Long Island Reads Aloft: Part V

Aloft begins with Jerry Battle flying high over Long Island in his plane, but ends with him firmly on the ground. The final words of the novel are spoken by Jerry as he lies in the pit of what will become a pool. When he is called to join his family to eat he says, "They'll start without me".

Discussion Questions:
How is the final image of the book symbolic of the evolution of Jerry's character. What does it mean about his relationship with Daisy and his potential future with Rita? Would you say that Jerry is a different man? How so?


I hope that you have enjoyed our cyber-discussion of Aloft by Chang-rae Lee. If you liked this novel, you may also want to try:

The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster
The Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami
About Schmidt by Louis Begley
Independence Day by Richard Ford
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
The Distinguished Guest by Sue Miller
Everyman by Phillip Roth

Other novels by Chang-rae Lee:
A Gesture Life
Native Speaker

Long Island Reads Aloft: Part IV

Just when we thought that Jerry had his hands full with the women in his life, we focus on an unhappy father in a retirement home, a son who is running the family business into the ground, a future son-in-law who confides terrible truths, and a rival for Rita's heart.

Discussion Questions:
How does Jerry's relationship with his father, Hank influence his relationship with his own son, Jack? Why do you think that Jack and Hank form a close bond? What are the differences between Jack and Jerry? Why would Jerry find it easier to get along with Paul than with Jack?

Tomorrow: Floating in an empty pool and read-alikes...

Long Island Reads Aloft: Part III

Jerry has been impacted by several important women in his life: Daisy, his deceased wife, Rita, an ex-girlfriend who helped to raise his children, Kelly, a former love interest and Theresa, his pregnant daughter who has recently been diagnosed with cancer. As we discussed yesterday, Jerry tends to try to escape through his flying. But, he can never seem to completely remove himself, especially from Daisy's death. At one point, Rita tells Jerry, "everything you do - or don't want to do, more like - has an origin in what happened to Daisy, which at this point is really what happened to you."

Discussion Questions:
Do all of Jerry's problems stem from Daisy's death? How would you describe Jerry's relationships with the women in his life? What is the common thread running through them? How does Jerry's experience with Daisy influence his treatment of Kelly and Theresa? Think about the experiences in your life that have changed you forever. Can you relate to Jerry's behavior in any way?

Tomorrow: The Men in Jerry's Life...

Long Island Reads Aloft: Part II

"From up here, a half mile above the Earth, everything looks perfect to me." Jerry Battle says in Chang-rae Lee's novel Aloft. Jerry's favorite pastime is flying his small plane high above Long Island.

Discussion Questions:
How does Lee use the metaphor of flying to illustrate Jerry's character? How does it relate to Jerry's need to escape from the problems that arise in his world? Everyone has methods of detaching from troubling realities. What do you do to escape? Can escapism be healthy?

Tomorrow: The Ladies in Jerry's Life...

Long Island Reads Aloft: Part I

Aloft is Chang-rae Lee's third novel following Native Speaker and A Gesture Life. Lee was born in Seoul, Korea and immigrated to the United States with his parents when he was three years old. The themes of identity and assimilation that have marked his own life have been featured prominently in his novels, however, in Aloft, Lee attempts to move beyond these.

Set on Long Island, Aloft is the story of Jerry Battle, a middle-aged, semi-retired landscaper. Told through Jerry's voice, the heart of the novel focuses on family relationships.

Discussion Questions:
How would you describe the tone of Jerry's narrative? Did this technique appeal to you as a reader? How would the story have changed were you able to experience different characters' points of view?

Tomorrow: Flying...

The Namesake Tomorrow Night!

Don't forget to join us for our discussion of The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri tomorrow, Thursday, April 3rd at 7:30PM. Then, pick up a copy of our next book group selection, Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Jane Eyre Discussion Summary

Whether we had read it for the first or fifteenth time, we were all eager to discuss Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

Our discussion opened with a hearty recommendation of the televised mini-series of Jane Eyre starring Timothy Dalton as Mr. Rochester. (We can interlibrary loan this version for you if you're interested.) According to one of our participants, this version is the most comprehensive and is the most faithful to the original story.

Jane Eyre had a difficult childhood, but while we briefly discussed this and her relationships with her "benefactress", a majority of the discussion was focused on her adult life. The characters of Mr. Rochester and St. John Rivers were discussed at length. We were unanimous in our perception that St. John (pronounced sin-jin) was a repressed and tortured soul. But, our interpretation of Rochester's behavior was conflicted. Many found his emotions to be earnest, but others found his behavior unpredictable and odd.

The themes of religion, the supernatural, social class, and the imperialism of Great Britain were also mentioned. A list of read-a-likes was distributed and one of these, Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys was endorsed by one of our participants as a follow-up to Jane Eyre for those interested in Bertha Rochester’s story, as well as a look at the other side of British imperialism.

Overall, this was a lively discussion. It was agreed that while some of the novel was overly descriptive, the majority of the language was beautiful and thoroughly evocative of the time in which it was written.

Our next discussion will be held on Thursday, April 3rd at 7:30PM. Our selection, The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri is available now at the Reference Desk.