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- This novel opens with a prologue that introduces the town, West Spirit Lake, and the narrator's family. The prologue tells the story of a drowning death at break-up time on the lake. How does this episode foreshadow the main story, which occurs eight years later?
- The weather and the cycle of freeze and thaw are touched on frequently. What role does this play in the novel?
- Contemporary books about small-town life often emphasize the seamy underside of existence in places where everybody knows everybody else. Geddes also shows us death, gossip and crime. But does the book ultimately make growing up in West Spirit Lake seem good, bad, or something in between? How is the variety of experience conveyed?
- The narrator and Mike are something of a team in the novel. So are Katie and Annie. Do other characters in the novel seem somehow paired? Do they offset or balance each other? Given the novel's title, how does the pattern of twos take on special importance?
- In certain respects, the novel turns into a mystery. But in the end, the crime involved is far from the one that the two boys dreamed up. Why does Geddes let the boys imaginations about what Sgt. Martin is doing run wild, only to have the reality turn out to be more mundane?
- In one of his conversations with the librarian, Mrs. Lund, the narrator gets into an unexpected conversation about the philosopher Rene Descarte's famous dictum, "I think therefore I am." How does this exchange highlight a key preoccupation of the novel?
- In the prologue, the narrator hates another boy. Later in the book, he grows to hate Sgt. Martin. How can we assess his grounds for hating either the bully or the police officer? Do either of them deserve their fate? What does the narrator's capacity for hatred tell us about him?
- Scattered through the novel are references to magic--Betty's fortune telling, Mike's magician--like appearance from the garbage can, and the narrator's sense that he is invisible as he sneaks around the motel. How does this change the mood of a book that is mainly realistic?
- Typically in a coming-of-age novel, the main character learns a lesson or changes in some fundamental way. What lessons, if any, does the narrator of The Sundog Season learn? What changes, if any, do we witness in him?
- There is a rich history of small-town stories in Canadian fiction, from Who Has Seen the Wind to A Complicated Kindness. But some critics argue that since Canada is now a largely urban country, its literature should reflect that reality. Does the hinterland setting of The Sundog Season still speak to contemporary readers? If so, how and why? If not, why not?
- The narrator develops unusual friendships with two eccentric older characters, Betty and Julius. What is the importance of these relationships to the 13-year-old narrator?
- How does the author establish Mike's character? What is his bond with the narrator based on?
- Coming-of-age tales often show young people in conflict with their parents, or alienated from them. That doesn't seem to be the case in The Sundog Season. But is narrator's relationship with his mother and father entirely healthy? How does his rapport with them influence his actions and decisions in the novel, if at all?
- In the second last chapter, the narrator and his sister are drawn together, at least temporarily, by the death of Sgt. Martin. What is it that brings them close at this crisis point?
- Cigarettes figure prominently at several point in the book. What do they represent?
- The story is told from two perspectives. There is the vantage point of the unnamed 13-year-old, but also, perhaps more subtly, the sense that the narrator is looking back on these events as an adult. A which points did you sense the perspective of the grown man layered over the memories themselves? Does his memory seen entirely reliable?
- Do the two boys, the narrator and Mike, seem likely to remain friends later in life? What do you imagine about the narrator's relationship with his sister, Katie, as they grow older?
- By the standards of contemporary fiction and movies, the two deaths in this book are not particularly grisly ones. Yet they are the accidental death of a child and the suicide of a troubled, charismatic, man. Do they seem tragic? Is it possible for these sorts of unsensationalized deaths to carry much emotional impact today?
- What role do the images of reflections play in the narrative?
- The end of the prologue seems to set the stage for a book propelled by hatred, but the book is hardly hate-filled. What ultimately is the role of hate in the story? What about guilt?
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- Almost right from the beginning of the novel, Dominique comes across as critical, aggressive and abrasive. Does she have any redeeming qualities at all?
- How does one explain Dominique's cynical attitude towards art? (p. 25)
- What is the significance of the tableau of the "trial of virginity" in the context of the whole novel?
- Can Dominique be blamed for leaving David?
- What is Max's real motivation for wanting to set Julia up on her own?
- What relevance does the biblical story of doubting Thomas have in the context of the whole novel?
- Is Neil playing with Dominique's emotions? Is he betraying Lydia?
- Are Neil's ghosts in fact like Dominique's: "grey, moot and terribly equivocal"? (p.141)
- What load of guilt does each of the characters carry?
- How likely is Dominique's theory about prehistoric art? (p.156)
- Is it true that "it never really [is] in [our] hands" ?(p.199)
- ". . . every day of our lives, we turn our backs while children drown." (p.200) In how many ways is this statement true?
- How likely is it that Colin would have forgotten the role he played in his sister's drowning?
- Why is it inevitable that Neil return to Lydia?
- Does Neil's choice of Lydia over Dominique strike you as heartless?
- In what ways, if any, has the experience of the caminó changed Dominique?
- Explain the nature of Colin's redemption.
- What does this novel have to say about man and the need for compassion?
- John Updike has said that, in his stories, John Cheever "gives us back our humanity, enhanced." Can the same be said about Santiago?
- Which of the novel's images stands out in your mind?
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- Moon Lake is set in an actual Manitoba location and deals with events that occurred many years ago. How might that effect someone's reading of the novel?
- The novel opens with a violent scene: what might be the point of such an opening?
- In the early going of the novel there's some confusion about who is referred to by certain pronouns—"she" and "he." What is the point of such deliberate confusion?
- The LaFlamme family shares a dark secret: what is it and how does it color the family relations?
- Alexander arrives a stranger to the goings-on at Moon Lake. Why is it important (useful) that he’s an outsider?
- One reviewer has said that in Moon Lake the setting functions as a character. What sort of character might that be?
