Storied Life of A.J. Fikry ~ Gabrielle Zeven ~ June Book Club Online

[Leah]

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.

June Book Club Online - Starts June 6

Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
by Gabrielle Zeven

You'll fall in love with Fikry, who owns a bookstore.  Does he have a future?  Will there be any bookstores in the future? Let's discuss it! Join us in June.  This book is perfect for the lovely month of June, you'll laugh!  Yes, you will - OUTLOUD - We did. If you are interested please post, we will post our discussion schedule shortly. SCHEDULE JUNE 6-9  CHAPTERS 1-3 JUNE 10-15 CHAPTERS 4-6 (Through "The Jumping Frog") JUNE 16 CHAPTER 7 "The girls in Their Summer Dresses." JUNE 18 PART II. CHAPTERS 1-3 JUNE 26. FINISH BOOK QUESTIONS, END OF BOOK   1. AJ hates e-readers and big chain bookstores. How do you feel about them. How do you think e-readers will change the world of books? 2. "The easiest way to get old is to be technologically behind" says AJ's mother. What do you think of that? 3. When AJ hears what the doctor says, his first thought is "At least I will never have to read the rest" of Proust. What would you love to have an excuse to leave undone? (say I who used these questions as an excuse to leave the dishes undone). 4. Lambiase tells Ismay that she saved AJ's life when she stole the manuscript. What does he mean? Do you agree? 5. "We read to know we're not alone." Do you agree. Why do you read? 6. "we are not quite short stories....In the end, we are collected works." What does AJ mean by this. 7. In the end, AJ discovers what is important, but can't get Maya to understand. What is the author saying here. 8. The end goes back to the beginning. Why? 9. What (if anything) is the moral of the story?

Discussion Leaders: Joan K and Pat H

=================================================

Maybe the ethereal quality that PatH mentioned is partly created by the omniscient narrator! I got that feeling, too.

Ah-ha! Way back when A.J.'s "absence seizure" was first mentioned, I remember thinking that it was NOT an alcohol-related blackout. It was when he was in the police station and he told Lambiase that he had experienced them as a child and there was the suggestion that they were stress related. (Maybe a blackout would have been preferable as opposed to being brought on by brain disease!☹️) Sad song!!

[bellamarie]

Yes, PatH., "ethereal" is exactly what I have felt throughout the story, that is why I kept saying I thought the narrator was a spirit.  Leah and I have used the word "omniscient." 

I'll hold off posting anything else til tomorrow.  No problem JoanK., those things happen. 

Leah we are posting at the same time! 

[JoanK]

I posted the last set of questions above in the heading.

[Leah]

Great Minds, Bellamarie!🤗

[Leah]

[5. "We read to know we're not alone." Do you agree. Why do you read?

It is inevitable that the roster of characters in a book or short story, memoir or biography all act as mirrors that offer opportunities to get a clearer view of all the 'parts' of myself. I read the narrative, and one 'part' or another has a response. It could be a knee jerk reaction accompanied by any number of emotions, or a less obvious one like pity or empathy. I might be surprised by a flare-up of fear disguised as anger or judgment. If my internal (dare I say, my more 'omniscient'?)  😇 observer self is in play, I may be able to become more aware, more open, more able to perceive my own inner workings: like conflicts, assumptions, prejudices, defenses, sensitivities, among other tendencies. I can do this all in private so when I go out into the 'real world' I can take what I've learned from Amelia, A.J., Ismay, Lambiase, and even the inquisitive customer in the bookstore and use it to inform the interactions I have with the characters in my world! Yeah!

I see that this also addresses question 6. "we are not quite short stories....In the end, we are collected works." What does AJ mean by this?

7. In the end, AJ discovers what is important, but can't get Maya to understand. What is the author saying here.
Maybe that the ineffable-ness of LOVE cannot be expressed in words, but by gazing into another's eyes in silence?

Active Reading makes me a better person - how's that?

(Just noticed that the time on my posts is an hour ahead of WI time.)

