RUN by Ann Patchett ~ June Book Club Online

[JoanP]

The Book Club Online is  the oldest  book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone.  We offer cordial discussions of one book a month,  24/7 and  enjoy the company of readers from all over the world.  Everyone is welcome.

Everyone is welcome

RUN by Ann Patchett

Two families come together in a traffic accident during a snowstorm.  It quickly becomes clear that the families-a poor, single black mother with her 11-year-old daughter and a white, Irish Catholic, former Boston mayor with a biological son and two adopted black college-aged sons,  whose much-loved wife died over 20 years ago -have a connection.    "The book explores how these kids established their sense of belonging and self based on who raised them, and whom they gravitated toward as family.  It also conversely examines the notion of parenthood - what constitutes a parent? Is it simply genetics, or a history of nurturing and love? What role does race play in parenting and familial identity? There are clearly nature vs nurture issues at play here, which are interesting to trace and analyze." (Gayle Weisswasser)   And yet, in an interview, in the back of the paperback edition,  Ann Patchett said that to her, the book was about politics.  The book's central idea is how political responsibility plays out in the smallest and most intimate scale of family life. How did such an idea come to her? A: "I keep reading the newspaper and looking at all of the hardships in the world and it makes me think about issues of sacrifice and social responsibility.  Do we have a moral obligation to use our gifts to help people? These aren't questions that have a right and wrong answer, but I think they are ideas worth struggling with. Run is ultimately a novel about secrets, duty, responsibility, and the lengths we will go to protect our children."

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About the Author:   Ann Patchett was born in Los Angeles, California and moved to Nashville, Tennessee when she was six, where she continues to live.  Patchett said she loves her home in Nashville with her doctor husband and dog. She owns and runs Parnassus Books, an independent bookstore in Nashville.

Discussion Schedule: June 15~17Chapters 1-3 June 18~20 Chapters 4-6 June 21-24 Chapters 7-9 June 25-26 Chapters 10 June 27-30 Chapter 11 and final thoughts

Some Topics for Consideration
June 15 - 26

Chapter 1
1. Why do you think the author starts the novel with the story of the statue of Mary and who should inherit it? 
2.  Have you had similar experiences with family heirlooms following the death of a family member? Do you know an easy way to resolve such a situation? Could Doyle have resolved the situation himself,  without the intervention of a third party?

Chapter 2
1. Do you fault  Doyle for trying to instill his own values and interests in his sons?  Do you think the boys' upbringing would have been much different, had Bernadette lived?  Does Uncle Sullivan provide a needed balance in their lives?  What do you see of the relationship between Doyle and his brother-in-law?
2. Sullivan seems to be introduced as the black sheep of the family, a lost cause.  How do you see him?  Why has Doyle detached himself from his first-born son?  Do you see any similarities between him and the two younger boys?     

Chapter 3
1.  Do you think anyone, (but a mother) would jump in front of a fast-moving car to save someone else?  Would you?  Do you notice a subtle change in Tip after the incident, or is it just the medication?
2.  Did the reader  know that Tennessee was the boys' mother before Doyle, Tip and Teddy did?  Did Teddy know of their relationship when he insisted they couldn't leave Kenya at the hospital, even as Doyle worried about a kidnapping charge?  Do you understand  Doyle's concerns?

Chapter 4
1. Was it surprising that the boys had never asked Doyle about their birth mother after Bernadette  died?  Was Doyle prepared to answer them if they had?  Don't  you think he knows the name of the birth mother?
2. What is Doyle's reaction to  Kenya's revelation?   Do you think he'll want  DNA testing or does he already know who she says she is?

Chapter 5
1. What was Doyle's relationship with Sullivan just before Bernadette died?  How old was he when she died?.  Do you see similarities between Sullivan and the two younger boys?
2.  Is The Voyage of the Beagle an actual book - by Charles Darwin? Why did it appeal to the boys as a bedtime story?  How might it be relevant here?

