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Before the Fall

2017/07/01 12:52:19瀏覽453｜回應0｜推薦2

Writer:

Noah is a famous American television writer and producer, creenwriter, and best selling author, best known for creating and writing the FX television series Fargo (2014-) and Legion (2017-). Hawley earlier worked on the television series Bones (2005–2008), The Unusuals (2009) and My Generation (2010).

Story:

A nine-seat airplane, driven by the pilot, James is British, the first officer Charlie is from Odessa, Texas, the flight attendant ,Emma was Germany-born America.

Nine people will die by aircrash. Only two survive. One is Scott. Who ran into Maggie and she invited Scott to join the fly. While Scott was six, and had a trip with family in San Francisco, he had witnessed something unquantifiable-Jack Lalanne tow a thousand –pound boat through San Francisco Bay, it makes him believe that anything is possible, everything is gettable. You just have to wait it badly enough(p.80). And make his mind to sign up for swim class after the trip.

This swim ability saves himself, a down to luck painter and the other kid JJ at this air crash.

The author gives background stories of each of the 11 passengers and crew members and provides us possible clues of what caused the disaster. Two famous family, one is the head of a major television network (think: Fox News) and his family, the other is a soon-to-be-indicted wealthy money launderer and his wife will all be dead.

Before all the truth to be discovered. The cause effect is still in the wind. The media turns out to focus all the pressure on Scott’s facial affair instead and lost to pay more attention to post accident syndrom. It seems Scott ,the survivor, need to be consumed by media eater to face the death again. What lucky is the glare of suspicion brings him back to the well known painter.

Highlights vs self- reflection:

1.p.19 “Even at his young age he knew that he had witnessed something unquantifiable, some grand facet of nature that was more than animal. To do what his man had done-to strap weight to his body, bind his limbs, and swim two miles through freezing water-was something Superman would do. Was it possible? Was this Superman?....two days later, when they got back to Indianapolis, Scott Burroughs signed up for swim class” Scott already plan how to be a superman at his young age. Better prepare your life don’t let life prepare you.

2. (P.54)David Bateman died, he used to be the chairman of the ALC NEWs. stood unflinchingly as machine gun fire strafed the dirt between his legs.

3.(p.58)David had worked on both sides of the political scandal racket in his day. He had turned his love of the game into a highly profitable consulting business.

4. (p.61) He was a role of a sorting machine, boxing the news by category and priority, forwarding tips to various departments.

Golden Sentence:

1.p.1 “Everyone has their path. The choices they’ve made. How any two people end up in the same place at the same time is a mystery.”

2.p.19”Age is a state of mind”

3.p.23”If you panic right now, you will die…If he could see stars, he thinks, he could orient himself.”

4.p.24”You could be an explorer or an astronaut. You could sail the seven seas, climb the tallest mountain. All you had to do was believe.”

5.p.24”Panic’s cousin, despair, threatens to settle in , but he shakes it off.”

6.p59”you snooze you lose.”

7.p.61”A rhythm of give-and-take that came from living in the moment, from burying old grudges.

8.p.61”For David’s father, childhood had been a luxury his son could not afford. Play was considered a gateway drug to idleness and poverty. Life was a Hail Mary. You only got one shot at it, and if you didn’t train every day-with wind sprints and grass drills-you would blow it.

9.p.62”you don’t become a man by accident.

10.p.70”…the reason we were losing out in life was not that we were losers, but that someone was reaching into our pockets, our companies, our country and taking what was rightfully ours.

11.p.43”abandoned buoy bobbing in the dark.”

12.p.50”the buy under the microscope.”

Before the Fall Book Discussion Suggested Questions by Teressa

1. Every person on the plane has experienced sadness or difficulties in the past. Do you think that, universally, everyone has his/her own sad story, or is this a unique trait of this particular set of characters?

p.24”You could be an explorer or an astronaut. You could sail the seven seas, climb the tallest mountain. All you had to do was believe.”

Since we are born, we don’t plan to be dead one day, we do have same destiny. But if we believe here and now we can be our own explorer.

2. What different meanings could the title BEFORE THE FALL signify?

Before the fall, we can control our life, There is a saying: to err is human, to forgive is divine. Here. We can say. To face is human , to believe is divine. We don’t know which will arrive earlier ? Die or Tomorrow. We only can face here and now.

3. “True horror, you see, comes not from the savagery of the unexpected, but from the corruption of everyday objects, spaces”(363). Do you agree? Do you see this idea reflected elsewhere in the book?

p.70”…the reason we were losing out in life was not that we were losers, but that someone was reaching into our pockets, our companies, our country and taking what was rightfully ours. The cause effect is still in the wind. The media turns out to focus all the pressure on Scott’s facial affair instead and lost to pay more attention to post accident syndrom. It seems Scott ,the survivor, need to be consumed by media eater to face the death again. What lucky is the glare of suspicion brings him back to the well known painter. What more horrible is something unseen. All the wolf with goat’s skin is more horrible.

