Books & Music TPF Book Club Discussion Thread - Me Before You-Jojo Moyes

[jburgh]

EDIT - on July 28th - No spoiler tags, we have waited enough time.


OK - here is the discussion thread!

Not everyone has completely finished it, so please no spoilers for a couple of weeks, unless you use the spoiler tag.


Here is how you add spoiler tags:

1.)Type this without the quotation marks:
["spoiler][/spoiler"]

2.) Position your cursor in between the "][" and type something
Example: ["spoiler]this is a spoiler[/spoiler"]

3.) Now I'll do it without the quotation mark so you can actually see it in use. Just hover your mouse over it and you can read the spoiler.

Spoiler

this is how you create a spoiler

 

[lizmil]

Finished, it in one sitting, really liked it

 

[temps]

Me too. Finished in one sitting. It was so funny and sad at the same time. Unfortunately I was reading in public and has to try so hard not to sob too much. 😧. Can't wait to discuss with other TPFers here! Practicing spoiler button while I'm waiting...

Spoiler

I'm reading one plus one now...

 

[lizmil]

When are we ready to discuss it? I read it in one long sitting.

 

[Cindi]

I don't think we should have to use spoiler tags in this thread. It is the discussion thread and people need to finish the book before joining the discussion IMO.

 

[Elsee]

So, how should we get started? Should someone lead the discussion? I found some interesting discussion questions online...

 

[lnw85]

So, how should we get started? Should someone lead the discussion? I found some interesting discussion questions online...

Could you post the discussion questions along with some of your thoughts and then maybe everyone else can start jumping in as well?

 

[Elsee]

Could you post the discussion questions along with some of your thoughts and then maybe everyone else can start jumping in as well?

Sure. I've checked several sites and the following are the Publisher's discussion questions:

1. If you were Louisa, would you have quit working for the Traynors? If yes, at what point?

2. Were you able to relate to the way Will felt after his accident? What about his outlook on life did you find most difficult to understand or accept?

3. Discuss the meaning of the novel’s title. To whom do the “me” and “you” refer?

4. Louisa often finds Mrs. Traynor cold and judgmental. Is there an appropriate way to behave in Mrs. Traynor’s situation?

5. What is your opinion of Mr. Traynor? Did it change after you read his side of the story?

6. Why is Louisa able to reach Will when so many others could not?

7. Were you as surprised as Lou to learn of Will’s plans?

8. Compare Louisa’s relationship with Treena to Will’s relationship with Georgina. Do siblings know one another any better simply because they are related?

9. Would Patrick have asked Louisa to move in with him if he hadn’t felt threatened by Will? If Louisa had never accepted her job with the Traynors, where would her relationship with Patrick have gone?

10. Discuss Louisa’s own secret ties to the castle. Would most girls in her situation have blamed themselves? Should Treena have behaved differently in the aftermath?

11. What did you make of the way Lou’s mother, Josie, judges Lou’s decisions regarding Will. Is Josie’s reaction fair?

12. Before his accident, Will was a philanderer and a corporate raider who would probably never have given Louisa a second look. Why is it that people are so often unable to see what’s truly important until they’ve experienced loss?

So, to start with the first question...it's a really difficult one to address. She quit twice. Initially, although I would have shared Louisa's feelings of being used by the Traynors and, to some extent, unwittingly complicit in what she considered their support for his plans, I don't think that I would have quit at that point. I would have felt betrayed and confronted the Traynors with my feelings (it probably wouldn't be a productive discussion). I do think that I would have quit toward the end when Louisa does. I think the feelings of helplessness and devastation that she was feeling would be just too much.

Please share your thoughts.

 

[jburgh]

I don't think we should have to use spoiler tags in this thread. It is the discussion thread and people need to finish the book before joining the discussion IMO.

I agree - it has been a long enough wait. I'll edit the first post.

 

[lnw85]

I'll jump into Question 6 -

I think Lou was better able to reach Will because she didn't try to handle him with kid gloves. When he was being an @$$, she treated him like one. I think that made him feel more normal since everyone else in his life just let him act however he wanted because of his condition. I think she also gave Will a project of sorts. In her, he found someone that he could actually help which again I think gave him a sense of normalcy. He seemed to enjoy opening Lou's eyes to things she had not experienced before. Ultimately, it seemed to provide Will with a purpose which he seemed to be missing once he became confined to the wheelchair.

 

[jburgh]

I'll jump into Question 6 -

I think Lou was better able to reach Will because she didn't try to handle him with kid gloves. When he was being an @$$, she treated him like one. I think that made him feel more normal since everyone else in his life just let him act however he wanted because of his condition. I think she also gave Will a project of sorts. In her, he found someone that he could actually help which again I think gave him a sense of normalcy. He seemed to enjoy opening Lou's eyes to things she had not experienced before. Ultimately, it seemed to provide Will with a purpose which he seemed to be missing once he became confined to the wheelchair.

Which takes me to question 7 - I was surprised when Will decided to go through with the assisted suicide. I guess it was wishful thinking on my part. I thought Lou might have given him enough purpose to stay alive. How about you lnw85?

 

[lnw85]

Which takes me to question 7 - I was surprised when Will decided to go through with the assisted suicide. I guess it was wishful thinking on my part. I thought Lou might have given him enough purpose to stay alive. How about you lnw85?

I actually wasn't all that surprised that he still went through with it. I actually believe Lou in some way gave him another reason to do it. In my mind, Will's primary motivation for ending his own life was to free the people around him. I think he felt like a prisoner in his own body and felt as though he was holding back the people that he loved. I believe he did love Lou but more than being with her wanted to open her up to a world of possibilities that she never knew existed and that was exactly what he did.

 

[lizmil]

I actually wasn't all that surprised that he still went through with it. I actually believe Lou in some way gave him another reason to do it. In my mind, Will's primary motivation for ending his own life was to free the people around him. I think he felt like a prisoner in his own body and felt as though he was holding back the people that he loved. I believe he did love Lou but more than being with her wanted to open her up to a world of possibilities that she never knew existed and that was exactly what he did.

I agree completely with this analysis. I figured out about 50 pages from the end he was going to go through with it.

 

[lizmil]

Another question: (are we allowed to ask one?)

Why didn't his super wealthy family know about the computer aided communication devices for these needs? Lou comes along and she's the one to discover it?

 

[lnw85]

Another question: (are we allowed to ask one?)

Why didn't his super wealthy family know about the computer aided communication devices for these needs? Lou comes along and she's the one to discover it?

Good question. Thinking about it, I feel as though his parents just seemed to throw their money at other people to figure out how to save their son. I don't know if that was just from a complete lack of understanding of what to do for him or whether they did that just because they could and that's what they were used to doing. My feeling is that they were so used to throwing money at their problems that they just did that instead of trying to do research on how they could help him themselves. Lou on the other hand had never had the luxury of throwing money at problems so she knew she would have to pound the pavement looking for answers.
I also think Will's parents were paralyzed by their fears. I thought it was really interesting that his parents were trying to hide the dads relationship. Will obviously knew about it and didn't even really seem bothered by it but it was like they were just so scared to do anything perhaps because they didn't know how it would affect Will.