Chapter 6
1.  Can you blame Teddy for believing Father Sullivan cured those two women and can save his mother's life?  What seems to have caused Father Sullivan's loss of faith and belief in the afterlife - that his mother was waiting for him in heaven?  How does he explain the the healing  of these two women if not a miracle?
2 . How was Sullivan able to open up to Tennessee about why he left Boston and Doyle's lie after the accidentl?  Is it possible that his father wasn't lying and that he wasn't driving the car the night Natalie died?  Has Tennessee been as forthcoming in answering Sullivan's questions as he has been with her?

Chapter 7
1. "But how do you give up running?" "What do you like other than fish?"  How does Tip respond to Kenya's questions?  What made him give up the things he used to like?
2. How does Doyle react when he learns where Kenya and Tennessee have been living for so many years?  "There was an old white guy crying in her living room."  What brings Doyle to tears when he sees where the girl has been living?

Chapter 8
1. Do you think that Kenya's 'mother' imagines the conversation in the hospital with Tennessee Alice Moser after surgery or do you think it really happened? She had been heavily sedated.  What do we learn from this conversation?  Do you think Kenya should ever be given this information?
2. Do you understand now why Tennessee gave up Tip shortly after giving up Teddy?  Does she have any concerns about their being adopted by a white family?  What were her feelings when they were raised in a motherless home?

Chapter 9
1 Doyle had molded the boys  to be "high-strung little do-gooders."  Why does Tip conclude that Kenya had grown up with Doyle's curriculum?  Does she have the same problem Tip expressed with pushing out the poor and the blacks to gentrify the homes on Tremont St.?
2. As a child, what do we learn about Tip's thoughts of the mother who gave him away?  What does he think of her now after watching Kenya? What is it about the child that causes him to rethink choices he's made?

Chapter 10.
1.  Do you find Patchett explaining more the differences between Teddy and Tip than their similarities?  And Kenya, is she more alike these two than she is different?  Is this intentional?

2.  Do you think  Sullivan's life, or his career path would have been any different today had the car accident not occurred?  Why would Kenya's sudden appearance  make a dfference in his relationship with his father?

3.  Why has Tennessee concealed her true identity from Kenya?  Is this important to Patchett's story?  What was the cause of Teddy's rage at Sullivan's comment that the woman in the hospital bed was not Sullivan's mother?

4. Why is it important to Teddy to bring Uncle Sullivan to the hospital?  Why does Fr. Sullivan want to go?  What exactly do you see happen when he recognizes Tennessee and places his hand on her leg?  Does he really believe he can heal her?

 

Contact:  JoanP,

[Babi]

Ah, I missed that, JOANP. But you suggestion sounds right to me. The boys had just lost
their mother, and the statue that looked like her was a great comfort to them. That would
certainly be reason enough for me to refuse to give it up.
  When I first started this re-read I just planned to skim it to refresh my memory. It
hasn't worked that way. I find myself reading on and on, with the same delight I felt
on the first time.

 How was Sullivan able to open up to Tennessee about why he left Boston and Doyle's lie after the accident?   Good question, and we can only speculate.  I think Sullivan has reached
a point where he has to deal with the past.  Tennesse is 'safe'.  He can speak to her both because she cares, and because she has no associations with the events in his past, no
preconceptions.  It must be a tremendous relief to him to get these things said.

[Steph]

Patchetts style in every single one of her books is let you watch and discover her characters. She is not going to fill you in on intent.

[JoanP]

Thanks for that, Steph -since you've read most of her work,  we know you are very familiar with her style.

I managed to locate the Sacajawea reference in Chapter 4 - and like you, Babi, found myself rereading the first four chapters again - with great interest - and surprise at how much I'd forgotten.
Tip uttered "Sacajawea" as he attempted to manipulate his crutches on the steps in the snow.  There may be more to Patchett's use of the name here, but I read it again as just an expression without any great significance.  The Doyle boys don't seem to cuss, do they - even when talking to one another privately?  Another example of how well brought up they are?
But maybe the use of the name here is significant...as Deb interpreted it. 

Let's move on to the next three chapters today, - but feel quite free to relate back to the first three - We really haven't said much about the Sullivans - Father Sullivan and his nephew, named for him.  These chapters build on what has been introduced in the first three.

