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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Attached and below are discussion questions for the October 4 book club meeting at the home of John and Sandy Halverson.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>1.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>What does the title mean?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>2.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The novel begins with the word "and": "And then there was the day when Addie Moore made a call on Louis Waters." What do you imagine came before it?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>3.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Kent Haruf was known for using simple, spare language to create stories of great depth. How does the modest action in Our Souls at Night open onto larger insights about getting older?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>4.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>It takes a considerable amount of courage for a woman of Addie’s generation to invite a man she hardly knows to sleep in her bed. What do you think propelled her to do it?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>5.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>When Louis comes over for the first time, he knocks on her back door in the name of discretion. Addie says, "I made up my mind I’m not going to pay attention to what people think. I’ve done that too long—all my life. I’m not going to live that way anymore. The alley makes it seem we’re doing something wrong or something disgraceful, to be ashamed of" (8). How does her attitude influence Louis’s?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>6.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Both Louis and Addie have to contend with gossip about their relationship. Who handles it better?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>7.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>What does Addie’s friendship with Ruth show us about Addie’s character?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>8.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Addie and Louis both had troubled marriages, but stayed married until their partners died. How does that sense of propriety, of loyalty, influence their relationship with each other?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>9.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>In describing his affair, Louis says, "I think I regret hurting Tamara more than I do hurting my wife. “I failed my spirit or something" (42). What does he mean by this?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>10.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Why did Addie refuse to move after Connie’s death? How did this decision color Gene’s reaction to his mother’s late-in-life love affair?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>11.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>On page 52, Louis describes his relationship with Addie to his daughter, "It’s some kind of decision to be free. Even at our ages." Why does he feel freer with Addie than he does alone?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>12.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>How does his behavior become more uninhibited as the novel progresses?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>13.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>How does Jamie’s arrival deepen the connection between Addie and Louis?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>14.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>When Louis confesses that he wanted to be a poet, what effect does it have on Addie’s opinion of him? And on your opinion?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>15.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Addie and Louis both have regrets about the way they raised their children. How does that influence their relationship with Jamie?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>16.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Why did Addie buy new clothes for her trips to Denver that she never wears in Holt? What signal does it send to the reader?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>17.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>On page 145, Addie mentions the Denver Center for the Performing Arts production of Benediction, based on the author’s own novel. Addie and Louis discuss the fact that it’s set in Holt, the fictional town in which they live. Why do you think Haruf slipped this into the story?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>18.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>At the end of that conversation, Addie says, "Who would have thought at this time in our lives that we’d still have something like this. That it turns out we’re not finished with changes and excitements. And not all dried up in body and spirit" (147). What point is Haruf making?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>19.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Jamie’s arrival ultimately leads to grave consequences. What is Gene afraid of?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>20.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Several times during the novel, Addie is described as being brave, but she gives in to Gene’s demands. Is this a brave act? What is she protecting?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpLast style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>21.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>How would you describe the ending—as heartbreaking, hopeful, or something else?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Nancy Yeager<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>