Vent: Our club almost fell apart over a single character's motivation in 'The Silent Patient'.

We spent 45 minutes arguing about why Alicia stopped talking. Half the group called it lazy writing. I got everyone to re-read chapter 7, the art studio scene. We focused just on the line 'Theo looked at her like a finished painting.' That one detail shifted the whole debate. Anyone else fix a stalled discussion by pointing to a specific page?

2 comments

2 Comments

drew9655d ago

Forty five minutes on that? My book club would have walked out. The art studio line is everything, it changes how you see the whole control Theo had. Calling it lazy writing before that is missing the point completely. How did your group not catch that detail the first time?

thomasm155d ago

My group spent twenty minutes on the art studio line and still found it weak. A single detail shouldn't have to fix a whole chapter.