I just noticed the last sentence at the end of Chapter 3 as we move on to the next chapter - Kenya's question  - "Don't you ever wonder about your mother?"
Do you think it is at all surprising that  the boys had never asked Doyle about their birth mother before or especially after Bernadette  died?  Was Doyle prepared for that moment?  Do you assume that Doyle knows the name of the woman - "Moser"?

[Babi]

It occurs to me, thinking on the Sacajawea comment, that Tip may have been referring
Kenya' footstep in the snow, a pathway made for him, to Lewis and Clark following in the
footsteps of their Indian guide.

  Patchett is indeed a master at showing us her characters.  Look at her perfect insights into Tip and Teddy.  “Tip could be pinned into place by an idea.  Set him on the floor with a picture book and he would stay until the book was finished.  Set him on the floor with a can of Lincoln Logs and he would stay until he’d built himself a woody Taj Mahal.
   “Teddy, on the other hand, was more like a cloud.  The slightest breath of wind could send
him in the hall closet to hunt up a tennis racquet he hadn’t seen in years, or out to the mailbox
on the corner to see it the time for the pickup had changed even though he had nothing to mail.
It wasn’t that he refused to do the homework or even that he coldn’t manage it, it was just that
other things caught his attention, and anything that had Teddy’s attention had all of him.”
 Know any people like that?

   John Sullivan. Somewhere along the line Teddy’s love for his mother had become his love for Father Sullivan, and his love for Father Sullivan became his love for God. And his namesake,
Sullivan Doyle.  What has Sullivan been doing?   So far, the book gives the impression that he is something of a scapegrace, usually in trouble.  There are indications he had to leave Africa in a bit of a hurry.  Yet,  there is a reference to “the various AIDS clinics he supplied.”   And he has no trouble at all focusing on Kenya and her needs, accepting her freely.   I  suspect there is more
to Sullivan than appears at first glance.

[Steph]

I really like Sullivan.. He is an interesting character and quite typical of a lot of New England people..

[mabel1015j]

Yes, BABI, i liked that description of the two brothers also.

Jean

[JoanP]

We know a lot about Tip and Teddy - but Sullivan is still a mystery, even though he's back from Africa now.  Perhaps this is because Kenya - and her mother have been watching the younger boys so closely, stalking them in a way.  Kenya fills us in on the two of them - "smart Tip" - "sweet Teddy."  Do you see any similarities between the younger two, Babi?  Do you see any shared traits or interests between the younger two boys and Sullivan?

I liked Sullivan too, Steph - and agree there is more to him than we're told - or we wouldn't like him so much.  In my mind,  he's  exotic looking - that red hair, blue blue eyes - and that deep tan- unusual for an Irishman with this coloring.  And can talk to anyone, around anyone.

So what happened to him when his mother died?  How old was he...can you do the math?  When did his father give up on trying to form his character as he did the other two?

Apparently, there was much of his father that rubbed off on Sullivan - even without Doyle taking an interest in him.  What is Patchett saying here?  
Sullivan is not really  the blacksheep, is he? - pardon the pun.  
Why did he leave Africa in such a hurry - He fled, didn't he?  Did you understand what he was doing - why he told Tennessee he was stealing?  What was he really doing?

[ALF43]

Joan,that is funny --"the black sheep" of the family.
Perhaps it was due to the reference to the AIDS clinic that I automatically felt he was either involved in drug paraphenalia of perhaps was stealing anti-viral meds and administering it to those who had been refused treatment.  Great pick up on Sacajawea comment.  I thought it was a polite cuss word.

[Ella Gibbons]

If I had the choice of meeting one of the characters in the book, which would I choose.  Or in other words, which character of this story appeals to me the most?  It would be hard to choose one I think.  Patchett has done a good job of making each a different personality.

After meeting Kenya and seeing Tennessee in the hospital, all of them have thoughts or beliefs that Tennessee is their mother; even Doyle, who is afraid she might take back the two young boys he so dearly loves.  Perhaps because she and Kenya have "spied" near the house so often?  They all have seen her, felt her presence? 

If that the reason Tip and Teddy never attempted to find their real mother.  I haven't finished reading the book yet, but I have read enough to believe that Tennesse is the mother but haven't read her side of the story yet.  She is on her way to surgery.

