In the Woods - Discussion #1

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Welcome to our March Group Read! Today is our first discussion on In the Woods by Tana French. Since we are discussing the book, be prepared for spoilers! Anyone and everyone is welcome to participate, even if you read this ages ago. We love to talk and exchange ideas. This discussion goes over the beginning of the book through the end of Chapter 6. Oh, and I have the large print edition so my page numbers may differ from yours!

Watch the Book Trailer




My thoughts
I am really liking it, but every now and then the narrator either loses me in random thought or I am not always so sure that I like the narrator's tone. I don't really know how to explain it but it sometimes seems off, and I am not sure if it is because of the woman writing the man role or a cultural thing or the main character is that weird. There have been some parts where I have laughed out loud and share a line or two with my husband and others were I am engrossed and don't want to get up. I love this genre of book though, I am a mystery/crime reader and watcher junkie!

Line I Liked
pg. 39 - "If it hadn't been for Cassie, I think I might have ended up turning into that detective on Law & Order, the one who has ulcers and thinks everything is a government conspiracy."

Something that Irks/Bothers Me
I am finding it very hard to believe that NO ONE knows he is the little boy from the previous case in the Knocknaree Wood, also the fact that he gets Cassie to cover up for him. Their jobs both could be affected if it comes out and even if he 'thinks' he isn't contaminating the case he is. I think it needed to come out to make this a little more believable but then again I am a fan of believable fiction ha.

An excerpt from an interview with Tana French (relating to my it bothers me part)
Q. To tell the story of In the Woods, you have transgendered your voice; you speak to us through the male persona of Rob Ryan. Why did you opt for a male narrator, and did you encounter any particular challenges in adopting a masculine perspective?
Almost as soon as I thought of the basic premise of the book, the character of Rob Ryan came into my head: intelligent, sarcastic, secretive, proud, too badly damaged to be honest either with himself or with his readers—and male. It was never a conscious choice; that's just how he popped up.
I didn't run into any particular difficulties to do with writing from a male perspective. I've always had a lot of good male friends, which may have helped. What was much more difficult was writing from the perspective of someone as deeply messed up as Rob Ryan. His friends' disappearance and his loss of memory have sent cracks straight across his mind: he's unable to trust anything either around him or within him. At the point when the book begins, he's more or less functional ñ good at his job, sustaining at least one close friendship, basically happy—but as the case draws him back towards his past, those cracks widen and his mind starts to disintegrate. Trying to see the events of the book from that increasingly skewed perspective was an immense challenge.

Questions from Penguin
(Obviously, some of the questions I picked can only be answered through where we have read, but I think they are still relevant)

1. How does Ryan's experience In the Woods at the age of twelve affect his ability to function as a detective? Is it always a hindrance to him, or are there ways in which it improves and deepens his insights?
2. Ryan states that he both craves truth and tells lies. How reliable to you find him as a narrator? In what ways does the theme of truth and misrepresentation lie at the heart of In the Woods?

Have a question you want to ask? Line you want to share? Thoughts? Love it? Hate? Share and discuss in the comments! Next week we will discuss Chap 7 through the end of Chapter 11. If you want to share your info to put in the main post, email it to me by Thursday evening. If you want to do a guest post/something extra with the book, have at it!

March Group Read is...

In the Woods by Tana French! We had a tie but using random.org In the Woods came out victorious!

from goodreads.com
A 12-year-old girl is found murdered at an archaeological site at the center of a controversial highway construction project. Katy Devlin was a popular girl who had recently been accepted to the Royal Ballet School; her father is an outspoken opponent of the new roadway. But what haunts Detective Rob Ryan about this case is its location: the quiet town of Knocknaree, Ireland -- in the very woods where he used to play as a child.

Twenty years ago, a young Rob and his two best friends went into the woods, chasing each other, playing in a castle of ruins. But they didn't return to their homes at sunset. A search party was dispatched to canvas the woods, finding only a catatonic Rob clawing at a tree, his clothing ripped, his shoes filled with blood.

Detective Ryan has always guarded this secret of his past, but the recent murder forces him to reveal it to his new partner, drawing them closer together in the search for the perpetrator. Is there a connection between Rob's childhood trauma and Katy Devlin's murder? And is Detective Ryan prepared to confront the secrets that lie deep in those woods? Suspects abound in this fast-paced mystery -- a stunning debut that examines the complexities of the human mind and the cost of discovering the truth.

I once again divided the book up into 4 sections for 4 different discussions. If while you are reading, you would wish to make a guest post about anything in the book, let me know. If you have questions/things you want included in the post on Friday, email me sometime the day before so I can add it in. I have the large print edition of In the Woods because it was the only copy left at my library, so I will be off page wise from most of you. I broke it up by the chapters. If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

In the Woods Discussion 1 – Prologue through the end of Chap 6 – March 4th
In the Woods Discussion 2 – Chapter 7 through the end of Chap 11 – March 11th
In the Woods Discussion 3 – Chapter 12 through the end of Chap 19 – March 18th
In the Woods Discussion 4 – Chapter 20 through the end of the book – March 25th

I really think this will be a good read. I have heard many positive reviews of it and am interested to get reading. Hopefully, it is easy for everyone to get a copy!