Before You Know Kindness (49 page)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am enormously grateful to a long list of doctors, lawyers, hunters, animal rights activists, physical therapists, EMTs, and firearms experts. I am particularly indebted to Paul Bonzani; Lauren Bowerman; Armand Compagna; Richard Gaun; Dr. Mark Healy; Reverend Gary Kowalski; Carter Lord; Jonathan Lowy; Kevin McFarland; John Monahan; Dr. Turner Osler; Bob Patterson; and Whitney Taylor. You are exceedingly patient and I thank you all.
Among the small library of books that I read while researching this novel, two were especially helpful: Richard Nelson’s
Heart and Blood
and Matthew Scully’s
Dominion
. Both Nelson and Scully are thoughtful, candid, and wise.
Finally, once again I am deeply appreciative of a great many people at Random House, including Marty Asher, Jenny Frost, and Shaye Areheart. Shaye is a great editor—and an even greater friend.
Before You Know Kindness
CHRIS BOHJALIAN
Reading Group Guide
A NOTE TO THE READER
In order to provide reading groups with the most informed and thought-provoking questions possible, it is necessary to reveal important aspects of the plot of this book—as well as the ending.
If you have not finished
Before You Know Kindness,
we respectfully suggest that you may want to wait before reviewing this guide.
Questions for Discussion
1.
Before You Know Kindness
opens with a blunt, clinical description of Spencer’s injuries. Is the preface a purely objective report or does it begin to develop some of the general themes of the novel? What does it convey about the Setons and their way of life?
2. Spencer’s speech and Nan’s descriptions of his behavior offer varying insights into his personality. Does the tone of the writing influence your impression of him? What specific details bring out the differences between Spencer’s self-perceptions and the way others might view him?
3. How does Bohjalian portray FERAL and the people who work there? Do you think this is an accurate portrait of the animal-rights movement? What reasons might Bohjalian have for modifying their attitudes and activities?
4. Sara thinks, “The problem with Nan—and with John and Catherine, and yes, Spencer when they were all together—was that they could never just . . . be.” In what ways is this attributable to Nan and Richard Seton’s marriage and the atmosphere in which John and Catherine grew up? Why does Spencer, whose background is so different, demonstrate the same quality?
5. How persuasive are John’s explanations of why he took up hunting? What does the argument that hunting “is the most merciful way humans had to manage the herd” imply about the relationship between humans and the natural world? Does John’s anguish after the accident alter his view of hunting in general? Do you think that it should?
6. In talking to Willow about Catherine and Spencer, Charlotte says, “Sometimes I get pissed at both of them. I don’t think Mom would be the way she is if Dad wasn’t this public wacko.” Are Charlotte’s complaints typical of a teenager or does Spencer’s profession put an unusual burden on her? Is her criticism of her mother’s flirting well-founded?
7. Bohjalian suggests several times that Charlotte may have subconsciously wanted to injure her father. She herself says, “There were lots of reasons for pointing Uncle John’s weapon at what was moving at the edge of the garden. . . .” and acknowledges that others might think,
“She was just doing it to get your attention. . . .
” Is this speculation supported by the way Bohjalian describes the accident? By Charlotte’s subsequent behavior and her conversations with Willow?
8. The accident and Spencer’s permanent disability provide FERAL with an irresistible opportunity to make their case against hunting. Is their decision to bring a lawsuit totally reprehensible? Do the depictions of Dominique, Paige, and Keenan undermine the validity of their case?
9. Self-interest plays a part not only in FERAL’s reaction to the tragedy. Are you sympathetic to John’s concerns that the lawsuit will affect his professional reputation, as well as his fear that “for as long as he lived he would be an imbecile in the eyes of his daughter”? How did you feel as Catherine vacillates in the second half of the novel between wanting to help her husband and wanting to leave him?
10. “Nan was a particular mystery to [Sara]. Exactly what was it that she didn’t want to think about?” Were you puzzled by Nan as well? By the end of the novel, did you feel you had a better understanding of her?
11. What would have happened if Charlotte and Willow had not confessed to drinking and smoking pot on the night of the shooting? Were you relieved that Spencer decided not to pursue the lawsuit?
12. Although the plot revolves around Spencer, at various points in the novel each character moves to center stage to comment on the events and their repercussions. Which members of the family most appealed to you and why? How successful is Bohjalian at capturing their individual points of view and personalities? Did your opinions of them change as the novel progressed?
13. Does Bohjalian present both sides of the controversy in an evenhanded way? Which characters appear to embody his own point of view? What is the ultimate message of
Before You Know Kindness
?
14. Do you think that the issues Bohjalian examines in
Before You Know Kindness
are more important (or more relevant) than the topics he explored in (for example)
Midwives
or
The Law of Similars,
or
Trans-Sister Radio
?
15. Why did Bohjalian use a passage from
The Secret Garden
as one of the epigraphs? In what ways is the children’s classic relevant to
Before You Know Kindness
?
16. Why did Bohjalian take his title from the poem “Kindness,” by Naomi Shihab Nye, a portion of which serves as the other epigraph?
If your reading group would like to schedule a half hour with Chris Bohjalian via speakerphone or e-mail, please visit his website (www.chrisbohjalian.com) and click on the Reading Groups tab.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHRIS BOHJALIAN
is the author of nine novels, including
Midwives
(a
Publishers Weekly
Best Book and an Oprah’s Book Club selection),
The Buffalo Soldier,
and
Trans-Sister Radio,
as well as a collection of magazine essays and newspaper columns,
Idyll Banter: Weekly Excursions to a Very Small Town.
In 2002 he won the New England Book Award. His work has been translated into seventeen languages and published in twenty countries. He lives in Vermont with his wife and daughter.
Visit him at
www.chrisbohjalian.com
.
OTHER BOOKS BY CHRIS BOHJALIAN
Novels
The Buffalo Soldier
Trans-Sister Radio
The Law of Similars
Midwives
Water Witches
Past the Bleachers
Hangman
A Killing in the Real World
Essay Collections
Idyll Banter: Weekly Excursions to a Very Small Town
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Far Corner Books for permission to reprint an excerpt from “Kindness” from
Words Under the Words: Selected Poems
by Naomi Shihab Nye. Copyright © 1995. Reprinted by permission of Far Corner Books, Portland, Oregon.
This novel is a work of fiction. The names, characters, companies, places,
and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, companies,
events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2004 by Chris Bohjalian
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Shaye Areheart Books, New York, New York. Member of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
Shaye Areheart Books and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bohjalian, Christopher A.
Before you know kindness : a novel / by Chris Bohjalian.
p. cm.
1. Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)—Fiction. 2. Gunshot wounds—Patients—Fiction.
3. Animal rights activists—Fiction. 4. Parent and child—Fiction. 5. Hunters—Fiction. 6. Vermont—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3552.O495B44 2004
813'.54—dc22
2004003059
eISBN: 978-0-307-27694-0
v3.0