[bookad]

It was skimming. He simply took a little bit off the top of everything he had to make more for someone else. He could turn twenty vials into twenty-one. Then he could turn ten into eleven. Then five into six. It was a kind of mathematical genius. In a a country where the demand exceeded the supply by hundreds of thousands of vials he was saving lives and making money hand over fist, and then spending it fist over hand, pumping the fruits of his labor directly back into the fruitless economy. In that light it wasn`t even wrong. It was an expansive redistribution.

ch 6 pg 198
Sullivan Doyle

I`m not sure I like this young man.  How does he know that in skimming from the vials he is not jeopardizing the treatment for each individual receiving the medication.  He seems devious.  He rationalizes his behaviour with concern for Africa and it`s poverty

Deb

[Ella Gibbons]

I haven't read yet why Sullivan left Africa; he had a talk with Tennessee and opened up to her about the accident with his girlfriend.  So tragic; no doubt why he escaped from home.  Never should a parent lie to a son the way Doyle did, even though we all understand his motive in doing so.

[mabel1015j]

I haven't decided if Sullivan was doing a good thing or not by skimmimg the drugs. Like Bookad, i was at first appalled when he began telling the story. I don't know if his rationale is legitimate about taking a little won't hurt. What's his background? How did he get this job? It doen't appear that he has ANY medical education. He "forgot" his wallet? Come on, what man goes out w/out his wallet? I think he's a con man. He's almost flirting w/ the nurse to get bus money.

He was 11 when his mother died, if i remember correctly. It sounds like Doyle was never fond if Sullivan and he also is rationalizing that he "stood by Sullivan, even if S would never acknowledge it. He had been an imperfect father to an imperfect son and as far as he was concerned they were even" pg 97. Before that he says " once Bernadette was gone and S did his best to destroy everything that wasn't already lost, (?) it was all Doyle could do not to write him off." i would say S was irresponsible - not appearing when he said he would for Christmas and then appearing out of the blue - but maybe i wouldn't be too concerned about coming home to that house if i had been considered the bad seed of the family.

But even before his Mother died S seems to have been a bully, taking the baby out, baiting  children to say something about his mother "getting" a black baby and then "that cazy Irish boy (would) unleash himself like a hurricane upon another child." pg 102. Altho, he was rather putting up a good offense to preempt the defense he would have had to make of his mother or his Black brothers.

Being in an interracial family or group can add burdens to children's having to add another layer of figuring out who they are and at what point they have to, or should, explain the circumstances. It's always there in the back of the mind that some of the people you are in contact with are not going to like your situation, and if they don't know it, when should you tell. Or if someone makes a comment, which times do i speak up, or when do i ignore it......you must learn to pick your battles. It appears that at times S had decided to fight, even igniting the fight and as an adult he appears to "move away" from the battle.

So far my favorite person is Kenya - of course, we've seen no flaws in her yet.

[ALF43]

I hate to be a spoiled sport but isn't it ironic that the boys conveniently met up with Tennessee and Kenya outside the hall after the political soiree?
 Everything seems way too orchestrated to me.  HowTennessee was just in close enough proximity to push him out of  harm's way,  just doesn't gel with me.  I've not read ahead but why would this mother worship her boys from afar and still relate their importance to her only daughter? I know she knew the boys were better off but still this kid's only 11 yrs. old. How long had she been stalking them and no one ever noticed her presence, over all of those years?
Too convenient.

[mabel1015j]

Yeah Alf, but it's fiction! I often suspend reality when reading fiction.

Jean

[ALF43]

OOps, sorry Joan, how do I get rid of my last reply which is a quote?  Oh brother, am I rusty here.
I guess you're right Mabel, it's fiction NOT serendipity.

[Babi]

 I see the similarities that reflect Bernadette's influence and Bernard's upbringing, JOAN
There personalities, tho', are very dissimilar. As to Sullivan and the younger boys, I
think we need to know more about to Sullivan to answer that one. Yes, he definitely 'fled'
Africa, and I believe we will learn more about that as the story proceeds. Something better
is emerging here. I like the way Ann Patchett lets events and information evolve as they
do in real life.

 JEAN, I think you make a very good point with the idea of Sullivan 'pre-empting' the
defense of his Mother and and the two young ones he had grown so fond of.  I think Sullivan
understands people and know how to relate to them.

