The Smart Chicks Book Club discussion

Here is one question to get us started. Feel free to add your own.

Is the childhood world painted for us more beautiful than it is terrible, or more terrible than beautiful?

There is something deceptively effortless about this book, pulling you into a fast read, often in one sitting. Yet there is also something richer happening below the surface: a poetic cadence, a deft imagining of the unimaginable, and a story that dances between innocence and darkness.

The beauty here is easy to spot; there is a sweetness is the description of the main character's surroundings. The darkness, for me, showed itself in the vulnerability of children in a world of adults--adults that, according to the text, are essentially still children on the inside.

In the end, this childhood world seemed more beautiful than terrible.

I don't think I'm going to get this one from the library before the end of October. I am 43rd in line and the queue isn't moving swiftly at all.

Tracy wrote: "I don't think I'm going to get this one from the library before the end of October. I am 43rd in line and the queue isn't moving swiftly at all."

You are welcome to come back to this discussion whenever you can.

Unfortunately, I just wasn’t able to get into the characters in this book. According to the author, the book first began as a short story and I feel that it should have stayed that way. It read like a children’s book with only a few adult underlying themes.

I enjoyed the last chapter from the grown man’s perspective and I wish the author would have used flashbacks instead of it just being written in the voice of a 7 year old. I also wish the author would have explored why the man was so haunted in the end and why he kept returning to the “ocean” over and over again. I think this would make the book read more like an adult fantasy rather than a children’s story.

To answer your question, I think the boy created a terrible but magical reality for himself to try and explain his current situation – almost like a defense mechanism. He was a lonely, awkward boy who was not accepted by his father. I don’t think Ursula was as terrible as he made her seem, but he needed an outlet to explore the feelings he was experiencing based on his intuition that something was wrong (i.e. his father was having an affair with her). The only beauty that I really found was the boy’s ability to create his own magical world to try and explain a confusing situation.

Dara wrote: "Unfortunately, I just wasn’t able to get into the characters in this book. According to the author, the book first began as a short story and I feel that it should have stayed that way. It read l..."

Your idea of having the book written from flashbacks is a very good one, and I imagine that would have made for a completely different experience. Also, the notion that none of the magic really took place, but instead was a product of the boy's imagination, is also a very valid take. Personally, this sort of fantasy that makes us question if it really happened or not is a growing favorite of mine.

Thank you for reading and adding your thoughts here.

I am joining the party on this one late, but I really, really liked it. I loved the boy's reality - the imagery was amazing and even if it was a window dressing of his own less happy childhoo - the web and story he weaved was fascinating. It wasn't what I expected it but I loved it. I liked that the boy/man didn't remember the magic of his youth - I think that holds true. I also loved the following quote:

“Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. Truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.”
Neil Gaiman

It all really resonated and I truly enjoyed it. Thanks for a great pick even if I'm late to the party.