- "Dying is the last of [Paul's] life's great escapades and the last he would want to undertake with ill-fitting spirits. In this way he aspires to be full of life more than anyone I know..." Does he have the right attitude? Is it possible to approach death as a great adventure, even if you don't have faith in a supernatural sequel? 89-90
- Have you heard of Orlando Cepeda? 92 (Just curious. He was a hero of mine at age 10--alongside Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock--when he led my favorite baseball team to a championship season in '67. Didn't know then that he'd ever be tainted by association with the drug trade. Is it best not to look too closely at our heroes? Should we teach our children to be wary of heroes in sports and entertainment? And more generally?)
- "That guy Engvall. How come he's Black? He's a dunce." 93 Why do you think Paul says this? Are you satisfied with Frank' response?
- "The winter can take a toll on you." 95 And yet, as George Santayana said: "To be interested in the changing seasons is, in this middling zone, a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring." Do you find winter a necessary and even ennobling season? Or would you flourish more in a tropical zone? And less literally, what (if any) important elements of life does winter symbolize for you?
- "Only full awareness of death makes one able to appreciate the fullness and mystery of being... Out in the gloom you usually find some lights on." 97 Do you agree?
- Do you miss the days "when jokes were legal"? 98 Do you share Frank's nostalgia for such jokes (or days)? 98
- Have you ever driven or ridden in a vehicle like the Windbreaker? Is it a practical mode of travel? Or is practicality beside the point? Why do you think Frank seeks a "Flying Dutchman affiliation" in his choice of transport with Paul? 99
- "An optimist, I've read, is a person who believes the inevitable is what's supposed to happen." 103 Or is it the other way around? By this definition, is Frank an optimist? Are you? Do you define optimism (and pessimism, and meliorism) differently? How is it possible to sustain optimism in the face of acknowledged human mortality?
- What do you think Frank would say about Bad Bunny's Superbowl performance? What do you say?
- "There is no was. There is only is." What did the "scrofulous old faker Faulkner" mean? Why is Frank so hostile to him? 104, 121 and passim. (The more familiar quote: “The past is never dead. It's not even past.”) And wasn't his Nobel speech marvelous?)
- What do you make of Frank's "needs" and "relationship" with Betty Tran, the massatherapist (who's working on her capstone, btw)? Is it a harmless fantasy, or even a constructive one?
- "It doesn't take much, it turns out, to improve one's attitude." 107 Has that been your experience?
- Should love and "much of life" be scare-quoted? 109
- Is Betty a meliorist? 110
- Are "three house moves the psychic equivalent of a death"? 111
- "All who wander are not lost." 113 Are Frank and Paul lost?
- Do you agree that "unexpected, unexplained feelings of well-being never be questioned"? 114
- Have you ever had a Proustian gustatory moment? 117
- Did you go to High School with a "certifiable female"? 118 Is there any excuse for people of Frank's age to long for attachment to women of High School age? Does that make him feel appropriately "still alive"? 119 Does it lend his life "authenticity"? 121 and passim
- Are men really "no longer allowed to say we simply like women? Is Frank a sexist? 122
- Is "the Michelangelo effect" a thing? 124
- Comment? "The closest anyone can go with us to death, the poet tells us, is not very damn close." 132 (Extra credit if you can identify the poet.)
- What do you think of Nietzsche's view of discourse and happiness? 134
- Comment?: "Not that anyone ever does die happy. The idea of choice in most things is of course a feathery lie of western philosophy." 144
- What does it mean to say "the business of business is always business"? 135
- [Twenty pages without questions from me...]
- Is "spiritual insulation from too much bad and too much good" another name for stoicism? Is it a wise approach to life? 157
- What do you think of Frank's views on aging? 159
- What do people misunderstand about the "symbolism" of confederate flags? 172
- Post any of your own comments or questions...
Monday, February 9, 2026
Questions FEB 10
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1. I think Paul has the right attitude because he is not throwing in the towel or letting someone else design the ending of his life. He decides to stay true to who he is, even if these are his final days. To me, calling death an escapade is not about being excited for it. It is about facing it on his own terms. He wants to meet it as himself and not hide behind beliefs or comforts that never really fit him.
ReplyDeleteI do think it is possible to approach death as a kind of adventure, and it really comes down to mindset. There are people who walk close to the edge of life every day, like climbers who scale dangerous heights or explorers who go into places where survival is not guaranteed. Part of what drives them is the mystery of what comes next. The unknown can feel powerful instead of terrifying.
I also believe you do not have to rely on faith in something after death to face it with courage. A person can step into that stillness by accepting that some things are beyond control. The real question becomes whether you let fear take over or whether you accept reality for what it is. Paul seems to choose acceptance. By doing that, he stays connected to himself, and that might be the most alive he can be at this point.
