Eleven Book Discussion Guide

Book:    Eleven

Author:  Mark Watson

Edition:  Softcover, Scribner, 2011

You can purchase Eleven online at Hugo Bookstores.

Eleven by Mark Watson, offers up themes of moving forward after a loss and the interconnections among people akin to the butterfly effect of a small distant change causing large changes at a later point in time.  These effects are like a web of connections that we are either trapped in or spinning as we go depending on your perspective. The characters are realistic and the humor of London lives bubbles gently throughout, even as the protagonist wrestles with his own loss and connections.

Your book group may enjoy this as a quicker read after a lengthy novel or paired with The Emperor of Paris which is like holding the threads of multiple characters as they slide between he pages of the book and drift from the past to present to past, creating ripples as they gently bump against one another; each telling his or her now story and also sharing the story of stories. Two very different writing styles, two different European capitals, one excellent theme to explore.

Internet Resources

Xavier’s need to retrieve his darkest memory from “the vault” is akin to the real life story of Martin Pistorius “leaning into those dark thoughts” in order to move forward.  Listen to Martin’s story on NPR.org and his work at re-engaging with his thoughts, similar to what the fictional Xavier needed to do to move forward.

The Buddhist short story of Indra’s Net and can be a launching point for a discussion of how your book group members views interconnectedness and whether the connections are predestined or created by human choice.

A Huffington Post article summarizes the story of Indra’s net and compares the interconnectedness it espouses to the internet and modern events. This very short article may stimulate conversation on the connected nature of world events.

Major and Intertwined Characters

Xavier Ireland: Protagonist and late nigh DJ (was Chris Cotswold when he lived in Australia)

Murray : Xavier’s sidekick who has a stammer

Pippa: professional cleaner who meets Xavier speed dating

Clive Donald: depressed teacher who calls in to Xavier’s late night show

Frankie Carstairs: young teenage boy who is a victim of bullying where Xavier only half-heartedly intercedes

Jacqueline Carstairs: Frankie’s mother and food journalist who skewers Chico’s restaurant in a review

Andrew Ryan: owner of Chico’s

Julius Brown: Obese high school student in Clive’s class who loses his restaurant job at Chico’s

Ollie Harper: realtor for Frinton and man whose BlackBerry Julius steals

Roger Willis: Ollie’s boss whom Ollie accidentally texts, and client of Maggie Reiss

Dr. Maggie Reiss: psychotherapist to the rich and famous, who exposes her clients’ secrets

Stacey Collins: Journalist and friend of Maggie’s

Edith Thorne: well-known TV presenter whose affairs Maggie exposes to Stacey and Stacey publishes

Alessandro Romano: barman with whom Edith had an affair

Jamie: three-year-old boy who lives in flat below Xavier Mel: Jamie’s mother

Tamara: council officer who lives in flat above Xavier

Bec, Matilda and Russel: Xavier’s best friends when he lived in Austraila. Bec and Russel married and had a son, Michael

Vijay: Usual winner at the monthly Scrabble tournaments Xavier competes in

Wendy: Pippa’s sister

Iris: caller to radio show reading the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire who mentions encounter with Tony 50-plus years ago.

Gemma: woman Xavier meets speed dating who attends movie with him, they enjoy a one-night stand and realize they have little in common

Discussion Topics

The softcover edition has some particularly good launching points for a book group discussion at the back of the book.  The following topics expand upon those questions and compare this novel to other stories of fact and fiction that also deal with similar themes such as moving forward after loss, the interconnectedness among humans, and having a positive impact on a stranger or a friend.

Point of View

The omniscient narrator frequently foretells the future, sharing that Jamie will “one day develop an antibody against two types of cancer” down to the day “in twenty-three years’ time that he’ll submit a Ph.D. proposal leading to the work which achieves a small breakthrough against two types of cancer.” page 99,  or the death of the Indian shopkeeper in “three years time,” page 160.

