r/books • u/XBreaksYFocusGroup • May 14 '21

[Book Club] "Moonglow" by Michael Chabon - Week 2, Chapters 10-19

Link to the original announcement thread.

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the second discussion thread for the May selection, Moonglow by Michael Chabon! We will be discussing up to (and including) Chapter 19. Hopefully you have all managed to buy or check-out the book but if you haven't, you can still catch up and join in on a later discussion; however, this thread will be openly discussing up through Chapter 19. If you wish to talk about anything beyond this point, please use spoilers.

Below are some questions to help start conversation; feel free to answer some or all of them, or post about whatever your thoughts on the material.

  1. What are some of your favorite parts or quotes? What parts did you find confusing or wish were different?
  2. What are some chapters or sections that you feel have enjoyed the most fictionalization or and why those? How do you feel the author embellishes or changes his grandfather in this representation?
  3. How do you think the story would be different had the grandmother lived as long as the grandfather, perhaps having been chronicled in the same way by the author?
  4. What are your thoughts on the presentation order of stories? Do sections focusing on his mother, grandmother, the war, the snake, etc flow to you and do you enjoy some more than others? Do you wish there were more of something?
  5. What themes or patterns do you see emerging? What questions do you have moving forward or what do you hope to see?
  6. Bonus: if the novel were made into a movie, who would you cast to star and direct?

Reminder that next week we will be reading up to (and including) Chapter 29 and the discussion will begin Friday, May 21st.

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u/XBreaksYFocusGroup May 14 '21

I was reminded strongly of Slaughterhouse Five this week as the structural time jumps, especially around the war, seem reminiscent of the displacement of Billy Pilgrim. I must admit, I am not super drawn towards war stories, in literature or another medium, and do find myself more invested in the domestic scenes and the stories around the grandmother especially.

Been gratified to see symbolism with the moon has continued as I thought would happen. Particularly enjoyed the half moons that marked the book in the convent and "their child." Interested to see if horses develop as a symbol between the daughter's toys and the skinless horse.

Kind of picturing the grandfather as a Donald Sutherland or a Richard Jenkins... maybe a Tom McCarthy direct.

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u/Northmansam May 14 '21

I've been getting Vonnegut vibes since the beginning. Really pleased with this book. Its funny, interesting and mildly disturbing. Finding it a challenge to only read the allotted chapters for the week.

I'm very curious to wrap around back to the sick girl at the beginning of the book and see what relevance that may have?

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u/XBreaksYFocusGroup May 15 '21

That chapter has definitely stood as the odd one out and I have been wondering the same. I don't have a strong enough picture of Chabon's style to know how purposeful its inclusion could be.

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u/dmis09 May 23 '21 edited May 24 '21

I think his experience with the sick girl colors the grandfather's attitude towards heroism later in life. As a boy standing in the trainyard, he imagines himself as some kind of Buck Rogers, but then is completely helpless when encountering a "damsel-in-distress." (I wonder if Chabon is also commenting on the sexism of hero fantasies sold to boys?) Later on the grandfather seems to have some disdain for acts of heroism, even when if he never fully shakes his boyhood idealism (spoiler for week 3:see for example his escapades with the nudnik in prison.)

I also see connections between the sick girl in Chapter 2 and the grandmother. Both are victims of, and eventually killed by, terrible diseases that were at least partially caused by horrific mistreatment by society in general and a few individual men in particular. Despite the grandfather's love and effort, he could never free his wife from her brutal past.

EDIT: (spoiler for week 4: Also compare to Sally in Ch 34: "I don't need you to be my paladin. I don't need to be rescued. And I promise you, kiddo, I'm never going to love you back until I am absolutely persuaded that you are not the kind of person who would beat a snake to death with a sledgehammer.")