1. Carol Shields spoke of becoming a
writer because there weren't enough books that examined women's
friendships and women's inner lives - or, as she put it, "the
kind of book I wanted to read but couldn't find." In what ways
does Shields's fiction bring the lives of women to the surface,
or into our understanding? What sorts of female experiences
does she illuminate?
2. In her novels and stories, Shields
often experiments with using different voices. The Stone
Diaries shifts between first-, second-, and third-person
narrative; one section of Larry's Party is recorded almost
entirely in dialogue; Happenstance is a novel in two
parts, one narrated by the husband, one by the wife; the stories
in Various Miracles come from a wide variety of narrative
standpoints. Discuss point-of-view in Shields's works, and the
importance of telling one's own stories - as characters or in
real life. Also, what is the role of the writer in telling other
people's stories for them?
3. Though she's lauded as a writer who
brought the lives of ordinary people to the page and made them
extraordinary, Carol Shields took some exception to the idea
in one interview: "I have never known what 'ordinary' people
means! I don't think I quite believe in the concept…. There's
no one who isn't complicated, who doesn't have areas of cowardice
or courage, who isn't incapable of some things and capable of
great acts. I think everyone has that capability. Either we're
all ordinary or else none of us is ordinary." Discuss the role
of ordinary life in Shields's fiction. How do her above views
come across in her writing? Is there a respect for the everyday
that you don't see in works by other writers?
4. Shields once commented that she'd
often set up the structure of a novel, determining such elements
as how many chapters there would be, and how long they'd be,
before she even set out to write. "I need that kind of structure,"
she explained. "[S]ometimes I change it. But mostly I don't.…
I love structures, and I love making new structures for novels."
Discuss the overall structures of different novels and how they
relate to the content. For example, does Larry Weller's love
of garden mazes say anything about the twenty years of his life
covered by Larry's Party? What meaning can be found in
the one-word chapter titles of Unless? How does Shields
use, or even undermine, the biography format in The Stone
Diaries?
5. "I'm concerned about the unknowability
of other people," Shields once said. "That's why I love biography
and the idea of the human life told or shown. Of course, this
is why I love novels, too. In novels, you get to hear how people
are thinking. That's why I read fiction." How does Shields expose
and often celebrate the inner lives of her characters? Can you
find examples of characters who aren't really known to those
around them? How do their relationships suffer, or thrive, or
even just survive, in the face of such distance?
6. How does what you know about Carol
Shields as a person affect your reading of her books? Are you
able to separate the author from her work? Do you feel the need
to? What parallels can you draw between her approach to life
and those of her characters? For instance, most of her main
characters are women at mid-life, and many of her characters
are writers or work in other areas of book publishing (translators,
editors, etc.).
7. In interviews about Larry's Party,
Carol Shields commented more than once that men were "the ultimate
mystery" to her. Discuss the male characters in Shields's fiction
- both those in prominent roles, like Larry Weller in Larry's
Party or Tom Avery in The Republic of Love, and the
many husbands and lovers that seem to populate the sidelines
of other stories and novels. How successfully does Shields portray
the world of men in her work? Are there common characteristics
you can trace between books? Are some of her male characters
defined by the women they love? Or is it more often the other
way around?
8. Many of Carol Shields's works explore
the ways individuals interact with their communities. Some characters
are defined by their loneliness, while others struggle with
their responsibilities to the people around them, whether it's
their family or a larger group. Discuss the roles of family
and community in Shields's fiction.
9. Carol Shields has always been well-known
for her love of language, and its slipperiness. In what ways
does her writing call attention to itself as writing? Are there
particular stories or novels that you find playful? Or linguistically
complex?
10. Author and literary journalist James
Atlas, who edited the series for which Shields wrote her Austen
biography, once said about Carol Shields, "she is our Jane Austen."
Compare Shields's fiction to that of Austen - are there common
themes or techniques? What other major authors would you compare
Shields to, and why? Where does her work fit into our literary
canon?