 I don't think is was 'convenient' at all, ALF.  With Tennessee keeping such close tabs
on her boys as they grew up, I'm surprised there was no contact sooner. Tennessee was
very careful to keep a low profile. If Tip hadn't stepped in front of that car, they
might never have met.
  Speaking of Tennessee, have you ever read a better description of someone coming back to awareness, slowly, after major trauma or surgery.  The reader is right there with Tennessee Moser, fully participating in her gradual re-awakening, her confusion, the pain,  the seemingly constant and unwelcome interventions of the staff. 

[Steph]

I think you must remember you are in a city.. How many people would you see every day or so and never really wonder why..

[JoanP]

Good point, Steph.  In a city like Boston, you don't "notice" the faces of the passing crowd.  Andy, how often have you observed the fact that life is stranger than fiction and marvelled at unbelievable coincidences?

"I like the way Ann Patchett lets events and information evolve as they
do in real life."

Exactly, Babi!  It's as if we are eavesdropping into the conversations, picking up our information from what we overhear.  

The only things we know about Sullivan come from his own tough self-assessment.  Life has been hard on him - ever since the little boys have come into his life.  The boys have had it easy - love, attention and every opportunity.  Piano lessons, education...  But Sullivan had such an adjustment to make, which he might have done had Bernadette lived, don't you think?  Jean points out he was having adjustment problems before she died - but his mother was helping him through it while she lived.

Jean, you always force me to go back and reread to be sure of what I read the first time.  Tennessee asked Sullivan two questions - questions that no one has asked him - why did he leave Africa and return now - and why did he leave Boston when he did.

On rereading his answers to her questions - I've got two questions for Sullivan.  How do you know that Natalie was not driving the car? Ella, have you ever considered that Doyle was not lying as you assume he was?  You chose not to believe him.  So did everyone else.  His career was over...he wasn't reelected, his plans to run for governor were over.  What if he gave it all up by telling the truth?

The other question - and I think it's important because it says a lot about Sullivan's character.  Why was he "skimming" - "stealing" as he tells Tennessee.  Why was he watering down the scarce anti-retroviral drug dosages in Africa in order to produce a bit more than would have been available had he not?  Deb, the author let us know, through Sullivan, that "Tip was not the only one in the family with a grasp of basic science - it was perfectly clear to him that they allow for a certain amount of waste in each dosage"... maybe it was not as dangerous as it sounded on first reading?


ps  Andy, I removed your extra-quote post for you...by pressing the "remove" button next to the "modify" button...

[ANNIE]

JoanP,
Sullivan assumed that he was driving and in the next paragraph he explains why:
"I always drove.  She would have been sleeping.  If it was dark and we were in the car, then Natalie was sleeping.  There was a story that I was sick that night or I'd had too much to drink and she was taking me home."
Evidently the press chose to challenge the Mayor when he claimed that Natalie was driving.  His faithful PD chose not to change the story but for some reason,  the public chose to believe the press.  (Have we never heard that the media is runs the world?)  Fair and balanced?  Haha!

You pose an interesting question, JoanP,  "Do we believe that Doyle was telling the truth from the beginning and let his dreams of climbing the ladder of politics to save Sullivan, his first son??" [/b]

I spent yesterday rereading the from Chap 1 to Chap 6.  There so many things that I didn't remember reading before.

I do agree with the fact that the book takes place in Boston, a big busy city and that maybe Tennesee and Kenya weren't noticed by the Doyles but,  there is another reason hinted at here.  And that is because they are black.  
There are hints in all over the beginning chapters concerning that possibility.  And of course, I can only find one now.  I think its been all the teaching of how to act by Tennessee.  Remembering one here:  "Don't stare at objects! People will think you are going to steal it."  She is constantly saying this kind of thing while raising Kenya.

I think you may be describing  Ann Patchett's style with this observation.  She's not going to tell us much about what her characters are thinking - or even what she, as the author, thinks of them.  She makes the reader observe what they are doing, what they are saying - their actions speak for them.  We're not going to get explanations or interpretations from Ms. Patchett.

