Book Club Discussion Question 12 : Blessings

[Sara Noel]

12. Quindlen uses dialogue as a tool not only to explain what a character is thinking or doing at the moment, but to provide insight into what moves and compels his or her actions and emotions. Through dialogue, Quindlen allows the reader to really get into the mind of a character. Discuss the nuances of the dialogue used throughout the book. How do speech patterns and thought patterns differ, and how do these differences influence your view and understanding of a given character?

[paelthom]

Thinking back to the beginning of the book and the way the young boy and girl talked to each other, you could tell that they considered life a mistake and the baby a big mistake. You could tell that they were miserable people. Later when the girl came back, she was still miserable.

[Sara Noel]

I think dialogue is a very difficult aspect of writing. I noticed how Skip was Skip and then he was Charles which showed me a particular warmth that Lydia had toward him, but also proved to me again that she was used to things being a certain way and she preferred calling him that.

I found the thought process of Lydia to jump around a lot. I felt that was difficult to sometimes keep up with, but also appreciated it for how it seemed to characterize the stage of life she was at too.

I felt the dialogue kinda made Nadine a somewhat annoying person at first and then she grew on me as being more typical and caring and not so strange as I initially thought.

[AmyMCGS]

Originally posted by smnoel
Discuss the nuances of the dialogue used throughout the book. How do speech patterns and thought patterns differ, and how do these differences influence your view and understanding of a given character?

When I started reading the book, I was really hoping the author was going to cut down on the flowery adjectives.  After I got into it, I could see that her tone matched that of Lydia's thoughts- everything was syrupy sweet in Lydia's memory, despite the stark reality of her life today.

Nadine is the best example I can think of- as her husband said later, you just have to know what she's been through to understand her opinions.  Her limited English and sharp tones defined her character and made her easy for me to imagine.

I think Lydia's tone, ordering people about, was clear in her dialogue.  It spoke of her history- when she was younger she didn't dare speak out, but now that she is older and set in her ways, she is confident and has things just as she pleases.