Book Club Discussion Questions
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Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
About This Guide
The questions and discussion topics that follow are intended to enhance your
reading of Owen Sheers's Resistance. We hope they will enrich your
experience of this mesmerizing novel. To find other great books for reading
groups, visit
http://www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/readers/.
Reader's Guide
- Discuss the ways in which the very specific landscape and setting of the
novel not only allows the isolationist plot to develop but also lends the
narrative both an important historical and thematic context.
- To whom or to what does the novel's title, Resistance, apply?To
what extent does Albrecht fulfill the literary figure of the “Good German?”
Is he, in fact, a “good” man?
- To what extent does Albrecht fulfill the literary figure of the “Good
German?” Is he, in fact, a “good” man?
- What does the development of Sarah's diary entries to Tom tell us about
her personal development across the arc of the novel?
- Towards the end of the novel Bethan thinks to herself “better by far to
live in the truth and know it, however bad it might be, than hide yourself
away behind ignorance and habit.” Don't some of the characters prove
otherwise?
- Two particularly striking “hinge” scenes in the book are the playing of
a Bach cello suite and the shooting of a horse. What are the overall
significance of these scenes within the book as a whole?
- Who or what is George aiming at in his final scene in the book?
- Is Maggie a collaborator or a defender of her way of life and the other
women?
- Discuss the significance of the quotations used to lead into each of the
three parts of the novel.
- The German invasion of Britain was a very real threat during the early
part of World War II in 1940/41. Does Sheers’ re-imagining of the invasion
in 1944 seem believable? Why do you think Sheers chooses to set his invasion
in 1944, as opposed to the more likely 1941?
- What do you know about the real Resistance movement in Britain?
- To what extent is Resistance an anti-war novel?
Created by, and reproduced with
the permission of the publisher, Nan A Talese.
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Anchor Books.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.
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