Monsters of Templeton***SPOILERS 8/6/08

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BCCJillster	Monsters of Templeton***SPOILERS 8/6/08		Lead	[-]
07/27/08 01:11 PM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE Administrator	Tags : groff, monsters of templeton, family, cooperstown ny, james fenimore cooper Here I go enthusing again but I totally loved this book. Groff has such a sure hand and a light touch for the most part. (I could have lived forever without the Felcher thing, but otherwise...) Everything felt right and left me wanting more stories about the ancestors; I might even be forced to dip into JF Cooper. The ending felt good too. At first I didn't want there to be Epilogue from the monster''s viewpoint. I liked the other ending. But when the 'torch' was passed to the next generation, it was ok again. Good thing Willie's dad had no other kids to complicate real life LOL; he was a bit of an anticlimax but the story leading up to it was so good. You'd think the town would have at least a few genetic disorders with all the complications, wouldn 't you? Which was your favorite story? Hard to pick for me; I'll have to run through them mentally again but I liked the librarian Hazel--from her early description, I associated her with the goat woman in Cold Mountain (she was a fave from there). I bet some folks feel it was tied up too neatly, but I liked that. though I wish Vi had dumped ol Milky and that someone had whooped Sully. Hmmm maybe things didn't tie up that neatly after all. The book managed to feel fresh didn't it? I liked the mixture of letters (usually I don't care for them) and would have liked more of the history woven in, maybe tied in with the books more too. But that's asking a lot. Amazing for a first novel. Hope you'll all write volumes about what you thought so I can relive some of this. Currently reading: Monsters of Templeton Just finished: The Runner; No Time for Goodbye, Snakehead; Chasing Darkness, Highest Tide, Hungry Tide
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dlee10		#1	[url]	[-]
07/27/08 04:37 PM BCC BookieMonster	I did not like the epilogue but I did enjoy the book in general. Yes, it tied up very neatly but that was okay for me. I figured Sol was the father pretty early on mostly because there seemed no other reason for the buds and he was the only one whose life would not be turned upside down. I would liked to have more information on Peter. Was he in love with Felcher and his womanizing a cover? I wonder how much of the story mirrored Cooper's stories. I do feel at a disadvantage not having read them. Would this qualify as a girl coming of age story? If so, I do much better with females!
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irishonstars	Just finished...	#2	[url]	[-]
07/28/08 12:41 PM	Just finished Monsters of Templeton this morning. I read half way through the night, then fell asleep leaving the epilogue for this morning. I was determined not to like this book when I realized it was based on an historical "theme", but found myself getting so involved in the characters that I hated when the story ended. As to which story I liked the best, it's best to ask ME which part of the story I liked least, because I enjoyed reading each and every one, (how the author flipped back and forth between past and present). I read the post about the pictures included in the book and also liked the author's take on her using them. I spent WAY too much time viewing the pictures of Elizabeth Franklin Temple young and old and comparing the mouths in the photos, though. HA! Sorry! The graphic artist comes out in me. When Willie's pregnancy turned out to be an "hysterical" one I was really disappointed. I'm not sure why, but I truly wanted her to be pregnant. That she was not is what turned it out to be too neatly tied up I think. Although she'd truly never go back to being the Willie before, it allowed her to carry on as if nothing were different. I missed "the Lump" At first I thought I'd get confused with so many characters in the book, and have to look back repeatedly to remember "what/who went where", but found the Ms. Groff did an excellent job of weaving each story so that you didn't forget the characters easily... how it all related. I liked the epilogue I read this morning. It made me smile. Throughout the last third of the book I kept wondering when we'd return to Glimmey. (Did anyone else check out the artist's rendition of Glimmey as much as I did? I didn't picture him/her in my mind's eye like that at ALL.) Maybe I missed something, but I thought there'd be more mention of him/her, but as it turned out, (with the epilogue), it was "just about right". It's funny how, with each person reading the story, something else sticks in each of our minds. That's what's exciting about a book club! In Monsters of Templeton, there's just SO much to discuss.
