Group+3

Joel: Explore the grandparents' relationship. To what extent do they actually care for eachother, and in what way? What is the significance of the grandfather losing his words? Or the grandmother's "crummy eyes"? What about all the other quirks of their relationship - the Nothing places, the photographs, etc.?

Benjamin Smith: Is the constant narrator change a good thing in this book, or does it at times create too much confusion for the reader?

Sharon: What is the significance of the phrases Oskar uses throughout the novel? Why do you think only he and his grandmother say "One hundred dollars"? How does "heavy boots" define his characterization?

Group question: Why do so many characters write so many letters? William Black's father wrote letters to nearly everyone he knew before he died. Oskar's grandmother asked everyone she cared about to write letters to her. And Oskar wrote to celebrity figures like Stephen Hawking and Ringo Starr. How are these connected? What is the impact and significance of these letters? Pages: 40, 51, 75-85, 174-186, 193, 197, 208-216, 296-298, 304-305,