Book Discussion of Defending Jacob by William Landay
Hi everyone! I'm writing to see if anyone would like to read and discuss the book Defending Jacob by William Landay. Thank you to adventurousBranch3786 for the suggestion!
I'm tagging people who have shown interest before or who have asked to be tagged in future book posts. Please disregard if you are not interested or let me know in the comments if you would like to be removed from the tag list.
Thank you!
Date of post: August 20, 2023
Goal to begin book: around September 1, 2023
@adventurousBranch3786 @glowingPond @AffyAvo @ThadSterling @svobodovaa @OneErased @shyCat542 @Gwynifyr @Cancun
I apologize if I have missed anyone.
@ReadBooks7. I saw a question in the internet.
Do you believe that the subject of bullying was a main aspect or incidental to this story?
@adventurousBranch3786 this is a great question. I think that the author took great care in making bullying an important part of the story while maintaining that bullying is not at all okay but that a bully does not deserve to be murdered. I do not think that it was either the main focus or incidental. I think it was an integral part of the story and explains why Jacob acted the way he did without justifying his actions. The author shows a lot of grace, skill, and integrity in his treatment of the subject, in my opinion.
@ReadBooks7. I think that is a good explanation. Bullying was an important aspect to the story but there were many other areas examined in this book. I agree that bullying does not deserve such an extreme punishment. I actually felt kinda sorry for the bully in this case. I thought his crime didn’t fit with his punishment.
@adventurousBranch3786 the punishment definitely did not fit the crime. I think often, bullies have problems of their own and are taking them out on others, so the best thing to do is to alert someone in a position of authority so that the bully can be held accountable but also receive the help they need so that they will stop lashing out and hurting others. I am not trying to place the responsibility solely on the victim of bullying, just stating that there are other ways to handle the problem besides violence.
Hi everyone! I know we have a few people who expressed interest in the book, and a few others who were participating silently. I have enjoyed discussing the book very much!
Our next book selection is Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. We preselected this when choosing the current book based on recommendations from adventurousBranch (thank you!!).
When is a good time to begin reading the next book?
Thank you all!
