Jodi Picoult Books Reading Group. discussion

I finished it all this weekend. Opinions?

I am at the beginning of the book and not sure what I think about it. Does it get better after the first couple chapters? It's not horrible, but it's different... that's the best word I can come up with. Good writing, as always, but I'm not sure where the story line is headed.

I'm about 100 pages into it... It is different. My favorite character so far is the chubby chick, Maggie and Lucius (sp?)

But i'm not sure about it yet either...

I'm probably about half way through it so far. Again, she's tackled a couple of delicate subjects, but I'm finding some of the religious references a bit difficult to get my head around.

Has anyone else noticed the similarities to Stephen Kings 'The Green Mile'???

Yes "The Green Mile" and also Da Vinci Code with all the religious stuff such as the Gnostic Gospels!

Some of the religious stuff left me feeling kind of weird (for a lack of a better word.) So, I didn't enjoy it has much as I thought I would. But, I didn't hate it. I gave it 3 stars.I don't think I could ever hate a Jodi book.

* Spoilers*



I finished last weekend. I was annoyed by the Green Mile like stuff too, she even acknowledges it when Crash (Cash? I forget already!) burns himself and calls Shay Green Mile. I don't really get why she had so many similarities, even with him bringing the bird back to life.

Even though I was annoyed by that stuff I wound up really liking it in the end. She has a way of putting things so they just break your heart, like when June says that when you hold the hand of your daughter for the first time you're holding the hand you'll be holding when you die, and when Maggie talks about not knowing what it feels like to have a child grow underneath your heart-made me weep.

I think ultimately I liked this one better than 19 Minutes or the Tenth Circle, I was bothered by the way she wrapped things up in the end of both but I didn't feel that way about this one.

What was everyone's take on the gum? When Father Michael gets Shay's stuff there are three packs of Bazooka in it. Did you take that to mean that he was replacing the gum with a whole piece each time he passed it on? I wasn't sure what to make of that. Shay having the page from the Gospel of Thomas makes it seem like he was manipulating the whole time but he did definitley seem to have some miraculous powers, which continued with Claire. Also why do you think Shay said he forgave June at the end? Because he knew she blamed him? Wasn't sure what to make of that.

I'm kind of sad I'm done with it, now I have a long time to wait before there's a new one!

I'm half-way through it now, and it's starting to interest me more. I don't want to tell which part I'm at right now in case others haven't read it yet. I'll post back here next week when I finish it and mabye those of us who are done can discuss it. It's a really interesting book. Not my favorite of her books, but definitely worth reading.

Spoiler....


Ok, I just finished Change of Heart. JP has such a way of surprising you at the end. I did really enjoy reading it, but as usual, I want more!

***This contains spoilers***I finished it yesterday. I'm in agreement with the other readers who found similarities to the Green Mile - I was a little put off by that and thought to myself, "Jodi! You're better than this!" but off course, she has her way of pulling it together.

I was pleased to see a re-appearance of Ian Fletcher, a character I really enjoyed from 'Keeping Faith' and I was glad for his part in opening up the story. I was a little confused at the end when Father Michael opens up Shay's things and finds the page of the Gospel of Thomas - it seemed that all the religious talk before that, all the information on the Gnostic Gospels, etc. was pointless when Michael realizes that he's memorized a few lines.

I suspected the abuse the first time June meets with Shay when he says "She's better off" - I was afraid I knew what was coming. I almost wished that Shay had been more vindicated for that - that it would have really come out, but I think all in all, what was meant to happen, did.

The book could have gone on for about 50 more pages and I wouldn't have minded. I would have loved to see how it worked out with Maggie and Christian, what path Father Michael decided to take, and how Claire was doing (especially after the final few lines of the book!). Bottom line though - I'd read anything Jodi Picoult writes and I loved this book just as I've loved the others!

Nikki! I did not recognize Ian Fletcher as a previous character in 'Keeping Faith', another JP book that I really loved.

So far, I think this may be my favorite book.

The character I could relate to the most was Maggie, though I was frustrated by her low self-esteem. I got the impression that there was a lot of Jodi in Maggie...did anyone else think that?

I really enjoyed Change of Heart, but not really more than My Sister's Keeper or The Pact, which are my two favorites by her - I just enjoyed it in a different sense. I was surprised that she chose to write about the topics that she did, like religion, but every time I read a JP book I learn more about a particular subject that I really didn't know a lot about. I love her character development also, which we got a lot of in this new book because there were so many characters involved. Another good one, I can't wait for her to write another one!

PS, did anyone see the TV movie The Tenth Circle? I forgot to TiVo it but I heard it was pretty good - thoughts?!

Well, I am 372 pages in now. I also suspected something fishy when Shay first said "She was better off...". I'm not sure how I feel about this book. 3 stars, or 4? I like that I am learning a little about other views from the religious discussions in it, but certainly nothing to change my own beliefs (not that I wanted to). And I did like Maggie- she was very real to me, more like a girlfriend than just a character.

