Our Souls at Night, Kent Haruf

Our Souls At Night

By Kent Haruf

(Tansley Reads Rating: 61%)

Icebreaker

What was your favourite outing/activity when you were a child?

 

Questions

 

1.  Why do you think Addie decided to begin a relationship with Louis by asking him to sleep with her rather than starting with a conventional date?

 

2.  When Louis comes over for the first time, he knocks on her back door in the name of discretion. Addie says, “I made up my mind I’m not going to pay attention to what people think. I’ve done that too long—all my life. I’m not going to live that way anymore. The alley makes it seem we’re doing something wrong or something disgraceful, to be ashamed of” (Pg. 8).  Did Addie and Louis’s assumptions/ideas about this new relationship differ?

                     

3.  How did Louis and Addie handle the gossip about their relationship? Who handles it better?

 

4. Addie and Louis both had troubled marriages, but stayed married until their partners died. How does that sense of propriety, of loyalty, influence their relationship with each other?

 

5. Why did Addie buy new clothes for her trips to Denver that she never wore in Holt?

 

6. In describing his affair, Louis says, “I think I regret hurting Tamara more than I do hurting my wife. I failed my spirit or something” (Pg. 42). What does he mean by this?

                     

7.  How does Jamie’s arrival deepen the connection between Addie and Louis?

 

8.  Parents today are often described as being helicopter parents. Many of us, like Addie and Louis, grew up with more freedom; playing outside and not needing to be home "until the street lights come on". How was Jamie's summer and childhood experience enriched by the time he spent with Addie and Louis?

 

9. Holly and Gene react differently to the relationship between Addie and Louis. Holly is not exactly disapproving while Gene threatens to remove Addie’s access to Jamie. What part might Holly and Gene’s own circumstances play in this?

10.  After Addie broke her hip, she didn’t seem to be able to stand up to Gene and return to her own home after she recuperated.   Why not?  Many people recover well from hip surgery and go on to lead full and independent lives.  What does this say about her mental state?

                     

11.  How did you find Haruf’s style of writing without putting quotation marks around the dialogue?  Did it enhance or diminish your enjoyment of the book?

 

12.  If you had written this book, how would you have ended it?

 

13. In what ways does this book speak to redemption and second chances in life?

 

 14. Quick round: What did you think of the book? Is there anything you want to discuss that we missed?