Rebecca makkai has written a clever, brilliant puzzle box of a book about a house and the secrets it has witnessed, gathered and maintained its silence about over its one hundred year lifespan. One of the 20th centurys enduring works, one hundred years of solitude is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world, and the ultimate achievement in a nobel prizewinning. August 2014 kate loftusobrien fiction the hundredyear house by rebecca makkai. The hundredyear house manages the rare feat of crafting a smart comedy with a satisfyingly fierce pace this book is a true pageturner while indulging in an unusual structure. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to. Its 1900 and augustus devohr feels drawn to these acres, not because this is a place hes seen before, but because its a place hes always. Want to see these questions in action, and join a fun monthly online book club no awkward silences, promise. The 100 is a series of young adult science fiction novels by kass morgan. It was my turn to pick this month and i chose the hundred year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared by jonas jonasson i had given up on the book when it first came out but because so many recommended it, i persevered and enjoyed its idiosyncratic romp through 20th century history and the somewhat amoral adventures of.
Our book clubbers are headed to the park to soak up sun and the intelligent new novel from rebecca makkai. Here, we find a writer with an innately intelligent and assured comedic voice, someone who obviously has a deep literary pedigree but appears more interested. Questions raised in one section are answered in others. In rebecca makkais inventive novel the hundred year house, the ghost is just one of the. General book club questions for study and discussion. A fourth novel, rebellion, was released on december 6, 2016. Philippe matsascourtesy of vikingpenguin thats the funny thing about beginnings in the book. We try to provide as many as we can an in a timely manner on our discussion questions page, but most of the time discussion questions arent. The folders on his desk were still optimistically full of xeroxed articles on the poet edwin parfitt. The hundred year house is a bighearted gothic novel. The testaments is a modern masterpiece, a powerful novel that can be read on its own or as a companion to margaret atwoods classic, the handmaids tale. Rebecca makkais hundredyear house, and more the new.
The hundredyear house is rebecca makkais second novel. Living characters may have pulses and points of view, but locations surge with the blood of generations. We announce the book selection on the first monday of the month and discuss on the. This book was a rollercoaster ride for my emotions. In 73 years of work wodehouse wrote close to 100 books, more than a dozen plays and over 300 song lyrics. This is a novel of many characters and many layers. In the 100 year life living and working in an age of longevity, published june 2nd 2016 by bloomsbury publishing, lynda gratton and andrew j scott outline the challenges and intelligent choices that all of us, of any age, need to make in order to turn greater life expectancy into a gift and not a curse. Reading group guide the acclaimed author of the borrower returns with a dazzlingly original, mordantly witty novel about the secrets of an oldmoney family and their turnofthecentury estate, laurelfield. The hundredyear house is a puzzle, a plunge into a world of fascinating characters, and an examination of human relationships. The acclaimed author of the borrower returns with a dazzlingly original, mordantly witty novel about the secrets of an oldmoney family and their turnofthecentury estate, laurelfield.
Hundred years war, intermittent struggle between england and france in the 14th15th century over a series of disputes, including the question of the legitimate succession to the french crown. One hundred years of solitude garcia marquez litlovers. This is to settle book club disputes, not to read in advance of the novel. A hundred years and a hundred books the new york times.
National book award nominee a best book of the year. The hundredyear house takes place during four different times periods. One sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in north dakota is attacked. The hundredyear house a juicy gothic tale of art and love. To ask other readers questions about the hundredyear house, please sign up. If youre ready to start a book club, heres 40 of the best book club questions, for fiction and nonfiction alike.
Ive found that the best book club discussion questions are ones that are openended and that get people to share their personal opinions. The hundred year house, by rebecca makkai forget for a moment the spooky, restless dead. There are about 12 of us and our literary tastes vary greatly, but we all enjoy the variety of books we get to read and the stimulating and at times quite challenging. By convention it is said to have lasted from 37 to 1453, but there had been periodic fighting since the 12th century. First with themselves, then with the grounders, and finally with mount weather. From the acclaimed author of the great believers, an original, mordantly witty novel about the secrets of an oldmoney family and their turnofthecentury. Book questions and reading guides discussion guides for book clubs more than 500 printable reading guides for exceptional books. The washington post, npr, usa today, san francisco chronicle, financial times, the seattle times, st. She was kind enough to answer some questions during a lull in her book tour. She first closely follows the marriage of doug and zee, which has been upended by financial concerns and unfulfilled career ambitions. The first book in the series, the 100, was published on september 3, 20, by little, brown books for young readers.
In her sophomore novel the borrower, 2011, which starts in 1999 and rewinds in four parts through the decades to 1900, makkai takes us on a tour of the houses power over its owners and the artist residents of decades past. In that book, a librarian kidnaps a young patron who is being brainwashed by his evangelical parents. A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. Rosanna and walter langdon have just welcomed their firstborn son, frank, into their family farm. I may be biased, but moms book nook is the best online moms book club youll find. No matter the genre, age, notoriety, or length of the book of the moment, book club questions can kickstart or enhance your group discussion. I just finished this book and loved it, but i have a couple of spoilertype questions that i would love to discuss. Find resources for your book club, whether it meets in your living room or across cyberspace. In the same way, the hundred year house slightly resembles a country house novel or a ghost story. With the 100 year life gratton and scott have accomplished the near impossible.
Book club questions from litlovers 1,800 reading guides. Delve deeper into the books making the charts, and get tips for keeping your reading group engaged. Whether you are discussing characters and their actions, setting, theme, or images, having a guide to questions. What follows is a bit like a road trip novel or a picaresque. The hundredyear house is a funny, sad and delightful romp through the beginning, middle and end of an artists colony as well as the family mansion that sheltered it and the family members who do and dont survive it.
Even though each time period has its own group of characters, all their stories are connected in someway. With the deceasing decades, the story only gets juicier. And he was still writing a book on parfitt, in that its bones continued to exist, on forty printed pages and two separate diskettes. This is not an issue for when we are old but an urgent and imminent. Every book page contains useful information for your book group including book club questions. As a member or leader of a book club, you are likely to be reading books on a wide variety of topics, both fiction and nonfiction.
At the bottom of the page you will also find useful links, all in one place. The hundredyear house by rebecca makkai the boston globe. Day 21, its sequel, was released on september 25, 2014, and homecoming was released on february 26, 2015. The hundredyear house takes us through the haunted past of laurelfield, a historic estate, in reverse. The novels unique structure and its vibrant characters make for active, exciting reading.
Book club discussion questions this page gives you a full list of all the books featured on this site, split between fiction and non fiction. At the very end of rebecca makkais second novel, the hundredyear house, a wealthy aristocrat finds the perfect plot of land on which to build his estate. One hundred years of solitude gabriel garcia marquez, 1967 harpercollins 417 pp. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors. The book delivers sound, straightforward, and vital advice on both the risks and rewards of living much longer than we ever imagined would happen to us, and on. The acclaimed author of the borrower returns with a dazzlingly original, mordantly witty novel about the. Start here 2100bc the epic of gilgamesh 0bc the book of the dead bc the bhagavadgita 650bc the torah 600bc the odyssey homer 500bc the fables aesop 450bc the analects confucius 450bc the histories herodotus of halicarnassos 411bc lysistrata aristophanes of athens 355bc the republic plato of athens 320bc the ethics aristotle of stagira.