This is an Online Internet Book Club on The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine by Donald Barthelme. Discuss this book, share your thoughts, make comments, ask questions, offer responses...
Description
From the brilliant mind of Donald Barthelme, the National Book Award-winning tale for children of all ages.
One morning in 1887, Mathilda went out into the back yard and discovered that a mysterious Chinese house had planted itself there overnight. She had wanted a fire engine, but the mysterious Chinese house was intriguing too. From inside came strange sounds: growls, howls, whispering, trumpeting.
Plucky Mathilda walks right in. She finds all sorts of peculiar things: a sulky captured pirate, a giant popcorn-popping machine, an elephant that falls downhill once a day—truly "every kind of flawless flourishy footlooseness." Mathilda gets to see everything in every room, guided by the hithering thithering djinn, who even arranges to leave her a souvenir that is just about exactly what she wanted.
Renowned author Donald Barthelme presents Mathilda’s escapade in a witty and whacky text with collage illustrations made entirely from nineteenth-century engravings. It’s a unique, fun, and ultimately wonderful book.
Book Club Questions for The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine (Fiction)
Suggested Book Club Questions for The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine (Fiction)
The following book club questions provide a starting point for creating a reading group discussion on The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine:
- Did Donald Barthelme emphasize any specific themes throughout The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine? What do you think Donald Barthelme is trying to explain with this theme?
- What was unique about the setting of The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine and how did it affect the storyline?
- Could you relate to any of the characters? If so, which ones and why?
- How do characters change or learn throughout The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine? What events caused these changes? Have you or someone you know experienced the same thing?
- How does The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine reveal Donald Barthelme's own perspectives about people and the world? For a lively discussion, describe why you think Donald Barthelme is liberal or conservative.
- Did certain parts of The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine affect you emotionally? Why did it evoke those emotions?
- Did Donald Barthelme's point of view on things lend new perspective to your own view of the world?
Book Club Questions for The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine (for Non-Fiction)
Suggested Book Club Questions for The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine (Non-fiction)
The following book club questions provide a starting point for creating a reading group discussion on The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine:
- Did Donald Barthelme make persuasive arguments in The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine? Did The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine change or reinforce your opinion on the subject?
- What did you learn from The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine?
- How does Donald Barthelme present the information and did you enjoy it?
- How is Donald Barthelme biased within The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine? Is there a political slant to what is being discussed and how does it impact the book?
- What, if anything, does The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine make you want to read next? Why?
Please feel free to:
No signup needed