Long Bright River Virtual Book Club
August 17 (Mon) Deadline for Submitting
Thank you for joining the virtual discussion of Liz Moore's Long Bright River.
There are four forms below. One for each quesion. Please choose just two of the questions to answer. Fill out the form and hit submit at the bottom of each form. We will download and collate the responses, editing them for clarity and cohesion, and possibly asking follow-up questions, which we'll include in the final document that will be emailed to you and posted on the Guild's Book Club webpage.
Question 1
How did Moore do with the portrayal of addiction (perhaps not just in Kasey but in families, neighborhoods, etc)? What did she get right and what did she get wrong? Did the list of names at the start (first page) and the end of the book (pg. 465) add anything for you?
How did Moore do with the portrayal of addiction (perhaps not just in Kasey but in families, neighborhoods, etc)? What did she get right and what did she get wrong? Did the list of names at the start (first page) and the end of the book (pg. 465) add anything for you?
Question 2
Many readers struggled with the main character of Mickey. One reader called her “rigid,” and referred to her refusal to cuddle with her son; another felt her too willing to take risks (that seemed unrealistic). Another called her distant—look at how withholding she is in the first scene. In addition, we can all see that she has no real friends, is estranged from her family, has no relationship (and apparently never has beyond the awful choice of Simon). She doesn’t seem to have any allies on the police force, despite working with the department for years (aside from Truman, to whom she hasn’t been a good friend). Mickey’s love for her sister (whom she hasn’t spoken to in five years) and her son enough to offset all the flaws?
Question: Would the book have been better if Mickey had been a more likeable/knowable character? Why or Why not.
Many readers struggled with the main character of Mickey. One reader called her “rigid,” and referred to her refusal to cuddle with her son; another felt her too willing to take risks (that seemed unrealistic). Another called her distant—look at how withholding she is in the first scene. In addition, we can all see that she has no real friends, is estranged from her family, has no relationship (and apparently never has beyond the awful choice of Simon). She doesn’t seem to have any allies on the police force, despite working with the department for years (aside from Truman, to whom she hasn’t been a good friend). Mickey’s love for her sister (whom she hasn’t spoken to in five years) and her son enough to offset all the flaws?
Question: Would the book have been better if Mickey had been a more likeable/knowable character? Why or Why not.
Question 3
Endings are tricky—how much do we resolve in a story or book? How much do we leave open-ended? Numerous readers of Long Bright River felt the ending of this book failed. And yes, there is a lot left unresolved—or perhaps not satisfactorily resolved—at the novel’s end: Mickey withholds feelings from people and herself. By the end had she dealt with this? Has she changed in any material way? (Do we need her to?) Also, Thomas is Kacey’s biological son; have the two sisters dealt with this in any meaningful way? Is the bed scene where Kacey looks longingly at Thomas enough? How will they deal with this going forward? Finally, Simon, who is also Thomas’s father, is kind of demoted from the narrative after the McDonalds scene.
Question: Discuss any one of these issues and argue for why it felt “resolved enough” for you as a reader or if you felt it wasn’t developed, what might you have done differently? If Liz Moore were in a workshop with us, what advice would you offer? (Of course you might have your own unresolved issue to discuss).
Endings are tricky—how much do we resolve in a story or book? How much do we leave open-ended? Numerous readers of Long Bright River felt the ending of this book failed. And yes, there is a lot left unresolved—or perhaps not satisfactorily resolved—at the novel’s end: Mickey withholds feelings from people and herself. By the end had she dealt with this? Has she changed in any material way? (Do we need her to?) Also, Thomas is Kacey’s biological son; have the two sisters dealt with this in any meaningful way? Is the bed scene where Kacey looks longingly at Thomas enough? How will they deal with this going forward? Finally, Simon, who is also Thomas’s father, is kind of demoted from the narrative after the McDonalds scene.
Question: Discuss any one of these issues and argue for why it felt “resolved enough” for you as a reader or if you felt it wasn’t developed, what might you have done differently? If Liz Moore were in a workshop with us, what advice would you offer? (Of course you might have your own unresolved issue to discuss).
Question 4
Instead of using flashbacks in a more typical manner (the character is in scene and flashes back to a memory) Moore used the THEN and NOW structure. In the NOW sections we are moving forward in present time as Mickey tries to find her sister. In the THEN sections, we get the chronological story of the past (gradually learning the story of Mickey, Kasey, Gee and Simon).
Question: Did this structure work for you and did it help or hinder the “page turning” aspect of this book?
Instead of using flashbacks in a more typical manner (the character is in scene and flashes back to a memory) Moore used the THEN and NOW structure. In the NOW sections we are moving forward in present time as Mickey tries to find her sister. In the THEN sections, we get the chronological story of the past (gradually learning the story of Mickey, Kasey, Gee and Simon).
Question: Did this structure work for you and did it help or hinder the “page turning” aspect of this book?
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