JoanP, maybe that's why we are reading and rereading chapters and paragraphs and sentences now.  The author's every word must be considered.  
[/color]

[bookad]

JoanP--having worked in hospitals and given many medications....., -each vial would establish exactly what was in that particular vial and how many dosages were within would be calculated accordingly --also I seem to remember he was diluting the vials by adding sterile water or saline and that would change the drug as to what was printed on the vial...that sounded malicious to me that he was jeopardizing the health of the people who where being given that medication

....also Sullivan joked that all the money he made by having created more medication vials.... he was in a fashion helping the economy by putting that money back into the economy by all his purchases.

interesting that he ended up in the country where the boys ancestor`s came from though

[Ella Gibbons]

"What seems to have caused Father Sullivan's loss of faith and belief in the afterlife?

Perhaps he is depressed.  Old age, the inability to be of any use to anyone.    As for the healing of the women, he didn't believe he had anything to do with it - "if he was right and God showed his face to the living then it was the surgeons to whom we should offer our novenas."

Don't you think we all lose our faith at times in our lives, we question. 

[Steph]

Depending on where they lived, Tennessee and Kenya would probably have registered as someones maid or nanny.. Areas in Boston have characteristics.

[Babi]

  The more I see of Sullivan, the more impressed I am.  He is the only one who seems able
to offer the child the easy manner, the hugs and kiss she so badly needs.  I can’t really fault Tip
and Teddy too much at this point, tho’.   They are having to deal with the shock of discovering
their birth mother has been watching them all these years.  And what are her motives?  They
adored Bernadette and are not happy with this intrusion, tho’ they are trying to be very generous
and helpful with Kenya.
    To Kenya...”It was Sullivan’s ease she found so mesmerizing, the way he told the truth about everything, even if it  meant showing himself in a poor light.” Sullivan is, I think, undergoing his own 'sea change’ in this story.

   John Sullivan, priest, is so real, so human, and all the more a saint for not believing
for a minute that he is.   An old man most of us can relate to, don’t you think. “Little Johnny
Sullivan, the fastest Catholic boy the South End had ever seen, climber of trees and chain link
fences.....now weighed out the benefits and perils of walking five feet across the linoleum and wisely decided against it.”  We can all relate to that, can't we?
 Steadfastly denying the claims that his touch or his prayers had healed anyone!  He didn’t even pray for healing, he prayed for their peace.  When the bishop came to the nursing home’to inquire  as to the report of a disappearing neck cancer , Father John could only say is ‘How do I know where it went? It’s not as if I had it in my chair.”

[ANNIE]

Has anyone found a description of Tennessee before the accident?  Her height, her face, slender?, skin dark or light?  I can't get a picture of her in my mind.
I also can't picture the boys as black and found my mind pictures them as white.  Is there something wrong with my brain?? I actually have to remember they are black and then re-picture them. Maybe not as the little boys but as the grown men they have become.

[JoanP]

Deb, thanks for sharing your experience with working in hospitals and giving medications.  You bring up a good question - was Sullivan acting maliciously - jeopardizing the health of those receiving the diluted medication - for money?  
 He left Africa in a hurry - but there are no signs that he was prosperous.  He left with nothing but his computer and very few articles of clothing. He admits that he was making money by "skimming" - but the question needs an answer, I think.  WHat was he doing with the money?

Do you remember the author's State of Wonder  - nother of Patchett's novels that deals with pharmacology.  She does a lot of research for her novels...also spends time in Africa, the Amazon... She names the drug that Sullivan was diluting - Retrovir.  I looked it up, it's real, not fiction.  There are Google articles on the dosage amounts - and how they will vary according to the HIV patient - amounts for children, for pregnant women, how ill the patients.  I get the feeling that she knows what she's talking about when she refers to this drug.

So the question is - was Sullivan behaving wrecklessly?  His conscience doesn't seem to bother him about this- although we are told he has trouble sleeping...

”

It was Sullivan’s ease she found so mesmerizing, the way he told the truth about everything, even if it  meant showing himself in a poor light.”

 Babi, a good point - and only seems to emphasize the question - does this man who is so forthcoming with the truth likely to be putting the lives of so many sick people in jeopardy for profit?

Will be right back - You bring up so many good points...though I think we are still asking more questions than finding answers!