[mabel1015j]

I got very far behind in the reading, but maybe I can answer some of the opinion questions. I do feel sorry for the effect that ebooks and big-box stores are having on small, local bookstores. However, I have never been much of a book buyer, except for those non-fiction books I have used as resources for teaching, and an occasional fiction book that i loved. I love, love, love libraries.

And two winters ago we had terrible weather. Not wanting to go out, I found, and now love, borrowing ebooks from the library. I live only 3 blocks from our library and still love holding a book in my hands, so I am still there every two or three weeks. But either way I'm not helping any bookstores. It's a conflict I have not resolved for myself.

I read to escape, to learn about other people and other places and other times. I like reading about people making decisions that would never have been on my list of options, for whatever reason. I believe having more information makes for better decisions. Seeing the limited options that women have had in past history makes me very grateful that I've lived in the latter 20th century and the 21st century. Reading about the drama and perils that others have had in their lives makes me grateful that I've lived in two relatively drama-free households. Thank you Mom and Dad, siblings, husband and children!

Jean

[JoanK]

To my frustration, my internet was down this morning, which is why I'm so late coming in. It just came up.

LEAH: how well you put it. I don't know which part to quote:

" when I go out into the 'real world' I can take what I've learned from Amelia, A.J., Ismay, Lambiase, and even the inquisitive customer in the bookstore and use it to inform the interactions I have with the characters in my world! Yeah!"

JEAN: I love libraries too. And I feel guilty that I love my e-reader so much. I'm afraid it will change the world of books in ways I don't like. But Amelia is right: I CAN ENLARGE THE TYPE! And I can get books when I can't get to the library. It's easy to exhaust the library in any one particular area that you're interested in, and there's so much more available on e-readers.

[Leah]

Holding a REAL book in my hands calls on all of my senses - I especially like the smell of a book. My main gripe about ebooks is that the text shifts around which makes it harder than
I want it to be to relocate a particular passage. With a 'static' book it's easier. I remember whether it was on the left side of the spine or the right, and whether it was near the top, middle, or bottom of a page. Much more user-friendly! 🤓 It seems essential especially when you are part of a book discussion group, eh?

I am comforted by the presence of books.  Oh, and I am fond of pointing that the technology world has hijacked the word "digital" - it used to be a direct reference to human fingers - anatomically WE are the ones with digits!! 👌

[bellamarie]

Ahhhhh....finally a quiet moment to myself after a very busy day with church, shopping, visiting with family & friends.  It just amazes me how time flies, being retired I really thought it would drag on and on. 

JoanK., I am going to tackle questions 1 & 2 since I think they go hand in hand.

1. AJ hates e-readers and big chain bookstores. How do you feel about them. How do you think e-readers will change the world of books?

2. "The easiest way to get old is to be technologically behind" says AJ's mother. What do you think of that?

One of my most favorite movies of all time is "You've Got Mail" with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.  They begin emailing each other not knowing they live close by and see each other in public places often.  She owns her mother's small quaint bookstore on the corner and is struggling to keep it going, while he and his father have just built FOX BOOKS a huge Barnes and Noble type bookstore around the corner.  This movie makes me cry everytime I watch it when she has to finally close the little family owned bookstore.  I absolutely LOVE bookstores, I frequent our Barnes and Noble, I go to Books A Million and to my surprise today I found Ollie's has discounted books by the thousands!!!!  Jean I have no problem buying books.  They are my treasures even after reading them, glancing at them reminds me of how I felt when I read them for the first time.  So........ when Barnes and Noble came out selling the NOOK, me being the addictive techy person I am had to go out and buy the Nook Color!  Oh wow what joy to be able to have tons of books at my fingertips.  I learned how to borrow from my local library on my Nook and purchase books.  But........ I much like A.J. was a bit disappointed in the thought of how these devices were going to affect our bookstores.  Needless to say in time that is exactly what has happened.  I can totally relate to how A.J. was so upset with his mother giving then all these e-readers.  Imagine they will not be spending as much time together in the bookstore, browsing and talking about what books to read.