- Another reviewer entitled a review, "In The Wild And Wanton Woods." What do you think was meant by that?
- What does Alexander think he sees through the kitchen window on the night of his arrival at Moon Lake? How does this effect the development of the plot?
- How does the discovery that Alexander makes in the shed effect the plot?
- When the Mountie and the doctor arrive, they have suspicions about the death of LaFlamme: do they concur on what happened?
- Which of the two daughters do you like better in Part I—why?
- Toward the end of Part I who does the Mountie suspect committed the murder?
- Aboriginals are given quite a bit of treatment in the novel. Are they treated fairly by the other characters? By the author?
- At the conclusion of Part I who do you suspect committed the murder?
- In the novel Heart of Darkness the novelist Joseph Conrad says that people behave differently in situations where the usual social restraints do not operate: do you think that comment pertains to Moon Lake?
- Epigraphs, the brief literary allusions at the beginnings of books and chapters of books, are meant by the author to cast light on their work. How do the two epigraphs of Moon Lake do this?
- Part II of Moon Lake opens on a quiet, domestic note. What might this suggest about the way things have evolved for the characters?
- Are you surprised at the relationship that Ruth is in at the beginning of Part II?
- What has happened to Ruth's sister in the years that have elapsed between Part I and Part II?
- Which of the two sisters do you like more in Part II—why?
- Who does the Mountie suspect of the murder(s) as the novel moves towards its denouement?
- Do you like the character called "the Finn" more in Part I or in Part II?
- There are a number of eerie events in Moon Lake—out-of-body experiences and the like. What is their function?
- Which character in Moon Lake made the strongest impression on you?
- Is the author better at evoking women or men characters?
- What is the function of the final paragraphs of the novel?
- Moon Lake closes somewhat ambiguously as regards the identity of the murderer: does this bother you?
- A famous writer once said, "A novel is a sustained piece of prose fiction—flawed." What might be the flaw(s) of Moon Lake?
- "Moon Lake" is a fairly direct and simple title for this novel. What other titles might it have been given?
- Which, if any, books does Moon Lake remind you of? Movies?
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- How does Mallory learn to survive as a social outcast in school and an outsider in her own family?
- Why does Mallory hurt herself, and what purposes might this habit serve?
- What is the significance of sexuality in the novel? How do males and females differ in their attitudes towards it?
- Discuss the various forms of power that are highlighted in the novel (social, sexual, intellectual, spiritual) and how they are used and misused by the various characters.
- What resources does Mallory draw upon to cope with her captivity and eventually attain her freedom?
- Discuss the role spirituality plays in Mallory's life.
- Before she found out about Annie's pregnancy, what were Mallory's feelings toward the Rev? Was she starting to fall under his spell, and if not, why was she continuing to go to his meetings?
- Did Mallory really want to be accepted at school and at home, or did she sometimes relish her "outcast" role? If so, what needs were being fulfilled by this role?
- What attracted Mallory to Cal, and then to Simon? Discuss the differences between them, and the different desires they stirred in Mallory.
- Discuss Mallory's relationship with Mr. Livingston. Who was the student and who was the pupil? Why did Mallory arouse him so much, and why did she want his approval? Who had the most power in the relationship?
- If Mallory were one of your schoolmates, would she be someone you would want to know? What would it be like to try to befriend her?
- Imagine the present-day Mallory (now 51) walking into the room and taking part in the discussion. What would she look like, what sort of opinions would she have, what would her personal life be like, and what would be her passions and interests? Would she have fulfilled her ambition to be a published writer, and if so, what kind of books would she be writing?
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- Why did the Soviet Union pay for children from around the world to come to their nation and experience Summer Camp, when much of what was offered could only be ridiculed by first world nations?
- Do you think the luggage was actually lost? For what reasons would it be taken? Why would some luggage be returned and not other pieces?
- Religious suppression is one topic explored in Lost in Moscow. What are the pros and cons of religious suppression?
- Why does communism fail today and why does it work on television such as in the well-known science fiction series Star Trek?
- Today Moscow is considered to be the most expensive city in Europe to live. The transition from Communism to Capitalism been far from smooth. Who do you think is most effected and how?
- Why would the Soviets have shown the Canadians the "other" camp?
- Why do you think the United States sent troubled children to represent their country in the USSR?
- Why do you think almost all the doctors in the USSR were women? Will the same thing ever happen in the west?
- The Soviets placed huge significance in the family unit, yet every holiday all the children were sent to camps, often thousands of miles from their homes. How do you think they rationalized this?
- The Canadian children in Lost in Moscow were perceived by the Soviets to be spoiled brats? Can you defend these children or were they in fact spoiled brats?
- Lenin stated that theatre should not be mere spectacle. Out of the Soviet theatre came such greats as Stanislavsky and Chekov. Stanislavsky developed his method while under house arrest in a time when Stalin declared that all theatre had to be based on social realism. Chekov, late career, was banned from having anything to do with Moscow intellectuals. Yet we are so familiar with Soviet artists fleeing the country due to censorship. Do you think artists such as Nureyev and Barishnikov were fleeing due to their dance or art being censored, in a quest for artistic freedom, or due to the greater temptations offered by the west? What happens to an artist’s work when he leaves a country where his work was considered daring, extreme and dangerous—to a country where he has the freedom to express as he wishes—is his work then still on the edge or is there a great danger of him becoming homogenous?
- Did Kirsten's sidewalk painting actually pose any kind of threat or was she being censored by a low-level bureaucrat?
- Today the patronage and generous funding of the arts by the Soviet government is gone. Artists are in the marketplace. Before the collapse, to succeed as an artist one had to conform to the will and guidelines of Soviet ideals. Today to be bought or produced the artist has to produce work that will sell or be funded. How great really is this difference?
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