Bonnie's book club has always intrigued me mostly because she's and english teacher, and english teachers just know good books! So I decided that while I was waiting for this small child to come join us, that I would preoccupy my mind by reading the books in her book club.
The book for January is Wonder by R. J. Palacio.
+What did you think of Palacio's style of point of view- switching up who was telling the story so often? What did you like and not like about it?
-I really liked the way that Palacio had the different view points of all of the different characters. There were times when I would read one situation, Halloween, and wonder how another person was thinking. I wasn't the biggest fan of the way he had wrote Justin's view. It is much easier to read when I'm not trying to capitalize letters and figure out where punctuation goes.
+ Did you read The Julian chapters? Did you like them?
I didn't but I can tell you that if I'm in the hospital and need something to read, that will be the first thing I pull up. I am very interested to see Julian's side of it all and why he was so cruel.
+ Favorite minor character? (Not Auggie)
My favorite character was Daisy, Auggie's dog. I cried when she died (spoiler alert!) I loved that Palacio made her out to be Auggie's safe haven. It reminds me so much of my Sky that I really fell in love with her and pictured how Sky comforts me when I'm feeling down.
+ What did Palacio do in telling this story to make it "real" for you?
I don't know if it was his expressive writing (most likely it) or just that I can connect a little to it all but it all felt real to me. I felt sad when there was something emotional going on. I connected with Via when her friends were being little high school girls. When the kids were being rude to Auggie, I never was teased for any physical dysfunctions that I have, but as I'm sure all kids are, I was teased growing up for many things and I was definitely more partial to Auggie and the way that he was feeling. I still can't imagine how it would be to know that you have had many surgeries to fix your appearance and it still was an issue.
I don't know if it was his expressive writing (most likely it) or just that I can connect a little to it all but it all felt real to me. I felt sad when there was something emotional going on. I connected with Via when her friends were being little high school girls. When the kids were being rude to Auggie, I never was teased for any physical dysfunctions that I have, but as I'm sure all kids are, I was teased growing up for many things and I was definitely more partial to Auggie and the way that he was feeling. I still can't imagine how it would be to know that you have had many surgeries to fix your appearance and it still was an issue.
+ How did Wonder affect you emotionally?
Mostly how I said above. I could connect to a lot of it. I felt like I could connect to almost every main character. In high school I was quite the social butterfly and had friends in every 'group'. This is something that my brother brought up about me a couple of weeks ago when I went to dinner with him. I had a big heart for people who didn't have many friends and were alone. So I connected with Summer and how she became friends with Auggie. If I am emotionally attached to a character it makes the book all the better for me.
This book was a wonderful read and I'm so excited to finish my current book so I can go back and read The Julian Chapters.
If you haven't read this book, you need to. And if you want to join Bon's book club, next months book is Elizabeth Smart's 'My Story'. I've already read it and that is a MUST READ! I couldn't put it down! Go now, do not pass go, do not collect $2,000!
really though.
Mostly how I said above. I could connect to a lot of it. I felt like I could connect to almost every main character. In high school I was quite the social butterfly and had friends in every 'group'. This is something that my brother brought up about me a couple of weeks ago when I went to dinner with him. I had a big heart for people who didn't have many friends and were alone. So I connected with Summer and how she became friends with Auggie. If I am emotionally attached to a character it makes the book all the better for me.
This book was a wonderful read and I'm so excited to finish my current book so I can go back and read The Julian Chapters.
If you haven't read this book, you need to. And if you want to join Bon's book club, next months book is Elizabeth Smart's 'My Story'. I've already read it and that is a MUST READ! I couldn't put it down! Go now, do not pass go, do not collect $2,000!
really though.
I had those same thought about Justin's chapter. My 4 teenagers all text in complete sentences, using punctuation, as do most of their friends, so I often feel like this sort of thing is a little fake. I know there are lots of teens who do write like that, but usually not the "smart crowd" (it was at that table where Olivia met Justin) or the crowd with the more advanced electronics (we were given the impression that this was a school where most of the students were at least a little wealthy). That type of thing was more common when people were using flip phones and mini keyboards, and in my opinion it was largely left behind when so many teens converted to smart phones. - My comments are here - https://www.facebook.com/fieldsofheatherblog/posts/1056299051052909
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ReplyDeleteYES on Daisy! It's funny because I feel like after you have a dog you are so much more sensitive to all dogs everywhere. I thought my heart was going to burst when she died. And I totally agree on the Justin chapters- that kind of stuff just always distracts me. I highly recommend the Julian chapters but I understand the hesitancy to pay the $2 when you already bought the book. My book came with those chapters. Thanks so much for joining in this month! I emailed you about February too :)
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