My friend insisted we skip the final chapter of 'Klara and the Sun' and discuss the second to last one instead

She argued the actual ending was too neat and the real debate was in the penultimate scene. We did it, and our group argued for an hour about whether Klara's choice was hopeful or tragic. What's the best book club debate you've ever had that changed how you saw a story?

3 comments

3 Comments

faith_shah882mo ago

My book club spent three meetings just on the last page of "The Great Gatsby." We kept going back and forth on if Nick was lying to himself the whole time. It made the book feel way more sneaky and sad. Your friend's idea to skip the last chapter is kind of genius, though. Who needs a neat ending when you can just argue forever?

mark_ward2mo ago

That last page really gets you, doesn't it? Used to think Nick was the only honest one in the whole mess. But hearing your club talk about him lying to himself makes a lot of sense. It changes the whole feeling of the book when you see him as just another person fooling himself. Now I want to go back and read it with that in mind. What part of the last page started that idea for your group?

samk772mo ago

Wow, that's a cool idea. We argued about whether the dad in "The Road" was selfish or selfless. It totally flipped the book for me. Made the whole story feel way more sad.