Book Club: Nineteen Minutes

[dinahsmum]

q5 - Peter was a victim of bullying for 12 yrs at the hands of certain class mates, many of whom repeatedly tormented him. But he also shot and killed students he he had never met or who had never done anything wrong to him. What empathy if any, did you feel for him both before and after the shooting.

I felt very sorry for Peter at all times. I feel the character was written to provoke sympathy and empathy - we've all been in situations where we weren't part of the 'in crowd', where we felt uncomfortable, if not the direct victims of bullying. I was sorry for Peter from when his lovely lunch box went out of the school bus window, to the dreadful e-mail debacle, to the pantsing (can you imagine anything worse?) to being on remand and knowing that it was likely he would live out his life in jail.

q7 - Josie admits she often witnessed Matt's cruelty toward other students. Why then does it come as such a surprise to Josie when Matt abuses her verbally and physically? How much did you empathise with Josie?


Not a lot. She's a bit of an academic airhead isn't she, though a rather undeveloped character or undeveloped person.

q10 - In what way do the alternating narratives between past an present enhance the story? How do the scenes in the past give you further insight into the characters and their actions, particularly Peter and JOsie.

The various time slots were fine - hardly an innovation in novel writing. It simply fleshed out the characters, as any novel must as it develops

[dandysmom]

The way Peter was presented, you couldn't help but sympathize with him; the eternal outsider; school was Hell for him'

Josie was in love with Matt; the "love is blind" cliche applies here. She shouldn't have been surprised at him turning on her the way he did; but I can understand her reaction. I'm sure many of us have, in hindsight after the breakup of a relationship, seen things that we ignored or glossed over during it.

As DM said, the flashbacks just fleshed out the characters.