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BCCJillster		#3	[url]	[-]
07/28/08 01:33 PM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE Administrator	You cracked me up with your determination not to like the book and then being won over. That's happened to me so often here. I'm not sure how to feel about the hysterical pregnancy because I too loved her relationship with The Lump. but having the baby and trying to keep it in the family would have been disastrous too probably. Maybe if Vi had been more Mother Earth and willing to raise it? It was so interesting the way the town reacted to the day the monster died, as though it were "the day the music died." Part of its heart was gone. So when they decided to protect the baby it was even more joyous and special. I examined the Glimmey illus too but hadn't pictured that odd tail effect. It was the hands and neck, and the soft white belly, that got to me. The hands most of all. I had to keep going back to the expanding genealogy to keep track of which branch was which. I remembered the individuals well enough, but lost track of the connections. Lesson learned: men with ostentatious characteristics really need to keep their pants zipped. LOL Red-haired Indian indeed. Poor No Name, she was such a sad little figure. I thought at first she'd been mutilated in the attack but to have bitten through her own tongue! And just when she was breaking free, life crushed her again. Just not fair. The descriptions of the area, the sounds and the smells around the lake, brought back strong sense memories of early summer mornings up there. I'd like to clip them and reread those memories once in a while the same way people play sound tapes of waves crashing. So soothing. Currently reading: Monsters of Templeton Just finished: The Runner; No Time for Goodbye, Snakehead; Chasing Darkness, Highest Tide, Hungry Tide
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jodijoy		#4	[url]	[-]
07/28/08 04:47 PM BCC ZEN Bookie MASTER	OK OK Jill. Here I am. Well, I did like it, but not as much as Jill did. I enjoyed it at first, but got bogged down in all the generations and all the same members of the same family overlapping each other and (ahem) shtupping everything in sight. I pictured the monster differently, more like Loch Ness I guess. I did like the letters between Charlotte (and oh, drat, can't remember the other one) and I liked Hazel. I also wish "the Lump" had been real.. it was more interesting that way. Oh, and redheaded Indians??? Silly! It's recessive! I wanted to smack Milky though. I wonder if it would resonate more if I had read more Cooper? If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -- James Madison
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BCCJillster		#5	[url]	[-]
07/28/08 04:53 PM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE Administrator	Yeah redheaded Indian recessive doesn't mean it doesn't pop out (hee hee pun intended) The book mentioned the red hair. And that's what indicated connection in a couple of generations right? I dragged you in here 'cause you told me to read it and then we could discuss 'cause you were done. So there nyah Currently reading: Monsters of Templeton Just finished: The Runner; No Time for Goodbye, Snakehead; Chasing Darkness, Highest Tide, Hungry Tide
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jodijoy		#6	[url]	[-]
07/28/08 05:13 PM BCC ZEN Bookie MASTER	Oh, and appropos of being told to read, I read The Hungry Tide over the weekend (at the beach!). Liked it too. And then had to go have some Indian food. If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -- James Madison
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riverblue		#7	[url]	[-]
08/01/08 04:30 PM	OK, finished it last night - and now I get to talk about a book at the same time as you guys - that hasn't happened in a while! I liked this book a lot but like you Jodi I got sick of trying to figure out the family tree. After a while I stopped going back and trying to get it straight and just read the thing! Enjoyed it much more then! I had the main characters straight in my head but how the generations meshed together got a tad confusing. I really enjoyed the letters between Charlotte and Cinnamon - they were so polite and beautifully written but so vicious! It was quite a family wasn't it - confessions of murder, firestarting and adultery all over the place - seemed to be a streak of madness running through the family which is hardly surprising given the way the generations intertwine. I liked the epilogue - it rounded off some of what we'd learned about the monster during the book. I liked the way we learned more about it over the course of the book from little snippets from all the different characters over the years - so many little encounters with it that gradually built up a picture. It semed to be so much part of the identity of the town that I liked knowing that there was a baby to carry on. Jill, I'm not sure that it is all tidily rounded off - lots of questions left open with quite a few characters very much still in the middle of their stories. One thing that had me wondering at the end of the book is what is Willie going to do about Primus Dwyer (what a name!) - as she drives away from Templeton her last comments about him had me thinking she might carry on where she left off with him - surely not...... Barb
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someonegetchristine		#8	[url]	[-]
08/02/08 06:16 PM BCC BookieMonster	I wondered if Willie had an inkling that she may not have been pregnant early on when she was out drinking with Peter and Zeke, tossing back the shots and I'm thinking 'hey go easy, you may harm the baby', but she didn't seem to be worried until after she'd finished. Well I'm done,, not totally over the moon about it - I dunno, the characters didn't come alive other than the interest of being on someone's family tree. I thought there was too much loose detail (for me) to work through and absorb and a lot of it seemed formless. I wondered too if it was because I'm unfamiliar with Cooper / Temple locale, whether that affected my response to it or not, in retrospect I think it did. Certainly the individual stories were cleverly done being interpreted from old photos. I found the photos oddly engaging, knowing that the stories were the author's take on the 'soul of the person' sitting in front of her and it gave me an image of the person I was reading about; personalsied them somehow, more than just flesh and bones. Most of them looked dour in their garb but peel back the layers and surprise, surprise. There was an article in our paper recently about a beginner's writing group where one member told how she reads the public obits, finds a character that appeals and begins to 'fill in the blanks'…lol Here's a challenge - take an old photo of someone you don't know - conjure up context and identity and begin to write. Midwives help people out. Last Edited By: someonegetchristine 08/02/08 07:33 PM. Edited 2 times.
