts on a front for Finny because she likes how Finny admires her. Judith realizes she has a bedazzling effect on people and uses it to keep people from knowing how sad and confused she really is. As a young girl she knows a lot about life with respect to dysfunction of her own family but outside of that chaos she is unseasoned and dubious to the true pleasures of loving one’s self without the opinions of her parents and peers. Sadly to say this failure to “be her own person” becomes a burden for Judith. She allows the pressures of her mother to marry someone not befitting to consume her and as a result the stress becomes physical evidence…she begins to age faster than Finny.
4. Finny’s family was more concerned with appearances. Finny at the time didn’t understand why they were so uptight and couldn’t understand her view of the world. Finny always felt like the black sheep of the family so it is understandable how she pieces her family together as she is exposed to Poplan, Henckel, Earl and later Sylvan. Unlike Finny’s mother Poplan wanted to emotionally close were as Finny’s mother preferred to be emotionally distant. Unlike Finny’s father who rarely mentioned anything comforting or relative to Finny, Mr. Henckel from the very first day of their acquaintance continued revere and treat like a “dear” young lady. Earl was Finny first real friend and only true Love. Sylvan turns out being the only blood related connection to her with whom she shares a past, a future, moments of vulnerability and a close familial sibling relationship. It is when she is an adult and her parents have perished that Finny learns to understand her biological family.
5. Finny’s feelings in the beginning for Earl:
“This feeling, this endless, inconsolable longing, would forever be a part of her life, a part of what it meant to truly love...in the end she could never say whether it was good or bad.”
Finny’s Love for Earl is a bad thing. I believe the heart will continue to love even when the mind tells it not to. If the heart cannot express its passion then this lack of affection will cause the heart to ache thus harden the chest and wreck the mind only to inflict more pain (Very unhealthy). With that said this is what happens to Finny throughout her life. Each time they found each other but allowed either obstacles, decisions, or circumstances to take them in different directions. I think their love for one another was unnecessarily complicated and lacked fierceness. They kept sleeping on the opportunity to tailor their future and enacting on their feelings for one another. This drove me crazy! But I believe the reason why they were willing to let the other go was because they weren’t sure if the feelings they felt would last and this frightened them (the leap for love was too unknown).
Finny’s feelings in the end for Earl:
“To know all the sources of love would be like knowing every stream that has fed an ocean” – Justin Kramon ,“Finny”
With respect to the first passage Finny questions recognizing love and in this last passage she questions why she continues to love the one person who has brought her both unnecessary pain and true happiness. The conclusion is simply that loving someone has no map and no instructions, but is simply something innate that you will know and want to respond to despite what the past has revealed or what the future has yet to. Just leap and deal.
6. Finny has trouble of explaining herself becomes she fears the outcome. However, the one occurrence comes to mind when Finny cries and explains herself to so that Poplan may forgive her for betraying their friendship. Poplan comforts Finny and gives her advice about Judith and her intentions. Poplan mentions how Finny may feel about the things she was about to say about Judith because Poplan understood why Finny would even consider doing such a dare to please Judith.
7. This book was told in the view of a young person. The language in the beginning of the book is simpler whereas near the end it begins to get more complex. However the language at the beginning and the end of the book both hint of the future and occurrences and dispositions that are to be unveiled.
8. The tone of the book is light. The tone of the language tends to affect the more emotional scenes because the author becomes implements more personal and philosophical elements. So it is easier to recognize a serious scene, emotion and circumstance a reader.
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