I agree about the fishy thing with Shay saying that the daughter was better off dead. It was almost too much information, I knew at that point that the mother definitely did not know what Shay knew.

Shhhhhh....I am only about 125 pages into it. I will keep in touch though...


dara

I read it and it reminded me of The Green Mile so it wasn't my favorite book from her. I loved almost all of her other books so she is still by far my favorite author =)

BIG SPOILER I was bothered by the mom's lack of perception of the sexual abuse and indifferent attitude of accepting Shay's sacrifice. I guess as a mom I would be beyond upset if I found my daughter's panties in a sofa cushion--I mean if I didn't put them there who did? I would also have to seriously talk to the donor of my other daughter's heart before accepting it upon realization that he tried to save my first child. If you read Mercy, it reminds me of the imbalance in relationships--very rarely are both parts "equal" and one is always willing to expect more and take more than the other who also gives too much. I think as a parent I definitely would "allow" someone to give my child more to save the child.

Anna, I was also very bothered by the mom's infifference in Change of Heart. But then I try and put myself in her shoes, with all that she went through and all that she lost, it makes me feel more compassion. It's easy to understand how single-minded she was in trying to save her last remaining daughters life. I only wish something had been done about her being buried with her molester.

Joanie, you totally quoted my favorite lines from the book. I like how she said, "Family's not a thing, it's a place... it's where all the memories get kept."

I also felt gypped by the Green Mile plagersisms. It was way too similar to feel original at all.

I would have been happy without having Father Michael go through Shay's things. It didn't seem necessary to me to put that shadow of a doubt in our minds.

I think Shay forgave June because he knew she hated him and blamed him for taking her little girl's innocence. That is a big accusation.

"...how many of us had tried to forget something traumatic... only to find it printed on the back of our eyelids, tattooed on our tongues?"

Shay said, "I forgive you." to June because he knew that she knew the truth and still chose to go on with the execution as planned so that Claire could take his heart. June could have spoken up and told what she knew (to save Shay) but decided not to to save her daughter.

He forgave her for that....

At least....that's what I got from his last words.

Just finished it. Whoever said they were not sure where this was heading, keep reading. As always Jodi gets you thinking about hard ethical questions.

Angela wrote: "I am at the beginning of the book and not sure what I think about it. Does it get better after the first couple chapters? It's not horrible, but it's different... that's the best word I can come up..."
Keep reading, as always Jodi gets you thinking about hard ethical questions. You will see the twist in this book a little earlier than in some of her others
Rachael wrote: "I finished it all this weekend. Opinions? "

Anne wrote: "I'm probably about half way through it so far. Again, she's tackled a couple of delicate subjects, but I'm finding some of the religious references a bit difficult to get my head around.
Yea I had problems with all the biblical references and the insitence on his being Jesus etc. But she puts this in perspective in a really interesting way at the end

Has an..."

Yes, this book get really good and i am so glad i read it. It has some humor hidden in the sadness, and it tells you the truth about the night of the "murders"

I loved this book.

I loved this book, too - it is my favorite JP book so far!

Sarah, Jennifer and Holly - I agree with you! This book was one of my favorites by JP!

**SPOILERS**

This is also my fave by JP. It was actually the one I chose to read after "My Sister's Keeper", so it was one of my first. I feel as you all have mentioned about the similarities to "The Green Mile", and I also think- especially now that I am an avid JP reader- that it was almost beneath her. At the same time, it turned out to have plenty of differences and if that is what she had to do to create this most beautiful story, then I am so glad that she did. Britta- I agree with you about her being buried with Kurt. I don't think I could have allowed my child's body to stay in there with that man forever. And as far as the religious symbols go, I did feel kinda strange about that at first (as I am a Christian), but I realized that Shay himself doesn't honestly believe he is Jesus, though he is a similar martyr to give himself in death so that another might live. Also, there is a quote in the book by Voltaire that says "If God didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent Him." As I have been subject to people in the prison system, if anyone needs a shred of hope, it is these individuals. As much as we tend to think that all of them are hardened criminals, there are some people there who are innocent. There are some there who we can have sympathy for- people who murdered someone to save their children, etc. And in a place where all hope seems gone and compassion seems a thing of the past, it may just have been necessary for them to believe that Shay might be "Jesus-like", if only to hold hope in something. So maybe Shay was a martyr for more than just Claire. He put himself out there to be ridiculed just so he could give these men the hope they so desperately desired. I loved this book so very much. I can only hope that out of the many I have yet to read, I will find one that holds a candle to the way this one made me feel. And as for the ending, we all know that sometimes life doesn't give everyone a happy ending. This is the way it had to be, and if that was good enough for Shay, its good enough for me :)

PS: One other thing...what do the rest of you think about Shay having the picture of Father Michael? How do you suppose he got it?