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Cartwheel


"Cartwheel will upend you; rarely does a novel this engaging ring so true.
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"The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

Created: 09/18/13

Replies: 12

Posted Sep. 18, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert

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"The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

The first paragraph of Cartwheel ends with a chilling statement: "The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?


Posted Sep. 30, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
janeh

Join Date: 06/15/11

Posts: 222

RE: "The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

Very true. That's why you just have to live a life true to yourself and just live each day to the fullest, crossing each hurdle as it comes. If you stop to compare your hurdles to others' hurdles and see if life is fair, you will lose out on life itself. We are each in a life that we need to live to the fullest. We need to be able to judge ourselves and make our own corrections to lead what we consider a loving, considerate, and successful life, leaving others to judge themselves and deal with their own consequences. If we were all the same, what a boring world it would be!


Posted Sep. 30, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
lynnw

Join Date: 09/01/11

Posts: 166

RE: "The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

As a parent we are programed to worry about illness, accidents, school problems; basically the day to day things that can happen to anyone. I don't think any of us worry about something as horrible as murder happening to or by your child. My personal life has been free of anything horrific, but I have friends who have been affected in some awful way and it is so hard for them to comprehend.


Posted Sep. 30, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
bonnieb

Join Date: 09/11/11

Posts: 132

RE: "The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

Life is takes you like something out of left field. We prepare for the worst and hope for the best but one can never predict what either of those things may be.


Posted Sep. 30, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dorothyt

Join Date: 04/10/11

Posts: 102

RE: "The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

What parent would ever think to worry about such a horrific event occurring in his/her child's life? This opening statement sets the scene for the parents' involvement. I think most of us have had experiences that we didn't see coming; I know I never expected that my then 8 year old daughter would need surgery.


Posted Oct. 01, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
malindan

Join Date: 05/10/12

Posts: 48

RE: "The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

The statement is a warning that there a things that will happen that are totally beyond our control. As parents we worry about the obvious but we rarely worry that our child is morally flawed in some way regardless of how hard we have tried to raise them well. In a recent discussion with my 14 yr old he echoed the sentiment that if a child is really "bad" or out of control there must be a correlation to poor parenting. Wow! I just told him to wait until he is a parent....he may feel differently.


Posted Oct. 01, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
johnw

Join Date: 03/11/12

Posts: 102

RE: "The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

There are so many things in life that are out of your control and it becomes increasing apparent as a parent with adult children. I believe a vast majority of parents acknowledge our children are not perfect, but wouldn't think that one of them could be involved in anything so tragic as murder regardless of the reason. You hope and pray that they make good choices based upon the values you've instilled in them as children.


Posted Oct. 02, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
pennyp

Join Date: 03/22/12

Posts: 353

RE: "The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

I think we often worry about things that we think we can control. Something like this this is not even on the radar. I agree with others who have posted that as parents, we do the best we can to instill values and responsibility in our children but here are really no guarantees in life/
.


Posted Oct. 04, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
tracyb

Join Date: 09/22/11

Posts: 102

RE: "The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

I am not a parent so I may look at this in a different way. Lily's parents saw her for who they "knew" she was, a young woman who was reacting in the moment when she e-mailed and face booked to friends. we only saw the insulting e-mails. Then there was the independent trusting lily refusing a lawyer in the beginning of her arraignment. Lily broken was the opposite of who her parents thought she would be, disheveled & uncommunicative. The lawyers were the ones in control. Lily was not helping her parents gain any power. Fragile is the word that comes to mind as Lily seems strong yet loses all sense of self worth in the face of fears.


Posted Oct. 05, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
beverlyj

Join Date: 12/22/11

Posts: 138

RE: "The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

I think this is a true statement. While people may have goals in their lives it is often from well-serving people that issues may arise and they had not been concentrating on the little things or that others around them may have different motives for their actions.


Posted Oct. 06, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
alisonf

Join Date: 01/31/13

Posts: 110

RE: "The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

I agree. We can't plan for everything and the worries this family had never turned out to be related to their horrible reality. She didn't know what to do if arrested especially in a foreign country. But what parent would have had that conversation when their child goes off for their junior year abroad? They were proud of the "sex" conversation they had and the condoms to keep her safe. They really had no idea how to prepare her for this trip.


Posted Oct. 10, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
mariannes

Join Date: 12/17/12

Posts: 206

RE: "The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

When I was growing up, I always heard that most of the things you worry about never happen. I thought that the logical conclusion to that statement was to worry about everything so nothing bad would happen. I'm mostly joking, although that thought occurred to me at the time. We don't know what is going to happen in our lives, and the best we can do is live one day at a time and be grateful for what we have.


Posted Oct. 11, 2013 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
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judyk

Join Date: 10/16/10

Posts: 13

RE: "The things that go wrong are rarely the things you’ve thought to worry about." Why do you think the author makes such a pronouncement at the beginning of the novel? What does she mean? Is this true in your life?

Instead of worrying, I like to plan.


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