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 Hemingway's Boat:
1. Having read Henderson's account, what do you think of Ernest Hemingway? Many accounts portray him in a negative light—a difficult man, cruel to family and friends, with a massive ego. Hemingway's Boat, however, also offers a more generous portrait—a man who extended kindness and help to those in need. How much did you know about Ernest Hemingway prior to reading this book? Has your opinion of him changed?
2. Point out or discuss the numerous parallels to Hemingway's life that Hendrickson has found in Hemingway's novels. Do these life parallels enrich the reading experience or are they irrelevant?
3. There have been hundreds of books written about Hemingway—more than ten by family members alone. Does this book add anything new? How is Hendrickson able to uncover stories and people that other writers have overlooked?
4. Many reviewers criticize the “endless speculation” over questions that no biographer is able to answer. Do you think too much of Henderson's book is based on speculation rather than a careful collation of facts?
5. Some reviewers say Hendrickson devotes too many spages to are spent on big game fishing, overly specific jargon. Do you feel this detracts from...or slows the pace of the prose? Or does it enhance the reading experience?
6. Talk about the relationship between Hemingway and his youngest son, Gregory-Gigi. Both men led tortured lives with tragic endings. Do you agree with Henderson's suggestion that Gigi was acting out many of the same tensions that his father felt but suppressed? Do you believe that their tumultuous relationship was because Hemginway recognized parts of himself in Gigi?
7. Why does Hemingway consider Pilar his most treasured possession? Talk about the role the boat plays in his life. Do you have a Pilar in your life?
8. Hendrickson delves deep into the lives on Arnold Samuelson and Walter Hock, including large sections of their lives before meeting Hemingway? Why does he spend so much time on the two characters. Does this enhance, or distract, from the narrative?
9. What are your thoughts about the author moving in and out of the first-person narrative and repetitive mention of his research and methodology? Interesting, distracting?
10. Why did you choose this book? Are you a devoted Hemingway fan...or a new one? Has reading this book enticed you to read (or reread) any of his work?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)