How does this voice magnify the novel’s themes? Did you find it irritating? Comforting? Did you even notice the forays into the future? How would the book have changed if it were told by Xavier or another character?

Interconnectedness among people and taking responsiblity 

The first half of the sequence of actions is described:

“but now is the moment, because Roger got angry over her bathroom visit, because he’s upset over a text, mis-sent because of an unfamiliar phone, used because another phone was stolen, because a boy was sacked over a tantrum provoked by a review, which was fuelled by anger at a beating-up which Xavier failed to stop on that cold day a few weeks ago.” page 156.

How does the remainder of the sequence play out?  What other sequences of unknown or known interconnectedness did you note? Which characters took responsibility for their situation and corresponding actions?

As a teacher, Clive’s impact through his connections is summed up:

“he realizes that every person is connected to every other, and therefore that every lesson he teaches — all those poxy graphs, those weary reprimands to the fat-necked youth eating crisps at the back — has its consequences. Everything has a chance of mattering.” page 256

Edith sums up her philosophy,

“Really you can be responsible for anyone’s feelings, thinks Edith, approving of her face in the mirror.  You can’t be responsible for what happens to other people. You just have to live your life.” page 265

How are “everything has a chance of mattering” and “you can’t be responsible for what happens to other people” opposed?  How are they complimentary? Are they two sides of the same coin? Or, perhaps they can’t be neatly boxed, 

“This is where the story could end, but it doesn’t; life isn't so neat” page 256.

The concept of interconnectedness has been explored for millennia.  Read the story of Indra’s net which is simply retold online as a workshop story.  

The concept and play of the same name, Six Degrees of Separation, explores the theory that everything is separated from every other person by six or fewer degrees or steps.  Compare these concepts of connections to the chain of 11 events. What metaphor do you like to use for expressing the impacts that we have on one another of which we aren’t even aware? Do you ever think about the individuals who have had a significant impact on your life who are not even aware of their impact or the impact you have had on others of which you are not aware?

Moving Forward After Loss

Listen to NPRs All Things Considered story on Martin Pistorius who fell into a mysterious coma and had only his own thoughts as his mind began to awaken.  

Compare the interviewer’s description of Martin first trying to disengage from his thoughts to Xavier sealing his memory from Australia in a vault. From the interview:

“You don’t think about anything, you simply exist.” 

“You are in a sense allowing yourself to vanish.” 

Martin’s interviewer explains how Martin made a “decision to lean into those dark thoughts," described at the following time intervals in the online interview:

At time 7:39 “Now when a dark thought came up instead of just letting it float by he would take it on.”At 8:17 “Martin found a way to reframe, reinterpret even the ugliest thoughts that haunted him.”At 8:49 “Overtime Martin began re-engaging with his thoughts.”

At 10:05 “Martin thinks it may have been his decision to lean into those dark thoughts that helped him to get the very best thing in his life”

Compare this expression with Xavier’s allowing 

“himself to retrieve from the vault the full memory of 11 July 2003,” page 180.

When have you had to revisit, or lean into dark thoughts, in order to move forward after loss?  When has it been helpful to revisit a difficult memory?  What are the negative consequences of returning to a particularly painful memory? 

Comparisons to Other Stories

Eleven offers the opportunity to be paired with another book such as Cannery Row by John Steinbeck, The Emperor of Paris by C.S. Richardson or I am the Messenger Markus Zusak, or the movie Love Actually. Pair Eleven with any book or movie where seemingly unrelated human lives are loosely interwoven, often without the individuals involved even aware of the connections.

While the primary characters are common through Cannery Row, there are a series of connected vignettes that have parallels to the connections among the strangers in Eleven. Near the end of Cannery Row, Mack and the boys are "the stone dropped in the pool, the impulse of which sent out ripples to all of Cannery Row and beyond." Couple a discussion of Cannery Row with Eleven.  How is your view of the universe aligned or at odd's with the order or chaos present in both Eleven and Cannery Row? 