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riverblue		#9	[url]	[-]
08/02/08 07:41 PM	Chris, I liked the photos a lot too - it's fascinating looking at those old photos and then having the stories fleshed out. I think it made the characters a lot more real. I wonder if they would have been so engaging without that factor added. Like your idea Chris - now that would be an interesting exercise! Barb
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BCCJillster		#10	[url]	[-]
08/07/08 09:48 PM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE Administrator	Found a reader's guide and another interview with Groff with some pretty pertinent questions http://www.laurengroff.com/?display=monsters Currently reading: Monsters of Templeton Just finished: The Runner; No Time for Goodbye, Snakehead; Chasing Darkness, Highest Tide, Hungry Tide
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wernoclue		#11	[url]	[-]
08/08/08 12:47 AM BCC ZEN Bookie MASTER	Uh, Jill, I don't think that link is leading us to pertinent questions. All I'm seeing is ad copy. Did I miss something? It is almost midnight so it's definitely possible! Karen I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. - Anna Quindlen
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wernoclue		#12	[url]	[-]
08/08/08 01:11 AM BCC ZEN Bookie MASTER	When Willie's pregnancy turned out to be an "hysterical" one I was really disappointed. I'm not sure why, but I truly wanted her to be pregnant. That she was not is what turned it out to be too neatly tied up I think. As Mari(? did I get that right? It is Mari, isn't it?) said, that was the one thing that made it too neatly tied up. Having a child or having an abortion at 28 with your life not perfectly but relatively on track would be a seriously difficult decision and I would be interested in how an author dealt with that. On the other hand, I might have been so irritated with how she dealt with it I would have thrown the book aside (since I have my own ideas of how a 28 year-old woman should deal). But, really? Hysterical pregnancy? How often does that happen? Although I've read of it, I've never known anyone in that situation. But I still really, really liked the book. I'll let that part go. Karen I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. - Anna Quindlen
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xmaystarx		#13	[url]	[-]
08/08/08 06:02 AM BCC BookieMonster	There's a link to download a pdf of the readers guide. I'll have to gather my thoughts on this one and post. I finished hours before leaving for vacation and never posted anything and didn't get to document my thoughts at the non-existent chat. Like most everyone, I really enjoyed it. More later. Courtney Currently reading: Those who Save us by Jena Blum and Savage Garden
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BCCJillster		#14	[url]	[-]
08/08/08 06:43 AM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE Administrator	Karen, there are a couple of links on that page; as Courtney said, the pdf for the reader's guide, which also contains Groff answering questions. I didn't want to link directly to the pdf or you'd all be auto-downloading it. I'm not sure how I felt about the hysterical pregnancy either--one parallel that was interesting to me was that Primus claimed sterility and Willie's real father had thought he was sterile too after three childless marriages. I went back and reviewed the introduction to the book and Groff set's out which characters she picked up--like Marmaduke, Remarkable, Chief Unca, and Cora Brown as well as NoName. Now I'm curious about how much was Cooper's and how much Groff's of each of them. Currently reading: Monsters of Templeton Just finished: The Runner; No Time for Goodbye, Snakehead; Chasing Darkness, Highest Tide, Hungry Tide
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dlee10		#15	[url]	[-]
08/08/08 09:05 AM BCC BookieMonster	That was exactly my problem with the book. While I did enjoy it I got frustrated wondering about Cooper's characters and how much was his versus Goff's. (no, I have not started the Leatherstocking Tales!) I also never thought Willie was really preggers. The fact that she didn't take a test led me to think she didn't want to find out there was no lump. Then the drinking led me to think that underneath it all she did not really believe there was a baby.
