Reading 1001 discussion

Discussion leader; Amanda

and will hopefully post tomorrow :)

So it’s taken a bit more than a day to get my typing hands but the post is here now! I haven’t read the book yet, so I’m excited to see how it unfolds too.

Author bio (from Penguin): Graham Swift was born in 1949 and is the author of eleven novels; two collections of short stories; and Making an Elephant, a book of essays, portraits, poetry and reflections on his life in writing. With Waterland he won The Guardian Fiction Award, and with Last Orders the Booker Prize. Both novels have since been made into films. His work has appeared in more than thirty languages.

Book summary (from Goodreads): Set in the bleak Fen Country of East Anglia, and spanning some 240 years in the lives of its haunted narrator and his ancestors, Waterland is a book that takes in eels and incest, ale-making and madness, the heartless sweep of history and a family romance as tormented as any in Greek tragedy

Pre-Question:
1. Have you read any other books by Swift previously? (The Light of Day is also on the list). Whether you have or not, do you have any expectations for this novel?

Questions:
1. The role of nature in history seems to be a major theme of this book: what are your thoughts in how this plays out (or doesn’t) in the novel? How does the novel discuss why we need to know history, origins, and reasons for how things unfolded? Consider why some characters feel the need to remember, and others forget. Consider how this book tackles progress vs. history repeating itself.

2. Are the Fenlands themselves a character in the novel or just a setting? Discuss.

3. How does the narrative structure (particularly the use of sequence and types of details included) contribute to the novel? Do you see the narrator as reliable or not and how does that influence the story?

4. The book gives both supernatural and less fantastic explanations for Sarah Atkinsons’ behaviour and fate in the novel: discuss both sides of this (and how the narrator attempts to reconcile the two). Why do you think some people need the supernatural/folklore to be aspects of our human history?

5. Do have a favorite historical story/ era covered in the book? A favorite or most sympathetic character? Why do these stories/characters speak to you the most?

6. And as always, what did you think of the book? Did it earn its place on the list for you?

Happy Reading All!

Pre-Question:
1. Have you read any other books by Swift previously? (The Light of Day is also on the list). Whether you have or not, do you have any expectations for this novel?
I read The Light of Day and had mixed feelings, although I quite liked Swift’s writing style. I was expecting to enjoy this more because of the Fenland setting and the historical theme.

Questions:
1. The role of nature in history seems to be a major theme of this book: what are your thoughts in how this plays out (or doesn’t) in the novel? How does the novel discuss why we need to know history, origins, and reasons for how things unfolded? Consider why some characters feel the need to remember, and others forget. Consider how this book tackles progress vs. history repeating itself.
I felt the author did well with making connections between the landscape (water, silt, reclaimed land that slips back) and the historical events that shaped it and were shaped by it - the development of agriculture, the breweries and the lock keeper. Some characters close their eyes to history and events through fear (such as Tom’s Dad), Tom has curiosity and a need to know the truth but he comes to see that this doesn’t necessarily move things forward and the past can catch up with you. History isn’t a straight line of progress, as the French Revolution/Napoleon comparison is mirrored in the Atkinsons’ fate.

2. Are the Fenlands themselves a character in the novel or just a setting? Discuss.
I can see why they might be considered a character as they change their shape and their influence through the ages, but for me they are primarily a setting against which people make their decisions and suffer the consequences. I thought the setting was brilliantly described though.

3. How does the narrative structure (particularly the use of sequence and types of details included) contribute to the novel? Do you see the narrator as reliable or not and how does that influence the story?
I loved the structure and thought the gradual reveal of events was more compelling and moving than I’d expected. We know very early on what Mary has done, but there is much more to her story. I see the narrator as intending to be reliable but aware that his perspective on events is not the only one (particularly as he looks back to childhood) and that there have been other influences on Mary, his father, and Dick that he has not fully understood or has misinterpreted.

