Book Club | December – The Girl on the Train

Month #4: I'm the Pagemaster

This month's post is comin' in a little late thanks to the holiday season! We finished the book mid-December, but with the hustle and bustle of Christmas and NYE, we didn't get a chance to meet up.

The choices for December's read were between The Girl on the Train, Fight Club, and One Day. Unanimously, The Girl on the Train won the vote.

I hadn't read nor seen the movie yet, but had bought a copy of the book recently at the October book sale. I was itching to read it, 'cause lets be honest, whenever I have a movie copy of a book it sparks an immediate desire to devour its content.

Val, Riley, and I met for brunch at Ben & Florentine to kick off 2018 in style. We made our way, with full bellies, to Chez Ramanda to discuss and watch the movie.

****Reminder: don’t read past this part if you can’t risk potential spoilers! I don’t want to be responsible for ruining any punches for you.****

Here are the discussion questions from our meeting:

1. Have you ever caught yourself people-watching on public transit? If so, what are your stories? Did you ever find yourself attached to these people and the stories you may have created for them?

2. How did you react to all the broken relationships and secret affairs within the multiple couples and their story lines? Were they all too similar and weirdly connected to remain believable?

3. Who, in your opinion, is the most likeable character (and least likeable) in the book and why?

4. What do you think Paula Hawkins was trying to convey in making motherhood such a focal point of the story? Do you think this was paralleled to a real thriller element in a woman's life? The decision and/or fact that she can/should have children?

5. How much do you think we can trust our own memories? Are they all a matter of perception? After all, two people experiencing the same moment and/or series of events can have two completely different recollections.

6. Was it confusing to have three female narrators across different time periods? Would you have preferred something different, such as a single narrator?

7. How much was alcoholism driving the story line? Was it a main theme or secondary theme, and why?

8. Did you feel like the characters were well-developed or was everything presented to the reader toward the end of the novel in a rushed fashion?

9. How did everyone feel about the male characters presented in the book?

10. What did you like most (and least) about the book?

*****

I was really impressed with our discussion this round! The somewhat short in length thriller had some thought-provoking discussions and our differences of opinions kept things lively.

Val had already seen the movie and at times would draw comparisons to it and the book. It made me think how interesting it would be to reverse the method to our madness and view the movie before picking up the book. How much would the visual representation influence our reading experience? I wonder.

Riley is the Pagemaster for January and we're currently reading Shutter Island!! We're on a thriller kick these past few months. May need to switch things up a bit next cycle. ;)

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