I am torn between owning e-books on my nice beautiful ipad, (the Nook color sits now reminding me of the toys in the movie Toy Story   ) Okay sorry, I digress....anyway, I too love the feel of books, the smell of books, browsing in my library or bookstore picking one up, glancing, placing it back down and just interacting with these objects which bring me so much joy when I read.  So, my conclusion is this, I never want to get too far behind with technology, I love my laptop, iphone, ipad, and ipod.  Yes, at times I need my very bright grandkids to show me certain apps, and ways to change settings when they update or is it upgrade things.  But I will happily enjoy all the devices I own, and continue to browse Barnes and Noble as long as they are still in business, and continue to take my grandkids to the local libraries.  We don't have to choose either or, we can have the best of two worlds. 

Jean, living three blocks from a library is a dream come true for me.  But, as you said, there are times you need a book and weather does not permit you to get out so you can borrow it from you library online.....or give into purchasing.  Or not!   

My dream when I retired was to own a small bookstore/coffee shop where people could come in and hang out with their computers, books, devices whatever and just enjoy time there.  I can see realistically today, that is not going to become a reality for me.  People walk holding their devices, and drink their StarBucks coffee on the go.  It's a fast pace world today, and the younger generations I feel will never experience what we all have with the love of slowing down, relaxing with a book and cup of coffee beside you...... and maybe your pet curled up at your feet. 

A.J. and his mother were right with how they saw things.  Look how the e-reader helped him later on. 

Leah, once again we were posting at the very same time.  Once again I agree with you, it is so much easier to find a spot in the actual book vs. the tablet.  One false move and you can lose track on the e-reader and take a while to find your place.  I love having my books stacked next to my favorite chair.  People come over and say, "Wow do you read a lot?"  I say, as often as I can!

[nlhome]

Love libraries, buy books, read books, as I find the readers, even the basic Kindle that my husband uses, hard on my eyes. I also learned, from watching my husband, that I can drop my book, sit on my book, lose my book, and I'm only out the cost of that one book, not the cost of the device; also, I don't have to remember to plug my book in, it's always ready to read. A Kindle without a charge is a whole library with a locked door, although my husband has learned to have a couple of books loaded to his IPhone as well for those times.

Today Parade Magazine has its "Summer Reading Issue." Ann Patchett picked 75 books that represent the best of the past 75 years (Parade's 75th anniversary, I believe). I was interested to see that she included several books of short stories, among them A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor. 

[bellamarie]

nlhome, You are so right, about a non charged ipad/kindle is like a locked library.  Interesting to hear A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories on the summer read list. 

[PatH]

I certainly wouldn't call it summer reading.  I've got her complete stories; they're masterpieces of character description, and mostly not as arbitrarily brutal as A Good Man, but you can't read more than one or two at a time without feeling that jumping off a cliff might be less painful.  I'm slowly working through the book over the years, but vacation reading it isn't.

I bet it's easier to keep track of where you put down a Kindle than a book.  For some reason, Fikry seems to have protective coloration, and I'm always looking for it.

[JoanK]

"it is so much easier to find a spot in the actual book vs. the tablet."

I agree. There is this wonderful bookmarking feature on my kindle, so, if I know when I read it that I'm  going to want to go back to it, it's actually easier. But I'm not always that smart.

I'm sure your husband has found the ways to stretch out a charge as long as possible (turning off the Wi-Fi connection the minute you've finished, always turning the kindle all the way off by holding the slide til the screen goes completely blank).

[JoanK]

On to OUR BOOK! Who's finished it? Who hasn't?

[bellamarie]

I have finished the book!

3. When AJ hears what the doctor says, his first thought is "At least I will never have to read the rest" of Proust. What would you love to have an excuse to leave undone? (say I who used these questions as an excuse to leave the dishes undone).

Laundry!   I used to do my laundry every Saturday when I worked, now I procrastinate and never know when I will go down to the laundry room to get it done.  Thank goodness it's just me and hubby and we have tons of clothes and underwear!! 