Based on this week’s reading, do you think Frank and Betty’s relationship is authentic, or is she simply very good at her job? Do you think she treats more than one of her clients the way she treats Frank, such as Sarge Major Gunnerson? Or do you think she genuinely likes Frank, even though she is getting married?
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1: "Dying is the last of [Paul's] life's great escapades and the last he would want to undertake with ill-fitting spirits. In this way he aspires to be full of life more than anyone I know..." Does he have the right attitude? Is it possible to approach death as a great adventure, even if you don't have faith in a supernatural sequel? 89-90
ReplyDeleteThis has somewhat of a spiritual undertone, but not religious. It's almost as if Paul is viewing death as the "grand finale"; something that a majority of people fear. It's the unexpected for all. Referring to it as an "escapade" could also represent Paul's unconventional life. Viewing this natural transition as daring or adventurous is something that the majority of people do not perceive.
Paul's outlook on life is rather youthful, from what I have interpreted. He knows that the life he was granted has a specific purpose to fulfill, and he knows how to curse correct life's negative circumstances.
My own question for everyone: On page 106, Frank says, “Why we don't do what we don't do is often for a good reason.”
ReplyDeleteThis sentence stuck out to me while reading. It's a reoccurring aspect of Ford's writing style I enjoy; these short passages that stand out from Frank's narration of events. They work well with allowing the reader to examine their own life alongside Frank and make the themes a little more relatable with Frank's specific narrative events. I've never shared his worry about visiting a massage parlor, but this particular statement got me thinking about times in my own life where not doing something was just as important as doing something.
So, my question for everyone is, do you agree with Frank's statement? And if so, whether it was small or major, has there been a time for you that not doing something was a good thing?
Question 2: I have not heard of Orlando Cepeda before this novel, but I’m sure my grandma and her sisters have since they are longtime baseball fans.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to teach children, and remind ourselves as adults, not to idolize celebrities or those we look up to. Just because the person has played a film role we enjoy, written our favorite book, or is our sports hero means that they should be placed on a pedestal. It’s easy as a child to look up to someone and think they are the best person ever because they’ve done something we like. Everyone is human, complicated and potentially will make mistakes or even cause serious harm to others. We don’t truly know this person besides what is presented to us by themselves/their PR team or when something is leaked to/released by the press. It may not even be known until after they’ve died.
Once children reach a certain age, they should be taught their heroes are regular people just like them. I think overtime, this can help minimize the parasocial bonds fans create with their idols and can maintain an emotional distance from them. There have been more times than I can count of someone I looked up or enjoyed what they created later turned out to be a terrible person. I do not want to give my support and time to someone who uses their power and influence to harm others, even if that means not enjoying the thing I once loved by them.
[Question 2]: I personally have never heard of Orlando Cepeda, but I’m interested in this question because it deals with what we talked about in class last week: separating the art from the artist. I think the reason why the phrase “don’t meet your heroes” exists is because many people tend to treat celebrities as gods, not as human beings who have flaws just like any other person. Despite their god-like status as celebrities, these are just regular people. They may have incredible talent at sports or music—which sets them apart from more “regular” people—but they’re still just people. Instead of teaching children not to look too closely at heroes, we should make them more aware of the normal human-ness of their heroes. Instead of encouraging them to idolize their heroes and elevate them to the status of gods who can do no wrong, we should be stressing to them that these are regular people who are just as capable of doing wrong as anyone else.
ReplyDelete[Question 3]: In my mind, the most plausible reason for Paul to say this is because maybe he didn’t expect to see any Black people in Minnesota. I’m honestly not sure if the utterances of “Why is he Black?” and “He’s a dunce” are related. Does Paul think Mr. Engvall is a dunce because he’s Black? Probably not. (At least, I hope not.) Does Paul think Mr. Engvall is a dunce for running an RV shop in frigid Minnesota as opposed to somewhere with a more pleasant climate, like Arizona? Maybe. Either way, I liked Frank’s response.
[Question 4]: I believe winter is necessary in the sense that nature needs time to rest and recover before re-emergence in the spring. Winter definitely can be ennobling in that it forces you to slow down and be introspective. For me, winter represents the intense “looking inward” we all must do in order to better ourselves. (When snow and ice have you trapped in your house, what else is there to do?) I suppose it’s nice to have a period of cold to balance out the extreme heat of the summer. However, I. HATE. WINTER. It’s my least favorite season. I am not built for the cold. In the winter, I am a shivering, miserable ball of rage. I’d be perfectly happy living somewhere where it never snows and never gets below 60 degrees.