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MizPam		#16	[url]	[-]
08/08/08 04:46 PM BCC BookieMonster	I loved this book from beginning to end however Willie did get under my skin a few times. She was much too old and had been around the block too many times to react the way she did over a couple of things. What business is it of her's who her mother choses to be with boring or not? And... if my daughter dissed me the way Willie did Mari, I'd be all over her little attitudes. I know that for a fact since my 40 year old just tried to give me attitude and we "discussed" it immediately. I didn't believe Willie actually believed she was pregnant either. Being as seriously confused and depressed as she was, she very easily could block her normal cycle. I thought all along she'd miscarry anyway. Considering her mental condition, it wouldn't be too surprising. Glimmey was such a dear! I just knew there would be another. There had to be. That came as no surprise. "The pleasures provided by books and reading are enhanced many times over in the context of a successful club..." Martha Rosen Pam
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BCCJillster		#17	[url]	[-]
08/08/08 05:37 PM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE Administrator	Bad daughter here--I totally understood Willie being icked out by her mother's choice. Quite a stretch for an 'aging hippie' and Willie's understanding of who her mom is. I know that's not fair but ... now that doesn't mean I would have mouthed off--I'm sure I wouldn't I was way too brainwashed for that. I looked back at the picture of Glimmey and it was nothing like what I"d pictured! My mind edited the picture the first time through. I thought of him/her as lemony with a white belly, a long elegant neck looking much more like Nessie and dinosaur-like. The histories were the main attraction for me, so Willie's woes were more of a sideshow I guess. I loved the old stories, obviously Currently reading: Monsters of Templeton Just finished: The Runner; No Time for Goodbye, Snakehead; Chasing Darkness, Highest Tide, Hungry Tide
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someonegetchristine		#18	[url]	[-]
08/08/08 06:03 PM BCC BookieMonster	Those photos linger long after I've taken the book back - I had a question about the photo at the end of the book of the woman, with her back to the camera in a graduation gown, I assume that was the author ? I can still see the wonkey eye man looking at me though…lol And I do remember thinking the same Pam…leave mum alone if she wants to have a fling with whoever - she's old enough to make up her own mind. Midwives help people out.
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Olle		#19	[url]	[-]
08/08/08 08:05 PM	I felt Willie's reaction to her mother was twofold. One was increduality that she'd fall for someone religious based on what she thought her mother's reaction to religion was; two is that she was jealous. Would she have approved of her mother falling for any man? In thinking about the town and how they felt after the monster was revealed and removed....it mentioned how sad/quiet the town was. It's as if, even though they didn't know it existed, once it was known and removed they were missing something that made them special and unique. It was interesting how some touched it and felt cold, others warm. Plus how the monster was mentioned in so much of the literature. Wouldn't the scientists have loved to know about all of them? One other intriguing point is that Hazel says (towards the end) that Richard was Duke's favorite son. yet we know from reading Richard's words that the truth was different. Just an example of how history can be interpreted in different ways. Who knew what the real relationship was like? Only those who lived it. A comment about Willie and her non-pregnancy. this is kind of gross so stop reading if you don't want to read it. Spoiler [+] she got out of the hospital and had sex the next day with Zeke. Wasn't she still in the midst of an abnormally bad period? It's not that she can't have sex while having her period but no mention of the, er, results. Like it was no big deal - she just had sex, fell asleep, then got up and strolled away. Olle
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wernoclue		#20	[url]	[-]
08/09/08 12:46 AM BCC ZEN Bookie MASTER	Ya know what, Olle? I totally missed that. But you're right Spoiler [+] guess it's just been so darned long since I had a period, I didn't even think of that! LOL Karen I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. - Anna Quindlen
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Monsters of Templeton***SPOILERS 8/6/08

Monsters of Templeton***SPOILERS 8/6/08

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