4. Lambiase tells Ismay that she saved AJ's life when she stole the manuscript. What does he mean? Do you agree?

To be honest I am not sure what Lambiase meant by this, I wonder if he was just trying to help Ismay not feel so guilty since she knows he found out she had it.  I think Maya saved A.J.'s life, if it needed saving.  He seemed to have been drinking himself to oblivion, so once Maya came into his life he seemed to get himself together.  It really did not seem to matter to him Tamerlane was no longer his way out of Alice Island, he found reason to remain there, fit in, and find happiness.  I am glad Lambiase told Ismay how important it is for A.J. to have the book back to help him with his brain surgery.   

[bellamarie]

JoanK.,  There is this wonderful bookmarking feature on my kindle, so, if I know when I read it that I'm  going to want to go back to it, it's actually easier.

Yes, there is also a bookmark, a highlight, and a notepad feature to the ipad so you can actually keep track of places in your book, and save important ideas you want to refer back to.  But....and this is very important, when using the ipad or kindle it is very difficult to post to this site without using another device such as your computer while using those features on the ipad or kindle.  There are pros and cons to tablets vs actual books and I think we have room in our lives for both.

[JoanK]

I agree!

[Frybabe]

I finished it a while back. I was left with the vague feeling of something unfinished at the end. Certainly I wanted to read more about Maya after AJ' s death. For example, what her were thoughts when she read his notes.

[JoanK]

Yes, the author leaves Maya and Amelia up in the air, doesn't she. No tidy ending for this book. What do you think of that?

[bellamarie]

5. "We read to know we're not alone." Do you agree. Why do you read?

Gosh I never thought about this before.  I don't think I have ever read to know I am not alone.  I read when I am alone and enjoy the time to myself.  I read for so many reasons, first and foremost because I simply love reading, I read to enrich my knowledge,  to relax, to enjoy the writings of authors, to keep my mind alert and to keep up on what is going on in the world.  I like all genres, mythology and science fiction are my least favorites.  I like books similar to how I like movies, I want them to be realistic, I want to be able to relate to them in some way and when I finish reading a book even if I didn't care for it, I want to close it feeling a little like I just spent valuable time with the characters, events, and places.

6. "we are not quite short stories....In the end, we are collected works." What does AJ mean by this.

I like this quote!  I think he means we evolve, we take from people, places and things and collect from them and we become a collection of them.  Life experiences along the way, in the end, appears to be a whole collection of our works and what our life was about....... becoming our life story.

[Leah]

Zevin left an opening for a sequel.

[bellamarie]

So we finally find out why Ismay took Tamerlane.  Marian Wallace has come to her with Maya asking for Daniel to help her financially.  Ismay takes Tamerlane to give to Marian in hopes she would take it, sell it and go away for good.  But I thought his was interesting:

One night, I go in.  A.J. is passed out as usual.  And Tamerlane is sitting on the table.  I should say here that I was with him the day he found Tamerlane.  Not that he ever offered to split the money with me, which probably would have been the decent thing to do.  Cheap bastard never would have been at that estate sale if not for me.  So I put
A. J. to bed, and I go out to the living room to clean up the mess, and I wipe everything down, and the last thing I do, without even really thinking about it, is I slip the book into my bag. 

So she did resent the fact A.J. had the book and never so much as offered to split the value with her.  This is why I had suspected she took it from the very time it was taken.  After hearing her explanation of Marian Wallace, Daniel and her part in the entire Maya situation, I don't feel as much dislike or blame toward Ismay as I did earlier.  They all made their choices in life, many not so good choices, so they all paid a price.  Some paid higher prices than others.

[bellamarie]

7. In the end, AJ discovers what is important, but can't get Maya to understand. What is the author saying here.

This part was heart wrenching for me.  "Maya, we are what we love.  We are love."  Maya is shaking her head.  "Dad, I'm sorry.  I don't understand."  "We aren't the things we collect. acquire, read.  We are, for as long as we are here, only love. The things we loved.  The people we loved.  And these, I think these really do live on."  She is still shaking her head.   "I can't understand you, Dad.  I wish I could.  Do you want me to get Amy?  Or maybe you could try to type it?"  He is sweating.  Conversing isn't fun anymore.  It used to be so easy.  All right, he thinks.  It it's gotta be one word, it's gotta be one word.  "Love?" he asks.  He prays it has come out right.  She furrows her brow and tries to read his face.  "Gloves?"  she asks.  "Are your hands cold, Dad?"  He nods and she takes his hands in hers.  His hands had been cold, and now they are warm, and he decided that he's gotten close enough for today.  Tomorrow, maybe he will find the words.

