21st Century Literature discussion

Welcome to the discussion for Sleeping Giants.

How do you feel about the format (mostly interviews)?
Does this make you feel closer to the characters, since everything you hear from them is in their own words? Or does the format build distance between you and the characters?

Who do you think is asking the questions? Is it always the same speaker? What kind of authority does he have?

If I just had the format described to me, I would be inclined to suspect that the format would remove all the tension, all the immediacy from the narrative, but it doesn't, not at all. At times the book was even a real page turner.

I read this in a day back in June. I liked the book and the story. I don't think it helped make the characters seem closer or further away. I just think the author did a good job building the characters. I do not know who the interrogator was but ended the book thinking it had been and that at some point his seemingly unfettered authority had been roped in. I even put the book on my keeper shelf so I'd have it if I wanted a refresher before reading the second in the series.

I listened to the audio version in about 2-3 days so am not sure what happened in which part of the book.

I enjoyed the format. I'm not sure what it was like to read, but it was great in the audio version. It created distance for some characters but drew others in, especially as we see them progress throughout the book. I'll hold off on saying more about that until we get to the whole book discussion.

I'm not sure who the interrogator was either but I got the sense it was the same speaker. He seems to have broad authority, or at least connections to people in positions of power and/or with deep pockets.

I really enjoyed this book and am very excited for the second one to come out.

Still busy will contribute soonest

(I have finally read a book at the same time it is being discussed!)

I loved this book. The format worked for me. It was interesting and innovative, and there was indeed dramatic tension throughout. I assumed the narrator was the same person throughout, because the other characters seemed to react to the narrator as though they knew him (her?).

I read this first part last night and I really like it. I was immediately drawn into the story but who is this interviewer? I really want to know more about him/her.

This has some interesting parallels to the movie Arrival, which I just saw on Friday night. Aliens requiring global cooperation. Interesting.

I haven't seen Arrival. Did you think it was a good movie, or merely "interesting"?

I thought it was excellent. We rented it from Redbox but then I ordered a copy because I want to own it and watch again.

I thought the format is a least a cousin to the epistolary novel. It has the same potential for indirectness, but handled well it can still be exciting.

I like the format so far. It's very mysterious. We only know three to four sides of what's going on right now. We know a few Americans are searching the U.S. for this machine's body parts but we don't know what exactly is going on in other parts of the world. Only that this interviewer seems to be controlling the entire operation. Is this operator an American? Or a foreigner? Or an alien?

Does anyone think that the appearances of Dr. Rose Franklin and Kara are a clue that maybe they truly are "special" in some way?

Molly, I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "special"?

The interviewer gives off the impression that Dr. Rose and Kara and Ryan were picked because they were different, special. And Ryan points out that Dr. Rose and Kara look a lot alike. Their appearances are very striking according to Ryan. I found this interesting and wondered if they aren't like every other human on this planet. Maybe they were really meant to find these body parts.

That is a really interesting observation. I had missed the physical resemblance. Later in the book there is more information about a possible explanation for why Kara is "special," but I had not connected the theory to Dr. Franklin.