[JoanP]

Ella - doesn't it seem strange that Father John Sullivan is experiencing his loss of faith now - in his retirement?  Was there any indication that this was going on before the "miracles"  began to take place?  Does Fr. Sullivan believe that these two women were cured?  If they are, he doesn't seem to believe that he had anything to do with it.

I've been wondering about Ann Patchett's knowledge of Boston - and Catholicism.  Whether she researched so thoroughly that we don't question that she knows what she is talking about.  This morning I did some research and found this interview in the London Telegraph that answers  many of the questions we've had about this author.  The interview took place just after Run was published. I'll just quote the part about "miracles" - but you'll want to read more, I'm sure:

"Her parents divorced, and when she was six she and her sister were taken to Nashville with their mother
Patchett suggests another reason for her early resolve to be a writer. Between the ages of six and 18 she attended a Roman Catholic girls' school in Nashville,
She says that Catholicism, her father's faith, nourished her imagination. 'I grew up with the vocabulary of miracles. Water turns into wine every single Sunday and the bread turns into flesh. I like the idea of living in that world, where you think those possibilities are real. It teaches you to see outside of what you can actually see.'"

"John Sullivan, priest, is so real, so human, and all the more a saint for not believing for a minute that he is."  Babi - I love this!  The poor man - he has no where to go, this is his home, but he finds no peace because of the growing publicity.  Even young Teddy is convinced- not only that he has cured these women, but that he can cure his mother if he will just to the hospital and lay his hand on her.  How can he deny Teddy's request?

[JoanP]

"I also can't picture the boys as black and found my mind pictures them as white."

  Annie, I don't think there is anything wrong with your mind, but DO think that Ann Patchett has accomplished what she set out to do...

Reread Chapter 8 - the "conversation"  - I think you'll get that mental image of Tennessee if you do.

[Babi]

 Good point, JOANP.   Have you noticed that once you get to know a person, you no longer
notice the color of their skin, or the scar on their face, or any of the other little things that were
so noticeable when they were strangers?   Patchett is making us see all these different people
as individuals, as personalities, and we forget the differences.

  A quick sidebar.  The quick trip to the Moser apartment to pick up clothes for Kenya revives memories for Bernard.  Don’t you all remember the church spaghetti suppers?  And the fish fries?  Or the pancake breakfasts?  And of course, the pot luck dinners, where every matron in the church brought one of her best dishes. Catholic, Methodist, charismatic, whatever! 

   What did you think of Tennessee’s opinions of Bernard Doyle?  Though she had never even spoken with him, he was closely observed over years.  “She could tell his moods were
consistent for the most part and that he was fair.”   He demonstrated in small ways his tenderness and love for the adopted boys.  “He never pandered to the boys, he wasn’t trying to make them into friends instead of sons, but he was proud of them......and they had grown up in the light of his pride.”    All in all, a man I’d like and  be glad to know.

 

[Steph]

Thats interesting. I just tried to picture them all and I too see the boys as white.. Kenya as black.. Hmm. I would guess that somehow Patchett does this to my head. Interesting..

[Ella Gibbons]

So what did cause Father Sullivan's loss of faith?

[ANNIE]

I don't think he had a loss of faith per se, Ella. He was looking at God in a different way.  His thoughts were that maybe we were already able to know God, right here on earth; in our own present lives. If you read the last paragraph on Pg 130, all of 131, plus the first paragraph on 32,  Fr Sullivan's ideas are pretty well presented there and he realizes that he has not lost his faith.

Joanp, I did reread chap 8 and could only find that Tennessee was tall, 3 sizes bigger than the ghost Tennessee, had  lighter skin.  
The only description of her face was the one given after the car hit her when she had an awful cut on her forehead.

I am sure glad that I am not the only one who pictured the boys as white.

[bookad]

so glad I looked at my computer today...been itching to continue reading the book & that explains why yesterday some of the posts I was thinking how did they arrive at that idea(when the explanation came from the continued reading of the book)...oh well
Deb

[JoanP]

Deb- keep an eye on thé schedule in thé heading-
I am in thé  car on my cell- keyboard too small - more later!

