How does a 17 year old cope with so much? Now, on top of everything else, he's going to live in fear of the next panic attack! I've known people that experienced them, but didn't know you could end up in the ER due to the severity. I was terrified to read the description of what he went through at school. I've passed out in public several times and it was worrisome as well as embarrassing but this was so horrific by comparison. I have so much empathy for people who struggle with them and am glad to know more, now.
The visit with the lawyer added an nice thick icing of guilt to his legal concerns. How are his parents going to pay his legal fees? Make it stop!! I feel a specific pain whenever Carver expresses his guilt about the text by sarcastically referring to his writing as a curse. On page 112, after conjuring the courage to enter school on that first day back only to encounter the display case memorializing the 3 dead boys. He imagines voices saying, "His magnum opus. Isn't it funny that the one piece of writing that ever impacted peoples' lives was a lethal text..." I mean, that's just everything, isn't it. Everything is tainted, spoiled, or dead. His writing is the centerpiece of his talents, right? But now it's the centerpiece of his nightmare, all while attempting to write his college essay!! And then, the attack. Thank you, Jeff Z., for giving him Jesmyn, but even she brings pain knitted into the relationship he craves with her because of Eli. We end with his first therapy session. I appreciated the conversation with Dr. Mendez. When Carver explained that it was hard for him to talk about them dying because it made it too real. Yep! I know that feeling. So, everyone, feel free to react to the aforementioned or any aspect of the book up to this point. There's a lot to digest! Week 3 will cover chapters 17-27 Week 4- Chapters 28-39 Week 5- Chapter 40 to end. Thanks again for lending your voice to the conversation!
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Welcome to this conversation about the first 9 chapters of Goodbye Days. I can't imagine I'm the only one who experienced some gut-wrenching moments and more than one lump in my throat. I look forward to the varying perspectives each of you will represent. Mine is that of a mom, grandmother and high school reading specialist. I've raised a couple teenagers to adulthood and survived the anxiety those years were wrought with. I also work with young adults everyday and have a sensitive heart to the struggles they endure as they navigate the daily struggles and excitement of high school.
Those young people who are joining us in the conversation will, no doubt, view Carver through a different lens and it'll be great to hear from them. So let's get started. As I began Zentner's novel, I was immediately struck with the mature, sophisticated voice he gave Carver. Wow, this teenager can really articulate his feelings! One criticism of the book was that the teenage characters' ability to communicate their thoughts were not believable. But I considered the fact that Carver, for example, is an aspiring writer in the novel, attending a school for the arts because of his talent. After reaching that awareness, I could appreciate and be repeatedly moved by the phrasing Carver uses to help us understand the hell he is living in since the fateful accident that claimed The Sauce Crew. One of the things I'd like to hear from you all is particular examples of Carver's words that just stuck you in the heart or gut or wherever you felt Carver's pain, the depth of his friendship with these 3 other guys, his trust in his sister, etc. On page 5, while sitting at the third funeral, Blake's, with his forehead resting on the pew in front of him, he describes to us the carpet. Then, "I mull over this stuff because the world's reliable absurdity is one of the few things that can distract me, and I welcome distractions right now." There are times when life is so stinking hard that we need just tiny windows through which to escape it before the pain completely consumes us. Which words did you stop and read a second or third time because of their power? |
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