Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also, consider these LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for The Life of Elves...then take off on your own:
1. Describe the world of the elves and the elves themselves. Why do they need Clara and Maria?
2. Talk about the two girls. What personal gifts or powers does each bring to bear upon the elfin world?
3. Talk about the upcoming battle of the elves. What is at stake?
4. Describe how everything—nature, elves, humans and art—are connected in Muriel Barbery's vision. What is the thematic message we are presented with in The Life of Elves? Is there a lesson Barbery is imparting?
5. Do you agree or disagree with the passage below? What does it mean?
True faith, it is a well known fact, has little regard for chapels, but it does believe in the communion of mysteries, and with its unworldly fusion of beliefs, it crushes any temptations that prove too intolerant (p. 56).
6. What does the elfin motto, "siempre mantendre" (always maintain) mean?
7. If you have read J.R.R. Tolkien, how do these elves compare with those in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings series?
8. In what historical era do you believe the novel is set? What clues are you using to make your "guesstimate"? Why do you think Barbery isn't more specific in terms of when the action takes place? Does it matter?
9. Many reviewers have made much of Barbery's obscure and difficult language, saying that it gets in the way of understanding the story. Others, though, have found the writing lush and beautifully descriptive. What do you think?
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher. In the meantime, feel free to use these online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)