1. " His heart felt like a flock of sheep outrun yet again by a good cunning dog, forced neatly into a cramped square pen " Discuss Paul's image of himself when realising that Fern is not interested in him. Why is the first chapter called Collie? How does he view the relationship that he had with Maureen? How does this differ from the brothers views of their parents marriage expressed in the second story?
2. Paul and Fenno. Fenno sees his father from American eyes as 'uptight' and wants him to just 'get past it'. What do you think causes the 'bungling' and coldness in their relationship to each other?
3. What is the significance of the central story's title 'Upright"? "Stay upright and you will stay alive."
4. Fenno and Mal - " ..a fallible but excellent friend. What you have been terrible at is something else." Do you agree with Mal that Fenno was an excellent friend to him? - What is the something else that Mal is referring to?
"He wasn't my lover - thought he ought to have been." With different happier circumstances, what do you think Mal and Fenno's relationship would have been like?
5. Discuss Fenno's relationships with David and Dennis. Why is the request by David and Lillian to help them conceive a child so difficult for him?
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
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