When my mother was lying in her hospital bed with a respirator, tubes in her unable to speak, I saw her look into my eyes trying so hard to communicate with me through her eyes.  The love we had for each other was so strong that I knew even though she could not use words to speak to me, I knew what her heart felt.  "LOVE." 

A.J. in the end realized that ultimately, love is what life is all about. 

8. The end goes back to the beginning. Why?

If A.J. were here, I suppose he would have answered this with: Shakespeare's King Lear Act 5, scene 3, Edmund, "The wheel is come full circle."


Or as the song goes........... "The Circle of Life"

[JoanK]

BELLAMARIE: you made me cry, remembering a similar time with my dad.

"A.J. in the end realized that ultimately, love is what life is all about."

I don't think you can tell anyone that: everyone has to discover it for themselves.

[bellamarie]

JoanK., You are so right.  We can never convey it to another person, everyone has to discover it for themselves.

[bellamarie]

9. What (if anything) is the moral of the story?

I had to take a day to think about this question.  A moral (from Latin morālis) is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim.

I saw so many lessons and messages to be learned in this story.  It begins with A.J. being incredibly rude to Amelia when she comes to show him the upcoming list of books.  He is determined to not like her favorite book, he is not open to her suggestions and mostly because he is so set in his snobbish way, that he doesn't even consider how he is treating another human being.  It is ironic how The Late Bloomer becomes a common link later.  Talk about.... Don't judge a book by it's cover.

Then there is how A.J. has to learn to change his life once Nicole dies, just as he seems all comfy in this little town bookstore, ignoring people around him, in comes Maya who simply turns his world upside down.  He allows himself to start caring for someone other than himself.  He goes from destructive unhealthy behaviors to wanting to give Maya a structural, good, healthy life and allows others to enter his heart and home.  Expect the unexpected, and be ready for anything.

Just as A.J.'s life seems to be all perfect with Maya, marrying Amelia, the bookstore is thriving, he has family and friends and they have bought a new home to look forward to fixing up for the next fifty years of their lives he gets hit with brain cancer.  Now he has to reassess everything.  He has little time left and he wants so badly to leave as much knowledge for Maya to help her in her future without him.  Make every minute count.

This story shows us we can change, there are second chances in life, you can learn to love again even when the first love seems like the perfect love, it shows us how books become a part of our lives and how we carry them with us once they have been read.  This story shows how small towns are about the people and their idiosyncrasies.  There is a reason people live in small towns, they want that feel of being a bit unreachable to the big city life, which ultimately becomes intimate with those living there.  When A.J. faced his cancer and dying I felt the town was going through it with him.  His mark on the town will be everlasting.  I like how Ismay and Labiase decided to buy the bookstore and expand it to other possibilities to keep people coming.  Change can be good.


I did not feel the author let the story it end without closure.  A.J. dies and will be remembered on Alice Island. Amelia decides she does not want to run a bookstore, sells it to Ismay and Lambiase, leaves Knightley Press and takes a job as a book buyer for a large general retailer in Maine.  Maya said she would get a scholarship to college and I have no doubt she did, and we know A.J. says on pg. 246, As he is reading, he finds that he wants to make a new list of short stories for Maya.  She is going to be a writer, he knows.

The very last sentence in the book takes us to the very beginning of the book..... Jacob walks down the history aisle and holds out his hand to the middle-aged man on the ladder.  "Mr. Lambiase, have I got a book for you!"

Life goes on...Love to the fullest, because you never know how much time you have on this earth.
[/b]

[JoanK]

A good summation, BELLAMARIE.

AAACK! I can't believe the month is over tomorrow.-- although don't stop posting if you still have something to say.

I'd like to hear at least a word from each of you. How did you find the book?

[Leah]

Good overview, Bellamarie! Nicely done.
This story will stay with me for a while yet.