I am the Messenger has parallels to this novel as characters tangentially related to the protagonist stream through the pages.  Both offer omniscient narrators, and both Ed, in I am the Messenger, and Xavier are generally likable characters whose roles center on helping out friends and strangers.

Love Actually is a romantic-comedy whose characters are linked to one-another, some more, some less, and the viewer is aware of the connections while the characters are only tangentially aware of many of the relationships.

Quotes

What quotes jumped out as you read?

“She whips out her BlackBerry — people all over the room are doing this each time they move between conversations, as if the gadgets contain instructions on how to move” page 126

How We Learn and Make It Stick

Book:    How We Learn
Author: Benedict Carey


Book:     Make It Stick
Authors: Peter Brown, Henry Roediger III, Mark McDaniel

Internet Resources

These two books are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to discussion of how humans learn. While the information on the internet on human learning seems infinite, our time is not.  Check out wikipedia for a host of learning theory resources. Here are three brief, interesting and very different styles of exploring more on learning.

Sal Kahn wrote an essay for the Huffington Post Why I’ll Never Tell My Son He’s Smart talking about the growth mindset.

Peter Doolittle's Working Memory Ted Talk is one of many on humans thinking and learning. This talk is a) fun, b) only 10 minutes and  c) talks briefly through strategies focused on working memory capacity to help us process what we encounter.

You can make an interesting comparison between interleaving to learn artistic styles and chicken sexing by reading about how the brain processes when chicken sexing is learned on the job. Read Incognito: The Secret Side of the Brain by David Eagleman.

Comparing These Books

How We Learn and Make It Stick overlap in explaining strategies we can use to improve learning.  They both describe learning, remembering and forgetting, using common examples, often referencing the same research and employing identical terminology (spacing, retrieval, interleaving, fluency trap, self-testing). 

However, How We Learn, has a lighter, interactive style, providing the reader with mini, personal studies to demonstrate a point.  Make It Stick is a broader look at learning include more detail around reflecting and elaborating as a learner, which can be especially powerful tools for learners outside of school. The overlap is so pronounced that you can have some of your group read one book and some the other and enjoy a very rich discussion.

Discussion Topics

Don’t use these notes!

What do you remember from reading these two  books?  Work hard, think about it.  What stuck with you?  

Write down what you each remember independently.  Then talk through what each person remembers and flesh out the learning.

Who Got It Right?

Think back to a coach or teacher who used techniques such as interleaving and spacing, or someone who used quizzing well to reinforce material, perhaps even in advance of teaching it in class.  

What were your frustrations or successes at the time? What have been the longer term benefits or detriments? 

Think about a teacher who used one or two major exams or rehearsing a musical phrase over and over until it was mastered. How did you feel you benefitted from repeated practice versus interleaving and spacing material?

Use What You’ve Learned

Whether you’re a student, a parent, an employee, an artist, a volunteer, a hobbyist, an entrepreneur, anyone interested in expanding your knowledge, you can take what you’ve read and apply it.  

Think of an experience this week that you would like to learn from.  Perhaps attending a workshop on taking better photos or learning a new language or writing a dissertation.  How can you use the techniques of interleaving, spacing and self-testing to improve your learning?  How about reflection and making connections to other areas of understanding?

Expanding the Learning of Others

As a manager, teacher, parent, co-worker, mentor, we all are teaching others around us every day with our words and actions.  Talk about ways you can share what you’ve learned with others. What are some specific strategies you can implement in your classroom, at your dining room table or in your office to help others benefit from these learning strategies?

Sleep

Carey has a chapter on the benefits of sleep while the authors of Make It Stick barely mention sleep, noting only “sleep seems to play a large role in memory consolidation” page 63. In fact, Carey’s description isn’t particularly clear. He seems to link sleep cycles to times on a clock rather than how much time has elapsed since a person fell asleep. For instance, Carey says it’s better to stay up late to study for a math test and “hit the snooze button in the morning” because the largest dose of REM is in early morning.