THE OLD WHITAKER PLACE READING GUIDE
AUTHOR BIO
David Chambers is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law; he grew up in Indiana and has taught for over thirty years at the University of Michigan Law School. He retired in 2002 to pursue writing. The Old Whitaker Place was co-winner of the 2009 Miami University Press Novella Contest.
SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL
In The Old Whitaker Place, we walk with Tom Whitaker through the last years of his long life. He lives alone in a Vermont farmhouse built by his great-grandfather shortly after the Civil War and struggles with blizzards and squatters, with aphids and storm windows, and with Ben, his only child. But most importantly, he struggles with himself and with the indignities of advancing age. Too infirm to live on his own but fiercely attached to the family land, he devises various schemes to permit him to remain at home. His situation looks increasingly hopeless until he meets Teresa, a strong, like-minded woman thirty years his junior. Told in Tom's dry, cranky, sardonic voice, this short novel reveals much about life's richness-and absurdity-in the face of adversity. (from Miami University Press)
FOR DISCUSSION:
- Tom Whitaker relates and identifies with the world around him through memories and through the people who fill his days. How does a memory get sparked by the people around us? Do you regard memories as things you see in your mind, like a movie, or something else, a feeling? Can memories, to you, be an opportunity to connect to the present or are they always an escape to the past?
- Has your personal space ever been violated in the same way the Potter family seems to intrude upon Tom's? Or has it ever been violated the way Morris seems to intrude upon Ben and Tom's time together? What is being invaded upon in both instances?
- Why do you think Tom holds so much importance in possessing things and people? Is it a means of control? Does it represent an aspect of what he feels his identity is? What do possessions represent to you?
- When does a daily routine become a hindrance to living? Is routine a hindrance or a means of simplifying? What aspects of developing a routine are comforting, and which aspects can become an irritation?
- There are both literal and metaphorical boundaries throughout the novel. Choose a character and discuss what you see as the most important boundary that character had? How did having that boundary form or change the character's personality?
This reading group guide is provided by Small Press Distribution to Engage as You Age as part of the "I Remember Project" to support reading groups for seniors in Marin Country. SPD's "I Remember Project" is generously supported by the Marin Community Foundation.