Gift for Reading Groups

The website ReadingGroupGuides is a very good resource for book clubs and readers (and one presumes students of literature) providing lists of probing and interesting questions intended to take discussion of books to a new level. (I use the site quite a bit when preparing for our own book club meetings.)

A new addition to the site is a guide to Tan Twan Eng's The Gift of Rain. My favourite question is No. 16 which really gets to the heart of it :

What are some examples of crossing lines, defying taboos in search of love? Is there any suggestion that Endo-san’s and Philip’s relationship is taboo? (See pp.186-7). Some of the swordplay imagery is highly suggestive. Do you think the sexual implications are purely metaphorical? (See pp. 305-308)

It was "the chopstick scene" that provided my own moment of truth ...