Book+28+-+10+04


 * Discussion dates:** Tuesday 7th June to Tuesday 21st June



1. What would you rate this book out of 10 and why?

Mel: 7/10 - while I'm not sure that I understood all of the book I really did enjoy Lerner's style. So different to what I normally read. Very funny but also very real. A little like David Sadaris I guess - but Lerner seems like a nicer person at the bottom of his neurotic heart.

Carissa: 5/10. I liked his way of writing, as though he was thinking out loud, making observations and comments with which I felt great affinity. His humour appealed to me, too, as he described his visit to the museum with Roberto and his visit to the sperm-donating clinic. However, I did not enjoy the lifestyle he portrayed.

Lynne: 7/10. I struggled at the start but quickly got into it. Then we went to Marfa and I was lost all over again. Back in New York and things seemed to normalise. I loved all the little stories within the story; the superstorms, packing mangoes at the co-op, the sperm donation etc. I found him to be a likeable character, with a hipsterish arrogance that I could accept because he was also a tiny bit insecure.

2. Is the tone of this book sincere or is Lerner writing a parody of the NY literary scene? Could it be both?

Mel: Oh I'm not sure.. both possibly. At times he does seem to be baring his soul for us (think of him terrified to go to the toilet at the museum in case he looses the little boy he was looking after). But he also does seem to be poking fun at not just the NY literary scene - but the whole Arts Scene in general - i.e. the gallery for abandoned art.

Carissa: I like to think that it is more parody than sincerity - the casual lack of commitment to both Alex and Elena and the disappointment that Elena was not heart-broken to have their relationship broken off. His style sometimes suggests a mocking attitude to what he is describing/thinking. However, there seems to be genuine concern for the student, who appeared to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Nevertheless, he does not follow up any support for the student.

Lynne: I think both as well. Ben, the person is sincere, but he operates in quite a shallow world. The literary scene sounds introverted and snobbish but he exists quite comfortably in it.

3. What is the line between the author and the narrator in this book?

Mel: I don't think that there is a line. My reading of the book is that they are one and the same.

Lynne: very blurry line which I liked, once I got used to it. It was like living in his imagination.

Carissa: I felt that the author, who works with students and young people all the time - and is young, himself, created Ben from his observations of the self-absorbed, uncommitted, rather drifting people he was observing all the time.

4. What did you think of the shifts perspective? What do they mean?

Mel: Normally such abrupt shifts in perspective can bug me when I am reading especially when I am really engaged in something that I am reading. It is then a credit to Lerner's writing that he is able to so quickly draw me into the new tangent that he is on. For example I was engrossed by the story told in the food co-op about the girl's fake Lebanese heritage. It seemed to be immensely awful and yet totally believable at the same time. That could really happen. And it was told so well that I felt like I was on a crate listening too.

Lynne: I really liked them, like Mel did. It was a bit like watching TV and picking up different parts of a soap opera, then repeating it in a slightly different way with new characters.

5. How important is the character of Alex and her desire to have a baby to the development of the book?

Mel: I really like Alex. She is smart and sassy and is a thoroughly modern gal.

Lynne: I think Alex is Ben's reality. She reminds him of fact, not fiction. Her desire to have a baby forces Ben to live in the present. I loved his description of the ultrasound image towards the end of the book where he described the foetus as "the coming storm, its limbs moving in real time". Awesome.

6. What is the importance of Back to the Future?

Lynne: Good question. My 8 year old son asked me why the title was 10.04 and I tried to explain the reference to Back to the Future by explaining the premise of the movie, but he hasn't seen it, and he is quite literal, so the concept blew his tiny mind. I asked myself then how important the film was to this story and struggled to draw a connection. I guess he spends time reflecting on the influences in his childhood and projects himself, from there, into the future to see the effect that particular events/people have on him.

7. How does 10:04 discuss the ‘worth’ of art?

Lynne: I think art in this book is treated along the full spectrum of 'worth'. From the totalled items, to his reverence for museums and regular attendance to galleries. His artistic focus actually astounded me. He always saw each day like a picture, described its details and took time to stop and register the little things. The effort he made to show the dinosaurs to Roberto and then write a book with him. His intense poetry, his immersive experiences. I loved it because he could describe things that I never notice. "The pink paper streamer in a girl's hand echoing the rose streak of cloud that was echoed in the water. He felt the world rearrange itself around him".

8. 10:04 has been described as a very 'modern' piece of writing. Do you agree with this and do you enjoy this style?

Mel: much of what it references are up-to-date and the books take on globalization and how it affects of of us I think is accurate.

Lynne: this felt very modern for me. The references were so current that I felt like I could be living parts of this book if I wanted to - the wine bars, buying emergency supplies, dental appointments, watching movies projected on a wall, being in my 30's again, walking in New York. I loved it.

9. Is there anything else that you would like to say or ask about 10:04

Lynne: I notice it was always "an unseasonably warm day" in 10.04....wish I was living in his world right now. Melbourne doing it's best impersonation of a cold, grey London.