[bookad]

I know, I know--this isn't the first time I've messed up on that account
do not follow instructions well I guess
but thanks for the reminder

[Steph]

Ah ha. probably runs with scissors as well.
Father Sullivan is interesting to me. He is so upset about the women and their miracles.. He seems to actualy be embarassed.

[Babi]

I agree with ANNIE re. John Sullivan's faith. I think it's natural enough, toward the
end of life, to recognize more clearly it's beauty and meaning. He had not lost faith
in God, he simply a few things differently.

  My favorite part of the book,  the run.  I swear, I felt as uplifted and free reading this as if I
were running myself.  For a while, I ran all over the campus with my roommate, until the dorm
mother ‘suggested’ that was unladylike and we should stop.  I certainly was no racer, but I
loved the freedom of running.  Kenya was fantastic. “They were no longer waiting to see how fast she could go.  Now they wanted to see how long it would be before she crashed, and if that was what they were waiting for they might as well sit down and get comfortable.”

  You know, the one part of this book I don’t like was the extraneous twist to the plot, of
discovering the Kenya is not really this woman’s daughter.  She is the mother of the boys,
but Kenya was the child of her best friend...the real 'Tennessee Moser’.  So Kenya is not
really the boy’s sister.  What was the point of all this?  No one ever learns that fact; it has
no impact on the plot.  Why include it?   If Kenya had learned of it she would have been
devastated.

[marjifay]

I agree, Babi, there seemed no point in having Kenya's mom be someone beside the person she knew as her mother.  This is just one of the loose ends that that irritated me and could/should have been omitted IMO.  Others: Doyle's wondering if Kenya would sue them if they took her home (?), and his thinking that he would forever insist that the car that hit Tennessee did not have its headlights on (The author mentions several times that others noticed the lights were on -- what was that about??)  

I guess I read too many detective novels, where if something odd is casually mentioned, you can be fairly sure it is a clue will be explained later on in the story.  

And what about the title, "Run."  Altho I liked the part where Kenya ran, it was at the end of the book, almost as an afterthought.  Did the theme of running have anything to do with the main story?  Couldn't it just as well have been titled, "Doyle's Family." Or, how about
"Doyle's Black Family"?  lol.  

Marj

[JoanP]

Father Sullivan is interesting to me too, Steph.  That's a good observation - he seems embarassed at the assertions of the two women that he actually has the power to heal.  I agree with Ella too - he seems depressed, feels useless.  There is no one in the world except Teddy of course, who cares enough to come to visit him.  And now all of a sudden, there are lines of people waiting at his door to come to see him - for something that he knows he didn't do.

I'm incline to believe that Tennessee is delirious, hallucinating following her surgery.  Her friend, the real Tennessee Moser is on her mind - for good reason.  I'd think we'd all be concerned if we thought there was a possibility of dying without revealing to the child her true identity.  On the other hand, the real Tennessee has died too.  Do you think that this Tennessee owes Kenya an explanation?

Babi, I can think of one reason why Ann Patchett may have included this "twist" - but want to see what others think before I say it.  I think she's saying something about what makes a family.  Is it blood ties - or something else?

[JoanP]

Marj, Doyle's wondering if they'd be sued for taking Kenya home from the hospital for the night and his insistance on whether the headlights were on  - sounds like questions a lawyer like Doyle would be concerned with.  It showed how his mind works - as opposed to Teddy - always wanting to help.   I think Patchett was trying to tell us what kind of a person Doyle was. To me, he doesn't sound like a person who would lie about who was driving the car.  Nor do I think the state police would have lied about what they found at the scene of the accident - just as a favor to Doyle.

We still have a few more chapters to go.  While I agree with you, the main reason for the title seems to be the act of "running"...the author raises more questions about where one is running, or running from.  I'm thinking of Tip ...and Teddy...and Kenya.    I guess we know what Sullivan is  running.  The question is - will he ever stop and live his life?

Since we have some time to go before the end of this two week discussion, let's slow down and discuss Chapter 10 separately from the final chapter, which is sort of an epilogue.
I've tweaked the schedule a bit to reflect this change.  Of course you can always look back at previous chapters to post anything that you think reflects what Ann Patchett was trying to convey with this novel.

Thanks everyone - you've been great!