4. The book gives both supernatural and less fantastic explanations for Sarah Atkinsons’ behaviour and fate in the novel: discuss both sides of this (and how the narrator attempts to reconcile the two). Why do you think some people need the supernatural/folklore to be aspects of our human history?
Some people are afraid or unwilling to face the reality of human behaviour, or the quirks of climate and weather, they couldn’t believe that such a long life as an invalid could really be so simple and also wanted someone to blame for any disaster.

5. Do have a favorite historical story/ era covered in the book? A favorite or most sympathetic character? Why do these stories/characters speak to you the most?
I liked all the stories of the Atkinson generations, and really appreciated how Swift set their stories into the wider context of European history. I felt most sympathy for Henry, Tom’s father, as he had to undergo the suffering of the war and tried to do his best for Helen and Dick. He had the weight of all the Atkinson history falling onto him.

6. And as always, what did you think of the book? Did it earn its place on the list for you?
I loved this book, it was fascinating. Even the breweries and the eels caught my attention! For me, this one should definitely be on the list.

I have also read The Light of Day, which I did like but not to the point of needing to read everything that Swift has written. However, I was looking forward to the story of the Fens.

1.
History is definitely one of the major themes in this novel, with our main character and narrator being a history teacher. However, Tom, out narrator, does not believe in progress. He has seen that the silt in his very flat land, will ultimately clog up the rivers, that the east wind will blow the ocean inland and the torrents of rain will ultimately flood all the infrastructure that man has built. He does believe in knowing about the past otherwise you will not be aware of the needs and motivations of people but he also is cynical about history being driven by forces largely out of the common man's control. We also have Tom's father whose body has chosen to forget his experiences in the first world war and we have Tom's brother who is not quite capable of discerning how the past will play out in the present and Mary, Tom's wife who is only too threatened by an act in her past that will haunt her throughout her life. The overall arch of the "great" Atkinson family is one in which history repeats itself, at first in a very positive way and then ultimately leading to the ruins of a once great family.

2.
I found it interesting that the author did not know the Fenlands before writing this book, and that he was looking for an environment that would tell the story he wanted to tell and in this way, the setting is very much a character in the novel. It has a history of its own.

3.
Tom is a reliable narrator of his own emotions and how circumstances and events contribute to his own story. However, we can not always assume that he understands the motivations and inner workings of the other characters. Largely, when he is relating events of the past, we assume he is working from some factual basis as he calls out what he knows to be true and what he is only surmising or simply doesn't know. However, as we get closer to his actual story, things get more confused with what he thinks versus what other people may think. This is true about his employer, the children, especially Price and this is particularly true of his understanding of his wife Mary, who he loves but we come to believe he doesn't really know at all.

4.
To many people the only explanation for many of the strangest events of this life must be supernatural. How else does one explain such things? Humans really like explanations. Humans like just a touch of control and understanding in an otherwise chaotic world. In many ways Sarah Atkinson's life was a bit of a gruesome fairy tale. She marries her prince, lives in her castle, is worshipped by all and due to the hubris and jealously of her husband has it all taken away. Taken away by whom? For what reason? It is very natural to want to punish the husband with a supernatural wife who will outlive him and haunt her family down through the ages.

5.
I enjoyed the chapter on eels. I thought that Tom, the history professor, was a bit much and I could have done with less of his time in the classroom preaching to his students. However, when he was telling them the story of his family I was engaged. I very much liked Tom's father. He was a simple man in a very complicated world even though he led about as simple a life as was possible. I thought that his love he had for his wife, and his love of both Dick and Tom were well written.

6.
And as always, what did you think of the book? Did it earn its place on the list for you? Yes, it was quite different than the Light of Day and I did like the tie in to natural and human history. I thought it was well written enough and unique enough to be on the list.

Sorry about semi-abandoning this one folks (I read it on time and then my hands got too bad again to post). I did read the answers here and loved them, just like the book itself. I was surprisingly taken with the eel section as well.