Oakville Reads discussion

Was the jewel really a supernatural object or was everything that happened around it just coincidence? Do you think it brought any protection to Marie-Laure and/or bad luck to those she loved?

Oh, what a juicy question! To me, the jewel itself wasn't cursed - but the intrigue and the fear and the greed that it aroused in people because of the legend of the curse made it so! It felt like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The jewel felt like such a special object in the novel - a misplacement, a folly, a distraction from the war that brought both hope and fear to those it touched. To me, it wasn't itself a magical object - but its treatment as such made the question of its magical qualities irrelevant because the effect was still the same.

Haha, I was wondering when this question would come up!

For me, objects like The Sea of Flames always represent one of the most vexing conundrums of any kind of "magical realism" infused narrative. Are its legendary properties real, or are the stories told about them what influences the actions of those that come into contact with it and them?

Skeptic that I am I choose to believe the latter, but I think each reader very much has that choice- Doerr is clever enough to leave it up to interpretation, he never explicitly states that the stories are all true or that the jewel is indeed possessed or cursed.

Of all the things to do with the diamond, actually, I find the fact that it finds its way into the hands of one of the people on the planet least equipped to appreciate it visual splendours, of course, one of the most compelling elements of the story.

Robert wrote: Of all the things to do with the diamond, actually, I find the fact that it finds its way into the hands of one of the people on the planet least equipped to appreciate it visual splendours, of course, one of the most compelling elements of the story.

I have to agree with you Robert. Although I found the "Curse of the Sea of Flames" to be an ingeniously exercised plot device, it was the diamond's arrival in Marie-Laure's possession that was the most truly perfect thing. Her description of the "stone" made me view it differently, not just as a visual object.

Thanks Julia! Since I basically agreed with everything Emily said previously I felt I needed to add something more to the convo.

Robert wrote: "Thanks Julia! Since I basically agreed with everything Emily said previously I felt I needed to add something more to the convo."

I agree with you both as well - the moment that Marie-Laure discovered the stone was so well written and was, as Julia said, "the most truly perfect thing." :)

Robert, et al., this is where you must try to suspend your disbelief! :) I like to embrace all that is magical in literature, whether it's embedded in the form of magic realism, folklore, mythology, fairy tale, etc. So I suppose that I'm on the other side of the fence with this one.

In any case, don't all of the characters come to believe in the powers of the stone at some point or other in the novel?...Marie-Laure, her father, the German high officer (whose name escapes me at the moment). At the very least, they don't want to tempt fate with any decision they make regarding it. The thing that I cannot figure out was why did Werner leave it behind in the alley?...I found this bewildering, unless he somehow knew the details of its story (perhaps I missed this in my reading) and feared causing more misfortune around him. Someone please fill this missing detail in for me!

Allison wrote: "Robert, et al., this is where you must try to suspend your disbelief! :)"

Haha, I'm OK with magic in storytelling at times, Allison- heck, I grew up on straight-up D&D inspired fare like Dragonlance :) But in the case of this book, it works for me better to view it as a manifestation of the power of fantastical ideas over those who might otherwise behave reasonably. There was a lot of that in the '30s and '40s, regretfully.

As for Werner's choice, I'm not 100% clear on it but perhaps it represented his conscious rejection of the rapacity of the German occupation?

Robert wrote: "Allison wrote: "Robert, et al., this is where you must try to suspend your disbelief! :)"

Haha, I'm OK with magic in storytelling at times, Allison- heck, I grew up on straight-up D&D inspired far..."

Hmmm...I thought it interesting that Marie-Laure gave him the key to the gate, as though she was handing over to him the power to make his own choice to have the stone, and so preserve his life, or to reject it for whatever reason. I'm perplexed ...

I like that's it left ambiguous - the fact that I go back and forth between whether it was really cursed or not also probably is a big reason why I think that way :)

I think Marie-Laure gave Werner the key to make his own choice too. As already said, it's a bit ambiguous too but that's what I got out of it.

Allison wrote: "Robert, et al., this is where you must try to suspend your disbelief! :) I like to embrace all that is magical in literature, whether it's embedded in the form of magic realism, folklore, mythology..."

I'm with Allison on this one. I love the mystical, magical realism in literature in particular. That little bit of...what if? is what I love in a book and the author did a great job of hinting at it here, I think.

I think even the most skeptical of us who don't really want to believe in the mystical and magic have a shadow of a doubt. I call it the"What if". What if it does have some magical powers or forces. I read a book about the power of prayer and research seems to prove that it does work. Perhaps planting an idea in someone's head has power all its own.