Read with Sharon - March 2023

Horse - Geraldine Brooks

Going to the steeple chases and point-topoint races was an activity my four sons loved doing growing up. We made it into a whole day. We would dress up, pack our cars full of food, and anxiously await seeing the beautiful horses run through the green fields of the Great Meadow. We’d have a spot right on the
rail to be as close to them as we could get. I loved seeing the wonderment on the boys faces as the thoroughbreds raced by..

When I saw Horse by Geraldine Brooks, I knew it was something I would enjoy. It combines three of my great loves; animals, art, and history. Brooks is able to tell different stories in different time periods, and weave them together beautifully. This is a book that I know you are going to love!

This month we will be meeting on Thursday, March 30 at 7:00 pm EST.

Until then, I hope you find Horse as entertaining as I did.

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Reviews

The title of Geraldine Brooks’s new novel, “Horse,” alludes to Lexington: the real and extraordinary late-19th-century Kentucky bay stallion who drives its plot. The subtext, if not the subtitle, is “Race.” Not for the contests Lexington won, though those are recreated in detail suitable for both the sports and society pages, but for the book’s confrontation of relations between Black and white people over the course of two centuries. collection displayed in his office and has never met a bad idea he didn’t love.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/books/review/mercury-pictures-presents-anthony-marra.html

From the beginning, the weave of the narrative is clear: It’s no surprise that the horse in the painting is the same animal whose bones are collecting dust in the Smithsonian and the same again as the newborn foal who will find a devoted, lifelong companion in the boy, Jarret.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/06/17/horse-geraldine-brooks/

Horse - Geraldine Brooks

Book Club Questions

THE CHARACTER’S JOURNEY

  1. There were multiple characters in the story. Who did you identify with most?
  2. Jarret seemingly connects better with horses than with people. Have you ever had a bond with a pet like this?

THE STORY PLOT

  1. Did you enjoy the third person narrative style that the author used?
  2. What did you think about the different storylines and changing perspectives?
  3. A few different historical figures are referenced in the story. What did you think about the author mixing fact and fiction?
  4. What did you think about how horse racing used to be?

THE ENDING

  1. Did it work for you? What would you have changed?
  2. What do you think is the author’s message to readers of Horse?
  3. What did you take away from the book?
  4. Are you left with any questions?

SYMBOLISM AND FORESHADOWING

  1. Did you notice any symbolism?
  2. What foreshadowing did you notice? 

THE WRITING

  1. Use one adjective to describe the writing itself.
  2. What would you change if you could rewrite Horse?

DEFINING CHARACTERISTIC

  1. What did you love most about the book?
  2. Did the book change any views/opinions that you have?

Horse - Geraldine Brooks