4. In what ways is this novel a traditional thriller? In what ways does it bend the conventions of the thriller genre?

We don’t feel the bloody scene, but the conflict between human beings are more bloddy.

5. The 24-hour news cycle is ubiquitous in our culture. How is this phenomenon portrayed in BEFORE THE FALL, and how does it make you rethink what we see on television every day?

We can reconsider the media is the part of the troublemaker or problem slover?

6. BEFORE THE FALL alternates between the present day --- the investigation into the plane crash and Scott’s experience --- and flashbacks to each passenger’s life. As you read more of the flashbacks, how does your understanding of the past inform or change your understanding of the present day narrative?

Be careful of any judgment which could be one’s meat but another’s poison.

7. “He [Scott] too is striving for truth. Or maybe he alone”(356). Much of the book revolves around a quest for the truth. What truths are debated or searched for during the course of this book? Do you believe that truth is objective? Do you agree with Bill Cunningham that“people have a right to know” the truth (388)?

Truth belongs to those who believe in human-beings.

8. Noah Hawley is well-known for his work in film and television. In what scenes do you see this reflected in the book?

Jack Lalanne tow a thousand –pound boat through San Francisco Bay, it makes him believe that anything is possible, everything is gettable. Y

9. “Everyone has their path. The choices they’ve made. How any two people end up in the same place at the same time is a mystery” (1). Much of the plot hinges on chance encounters or small decisions. What are some seemingly unimportant choices characters make that turn out to be pivotal? Do you see this sort of kismet in real life?

Karma makes everything happen at the right time and right place for us to learn.

Recently the bus accident in Kangshan Highway. A week ago, there is a young guy who took this bus photo and found ghost hand waving at people.

10.How is the concept of heroism explored throughout the book? What separates heroes from other people? How does an ordinary person become a hero?

To do the small things right!

11.After the plane crash, Scott meets many different people --- JJ, Eleanor, Doug, Layla, Gus, Bill --- who want different things from him. How do these characters affect Scott and his personal journey?

A nobody becomes big shot via media

12. In many ways, Scott has been a passive observer rather than an active participant in life. In what ways does the crash change how he relates to the world around him and his sense of self?

Conclusion:

1.Jack Lalanne(p.27)Scott wish to send Jack Lalanne’s widow a fruit basket)” Exercise is king and nutrition is queen: together, you have a kingdom.”

2(p.43)Life is nothing but abandoned buoy bobbing in the dark. You are the one to turn your twilight on.

3.(p.51) “A distant point of light that brought with it absolute certainty about which direction they should go…standing there, studying his reflection in the glass, Scott wonders if he will ever have that kind of clarity again.” In the sea, Scott is all alone, it brings him a better clear mind to save himself. Once back to the crowd. He lost his ability to help himself. He could be charged with(p.50) political scandals, spree killings, celebrity intercourse…

4. Roland Dumas resigned as Foreign Minister under President Mitterrand who was accused in the Elf Affair. All the victim is the scapegoat of the devil. How much they scarify, how much we owe them. If we didn’t against the evil. Then we are part of the co-pilot.

5. The smallest God of the universe has the same name as the greatest God, called Mercy in English.

6. We can’t promise you the rose garden, but a garden with tons of thorns of roses.

To be alive seems to take more pressure and suffering than to be dead. Before the fall, our body, mind and soul already fell apart. We are the one to pull it all back together!

7.We can accept disappointment, for it's limited; we can never lose hope, for it's infinite-Martin Luther

8.Justice John Robert:“I wish you bad luck, from time to time, so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved, and the failure of others is not completely deserved either,” Roberts said. “And when you lose, as you will from time to time, I hope every now and then that your opponent will gloat over your failure, as a way to understand the importance of sportsmanship. I hope you’ll be ignored, so you understand the importance of listening to others, and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn compassion.”

Consultant Clive’s opinion:

Today’s book club meeting was a small group but Theresa had put a lot of

thought into the book and also the themes that the book explores.

Particularly the idea of the media’s impact on how we see events. The book

explores the idea of hero and how quickly the hero becomes the

perpetrator. Theresa asked us questions on how the media changes the

reality of what most people see and think. The book is more than a

who-dunnit, it explores the idea of the media and how it has the ability to

alter stories or omit truth.

The media here in Taiwan and in the USA is often unethical. The media can

manipulate the way one thinks or acts towards a specific situation. The

novel makes us consider the way the material that the media explores