Everyone in the book club really enjoyed this book and may even read other books by this author in the future.
We all found it very interesting looking at the topic of euthanasia through the eyes of the various different characters, some of whom felt very stongly opposed or in favour of a person being able to take their own life due to medical circumstances. It was was also very interesting to see whether these characters changed their minds during the book as they came to know the person who was involved rather than just thinking about it in the abstract. We wondered whether for example the reason that Lou's mum was so against euthanasia was nothing to do with the actual process but rather to do with protecting her daughter from the pain she would feel if Will went through with it. On the other hand there were Will's father and Lou's father who both seemed to be supportive of their children's decision with regard this topic whatever they chose.
With regard to the relationship between Lou and Will we felt that although it seemed on the surface that Lou was giving more to the relationship underneath Will was giving a lot too. Lous was giving Will the ability to think through his actions with a little more morality rather than with his previous selfish slant on life. Essentially Lou tries to make Will live more in her emotional world rather than his world of thrills and adventure with little thought to tomorrow. Was this selfish on her part, trying to make Will more like her so that he became someone she wanted to spend time with? Whereas Will was giving Lou the ability to think that maybe she should try to break out of her little world, to become more than the put-upon daughter and girlfriend, to become what Will thinks she could be. Now this might have been selfish from Will's point of view as he seemed to be trying to make Lou live her life more in the way he had lived his life, so maybe he was trying to live vicariously through her?
We also discussed how Will would be living his life now he's in the wheelchair and unable to do even basic things for himself compared to his action loving life previously. It must be incredibly frustrating, painful and also humiliating to a person like him, maybe this was why he considered ending it all. It seems someone like him might find it incredibly hard to convert to being in his new situation given the complete change to his life it made, more so than someone whose life wasn't quite so energetic in the first place? We all agreed that Jojo Moyes did an excellent job of portraying the complexities of life as a paraplegic without reverting to a misery memoir type book, we all learnt a lot about how difficult life must be for some people. This was probably best done through the character of Nathan who cared for Will in a wonderfully pragmatic but caring manner, his explanations as to what happens to paraplegics was very interesting.
A discussion about the general principles of euthanasia also occurred during the meeting.
Overall we gave this book 8.5 out of 10.
We all found it very interesting looking at the topic of euthanasia through the eyes of the various different characters, some of whom felt very stongly opposed or in favour of a person being able to take their own life due to medical circumstances. It was was also very interesting to see whether these characters changed their minds during the book as they came to know the person who was involved rather than just thinking about it in the abstract. We wondered whether for example the reason that Lou's mum was so against euthanasia was nothing to do with the actual process but rather to do with protecting her daughter from the pain she would feel if Will went through with it. On the other hand there were Will's father and Lou's father who both seemed to be supportive of their children's decision with regard this topic whatever they chose.
With regard to the relationship between Lou and Will we felt that although it seemed on the surface that Lou was giving more to the relationship underneath Will was giving a lot too. Lous was giving Will the ability to think through his actions with a little more morality rather than with his previous selfish slant on life. Essentially Lou tries to make Will live more in her emotional world rather than his world of thrills and adventure with little thought to tomorrow. Was this selfish on her part, trying to make Will more like her so that he became someone she wanted to spend time with? Whereas Will was giving Lou the ability to think that maybe she should try to break out of her little world, to become more than the put-upon daughter and girlfriend, to become what Will thinks she could be. Now this might have been selfish from Will's point of view as he seemed to be trying to make Lou live her life more in the way he had lived his life, so maybe he was trying to live vicariously through her?
We also discussed how Will would be living his life now he's in the wheelchair and unable to do even basic things for himself compared to his action loving life previously. It must be incredibly frustrating, painful and also humiliating to a person like him, maybe this was why he considered ending it all. It seems someone like him might find it incredibly hard to convert to being in his new situation given the complete change to his life it made, more so than someone whose life wasn't quite so energetic in the first place? We all agreed that Jojo Moyes did an excellent job of portraying the complexities of life as a paraplegic without reverting to a misery memoir type book, we all learnt a lot about how difficult life must be for some people. This was probably best done through the character of Nathan who cared for Will in a wonderfully pragmatic but caring manner, his explanations as to what happens to paraplegics was very interesting.
A discussion about the general principles of euthanasia also occurred during the meeting.
Overall we gave this book 8.5 out of 10.
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Hi PPH Book Club!
ReplyDeleteI listened to this as my very first audio book on my new daily commutes into work - clearly I'm becoming a real grown up. This was the blurb I put on Goodreads (username Mistymaple) after I'd finished it:- "My first audiobook - and now I'm hooked. There is now no other way to journey to and from work. For my first audiobook this was a great choice. It is easy to follow and I enjoyed the different narrators when their characters' respective chapters were read. The storyline is simple but honest and heartwarming. It was a delight that the female narrator wasn't extremely clever or heroic and was more like an ordinary person. Will's character was well formed from Louisa's point of view without giving too much away about what he was really like. I thought that this added mystery to the story."
I hope that you're all well - I've joined a Book Club at my local library but they don't eat cake, which is very sad. Becky x