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<p class="MsoNormal">Hello,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Below are questions for A House in the Sky, the February book club selection.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Time: Wednesday, February 3, 7:00 PNM<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">Zoom credentials: Zoom Link <a href="https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fzoom.us%2Fj%2F8297256345%3Fpwd%3DSFAyamlQNU44ZTJ6dUZNMTV4RmhCQT09&data=04%7C01%7C%7C6dee974a0b00415b370008d8c633ecb2%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637477273605672772%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=MA4kwIFApxkRXdwUEEtz%2FuNWXLMPVNvt6FWEkUUl5%2F4%3D&reserved=0">
https://zoom.us/j/8297256345?pwd=SFAyamlQNU44ZTJ6dUZNMTV4RmhCQT09</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One tap mobile<br>
<a name="_Hlk50492302"></a><a href="tel:%20+13017158592,,8297256345"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk50492302">tel: +13017158592,,8297256345#
</span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk50492302"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk50492302"></span><br>
Telephone Dial: 1 (301) 715-8592<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Meeting ID: 829 725 6345# <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If needed the password is 20201940<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Discussion Questions<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1. Above all else, Amanda identifies herself as a traveler, an identity born out of her childhood obsession with National Geographic. Why do you think<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">National Geographic had such a large impact on her? What led Amanda to make the leap from the legions of armchair travelers into someone whose life revolved<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">around her journeys? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2. On page 14, Amanda discusses sneaking into an amusement park after dark, with a childhood friend. She writes, “…we allowed ourselves to relax and feel<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">giddy, forgetting that it was dark and we were trespassing, forgetting everything that scared or haunted us…” How does this childhood memory reflect Amanda’s<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">experience traveling to foreign countries and unknown places? Is part of the thrill of travel related to risk?
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3. Amanda’s first trip, to South America, initially disappoints her because Caracas doesn’t “feel foreign”. What does this demonstrate about the different<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">ways people travel? As she leaves Caracas and ventures into the kind of journey she’ll come to crave, what changes for her?
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">4. During this trip to South America, Amanda confronts the experience of venturing off the beaten path, and defines the feeling of the frontier as “a knifepoint<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">between elation and terror” (p. 36). How will this balance come to define her travels?
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">5. The memory of cutting her friend Kelly’s hair will become one of the things that sustains Amanda throughout her captivity. Why do you think this memory<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">sticks with her? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">6. In Dhaka, Amanda experiences what she sees as the “beautiful” side of Islam, but also confronts the dangers inherent in being a solo female traveler<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">in that particular place. How does this dichotomy influence her experiences in captivity?
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">7. On page 67, Amanda quotes Paul Theroux’s Dark Star Safari, “All news out of Africa is bad. It made me want to go there…” Both Nigel and Amanda understand<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">this sentiment, and it’s partially what draws them to Somalia. What do you make of the idea that bad news would bring someone to a place?
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">8. Amanda’s time in captivity is spent trying to negotiate the best way to stay alive—she vacillates between trying to understand and connect with her<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">captors, through things like converting to Islam, and resistance like trying to escape. Why do you think Amanda and Nigel have such different takes how<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to best manage their captivity? What do you think are some of the advantages and disadvantages of each method?
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">9. When Amanda overhears a report of their capture on the radio, she writes of the feeling as “crushing. It was confirmation that our troubles were both<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">real and deep” (p. 146). Why do you think this affects her so powerfully?
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">10. When Amanda is given an English-language Koran, it is the beginning of her “conversion” to Islam. How does Amanda’s relationship with Islam change<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">throughout her time in captivity? As she reads the Koran and begins to understand it, and thus her captors, better, how does her awareness of her situation<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">change? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">11. Amanda reflects throughout the book on the strangeness of the relationships with her captors—even though they were imprisoning her, she attempted to<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">feel compassion and understanding for them. Were you surprised that this was possible? Discuss Amanda’s relationships with Jamal, Ali, Adam, and the rest.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">12. Nigel and Amanda’s relationship as fellow captives is at times extremely difficult. Discuss their different ways of coping. How did you feel when Nigel<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">told Amanda to “just take this one”? Did you blame Nigel? <o:p>
</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">13. Throughout the book, and in particular during her captivity, Amanda uses mantras to calm herself. What does she find so effective about repeating simple<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">words and phrases? Why do you think this kind of practice can be soothing?
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">14. On pages 220-221, Amanda writes about what being alone does to her mind, and refers to a kind of psychic energy that seemed insane before her captivity,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">but became more believable. What did you make of her account in your reading? Have you ever experienced this kind of psychic energy?
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">15. Discuss Amanda’s “house in the sky” (p. 292). How does this dream help her maintain hope, and survive?
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">16. Of writing notes to Nigel, Amanda says “…writing helped me to believe it. It staked some claim on the truth (p. 226)”. How does this idea relate to<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Amanda’s decision to write a book about her experience? How does Amanda’s relationship with writing evolve over her time in captivity (see also p. 364)?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">17. How did reading A House in the Sky change your understanding of the role fundamentalist religion can play in a war-torn society? How did it change<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">your perception of Somalia? What surprised you most in your reading?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">These questions were issued by the publisher.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lit Lovers<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John<o:p></o:p></p>
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