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 get a discussion started for The Listener:
1. Which story(ies) did you find most affecting? Or which did you most relate to on a personal level?
2. Take one story at a time: what is the central conflict of each visitor? Is it internal, external, or both?
3. How does each visitor achieve solace? What does each come to learn? What insights are gained?
4. What is the motiviation of the listener—why does he offer his services? What is his purpose...if he has one?
5. What does it mean to truly listen? Are most of us, any of us, capable of truly listening to others? Does anyone truly listen to us?
7. Everyone has his/her own story. How important is it to tell our stories? Does it matter to whom you tell them? What do you look for when you tell your story?
6. Is the emphasis of this work spiritual, psychological, emotional, or all three? In other words, in what arena can we find solace? (This will vary among members.)
7. Is Caldwell working with larger issues (symbols and themes) here?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)