It brings to mind the beginnings of the sourdough starter in my kitchen. Just a couple of ingredients common to every pantry are brought together and over a period of a couple of weeks it expands and develops unexpected qualities that will be combined with a few other ingredients to which significant heat and humidity are applied to produce unique new forms (characters) with their own unique characteristics in color, flavor, size, and form - and all are equally beautiful, valuable, tasty, and life-giving.

I plan to read it through again soon at a slower pace.

[bellamarie]

Leah, I like your sourdough analysis.  It only takes a few main ingredients, mixed with a few spices to make a wonderful recipe.  Apply that to life......   

I thought when JoanK., and PatH., announced we would be reading this book I had already read it a couple of years ago.  As we began reading it I did not recognize anything except the first few pages, so as I had said, I think I may have read the pages Amazon allows you to read before purchasing their books.  I do know now that I have read it with this book club, it will stay with me a very long time as well.  Thank you JoanK., and PatH., for the choice, and for moderating the discussion.  I really enjoyed this, and thank you to all who popped in and posted.  I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into preparing the questions that help with the discussion.  You ladies are wonderful!!



 

[JoanK]

Leah: wonderful analogy. I hope you're up for other book discussions in the future. You've added a lot to this one.

Bellamarie: thanks. I agree I'm wonderful, but not sure I'm a lady Thanks for your thoughtful contributions.

It was ELLA, not us who picked the book, and then was unable to lead. She hasn't picked a bad one yet, and she's leading next month, so get ready to join.

In the meanwhile, BARB will be posting a different Shakespeare sonnet every day, until we have read them all. It starts tomorrow (July 1st) in Poetry.

http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=176.msg283585#msg283585

[JoanK]

But we're not finished here. We still need a moral!

[nlhome]

I've been out of the discussion for a bit - family from out of state here.
I enjoyed the book, was sad about the ending but thought it ended well. Loose ends are a part of life. This was a book I'd looked at and decided not to read, then got it for this discussion. I'm glad it worked out that way.

Not sure about a moral.

[bellamarie]

Hmmm....  I posted a few morals I took away from the story in post 2231.  Anyone else care to share?

This is a really lovely article I found on small town bookstores, thought you all would enjoy!
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/12/the-bookstore-strikes-back/309164/

[JoanK]

NHOME: glad you liked it.

BELLAMARIE: interesting bookstore story.

yes, you did give a moral. Any others?

[Leah]

Bellamarie thoroughly summed up those possibilities, I think.

Rather than morals of a story, I find myself looking on that aspect to be more like 'advice received from friends' as I watched their life experiences unfold, merge, stagger, and finally discover the sea of love they were in all the time.

This has been a very friendly read all around. Thanks, Every One!

[JoanK]

I'm going to take a stab at a moral: when Zevin describes all these life events in the same flat tone, I hear "Life is a mixed bag: wonderful and terrible, depressing and funny, profound and trivial. No sense making a fuss about it: that's just the way things are. And they'll go on being that way after you close the book: there is no neat "The end.""

[JoanK]

LEAH: thank you! You added a lot. See you in another discussion.

And thanks to all our wonderful participants. You make leading a discussion fun.

I'll leave this open for another day or so. Off to read Shakespeare in poetry.

[Leah]

This article (link below) contrasts 'moral of a story' with 'theme' in fiction writing - maybe that is what you meant by the moral.
I think of it more as what this article calls the "current underneath the characters" - I like staying with that current or feeling and am not very good at trying to snag a succinctly expressed moral from it.
Anyway, this was a pretty interesting piece that I hope you all enjoy.
https://www.writingclasses.com/toolbox/ask-writer/does-a-story-have-to-have-a-moral

[Leah]

Thanks for taking the lead, JoanK. Being the book discussion leader might be a little like what a friend of mine calls "herding cats."😺

[JoanK]

LEAH:  "current underneath the characters."

That expresses it perfectly! Zavin's current is like the tornado scene in "The Wizard of Oz" where all kinds of things come floating by the window, stay awhile, and disappear. Except Dorothy's house comes to rest, and this  house doesn't.