Fair Comment
7.33 Fair comment on a matter of public interest is not actionable.
Charles Arnold-Baker
Local Council Administration
Seventh Edition
Here are some questions to get you started on the discussion:
- How do you like the book so far?
- Do you think that Kay was stupid to follow Gavin to Pagford? Do you think she regrets doing so?
- Why do you think Gavin is so hesitant to break things off with Kay?
- What do you think is really behind Samantha’s anger and resentment towards Miles and his running for the council seat?
- Do you think Krystal’s relationship with Nana Cath has helped her to stay away from the same path that Terri is on?
- Why do you think Gaia has attached herself to Sukhvinder? Do you think their friendship will last?
- What do you think will happen now that Andrew has created The_Ghost_of_Barry_Fairbrother? Do you think Andrew will be caught out?
- What do you think of Fats and Kyrstal’s relationship? Do you think either one of them are really interested in the other? Do you think it will last?
- What do you think is going to happen next?
Feel free to answer as few or as many of these questions as you want, and feel free to add some of your own in your response.
I’m still loving the book! I think that participating in this book club makes the reading experience more enjoyable, too. It’s nice to think about/analyze a book I actually want to read and share my thoughts with others in a non-classroom setting.
-I definitely think that Kay made a poor decision when she moved to Pagford for Gavin. He seems so uninterested in her, and I imagine that he was the same way when she was living in London. Kay probably thought that moving to Pagford would magically make their relationship 10x better, but clearly that has not been the case. I think she’s just starting to regret moving a little bit … I think at one point she has a brief flash of, “Oh my God I’ve uprooted everything for this jerk.” She just keeps holding on, though! It’s kind of frustrating, I feel like she keeps thinking that things will get better between them and they are clearly not going to.
-Gavin’s probably so hesitant to break up with Kay because he likes keeping an option open for himself. After the dinner party scene, I started really disliking Gavin. He’s such a wimp. I think he’s very conflict-adverse and doesn’t want to break up with Kay because he knows there will (at the very least) be a conversation about it in which Kay will likely be pretty upset. So instead, he just keeps stringing her along, being completely inadequate most of the time, and then making up with her when it looks like the shit is really going to hit the fan. He’s such a jerk.
-I think Samantha is generally pretty unhappy with her life. She probably feels like she could have had a much different (more exciting/adventurous/etc.) life if she hadn’t gotten pregnant with Lexie at such an unexpected time. I think that somewhere deep down she’s still harboring the hope that at some point, she and Miles will leave boring Pagford and set out on a fun journey that the two of them can share, without the influence or interference of Miles’ parents (especially Shirley.) Like Sam said, Miles running for council will just further entrench him in Pagford and it’s far less likely that they will ever leave the town, and less likely that she’ll get that exciting life she’s been unconsciously hoping for since she got pregnant.
-Krystal’s relationship with Nana Cath has probably helped her stay off the path that Terri’s on, but just barely. She seems to care a great deal for Nana Cath, but still engages in poor behaviors. I would even go so far as to say that she’s beginning to head in the same direction as Terri, especially with Barry dead & the rowing team disassembled. Part of me almost feels that if Nana Cath hadn’t taken Krystal in, if Krystal had perhaps been adopted or taken in by the relatives that took Anne-Marie, she may have a brighter future ahead of her. I definitely think that Krystal doesn’t want to disappoint Nana Cath, and maybe with Nana ill now, Krystal will try even harder to turn over a new leaf and find some purpose in her life. I hope so!
-I honestly have no idea why Gaia has become friends with Sukhvinder (no offense to Suk, lol) I wish there was more in the book from Gaia’s P.O.V. At this point I feel like she’s the character I know the least about. I even know more about Barry Fairbrother than I do about her. Maybe Gaia pities Sukhvinder? Or perhaps Gaia feels like she’s already got a good set of friends back in London, so she doesn’t have to try very hard to ingratiate herself into the popular crowd here in Pagford. In this way, maybe she’s “settling” for Sukhvinder as a friend because she doesn’t have to put much effort into that relationship.
-I think that The_Ghost_of_Barry_Fairbrother will continue to post on the Parish Council website and cause some mischief in general. For some reason, I feel like Fats will take the fall for this, not Andrew. I don’t know if Fats will try to take the credit (he seemed pretty impressed by it) or simply be accused of posting, but I think he’ll get more involved in this somehow.
-Oh man, Fats and Krystal. They’re an interesting “couple.” I don’t think that Krystal has much genuine interest in Fats or is actually very attracted to him. I think she’s just pleased that he’s showing an interest in her (however superficial it may be.) She said herself that she never thought of fancying him until he showed an interest for her at the disco. I’m pretty sure she still doesn’t “fancy” him, she just likes that he gives her attention. For his part, Fats is just interested in the easy sex and the idea of Krystal. He says at one point that he likes her acceptance of the need for a knife, for a likelihood of violence. He goes on to say, “This is the raw reality of life …” He just likes the idea that he’s hanging out with someone from the Fields, who knows how to be tough and live a tough life. It appeals to his desire for the “authentic.”
-What’s next? Some online drama, probably, now that we have The_Ghost_of_Barry_Fairbrother! Like I said earlier, I hope there’s more sections featuring Gaia as a P.O.V. character. I predict that Gavin & Kay’s relationship will have to come to some type of a head, whether that means they break up or he actually makes a real commitment to her. Miles & Sam might get a divorce. Who knows?! Off to find out …
I completely agree with you about Kay. When I first learned that she had uprooted her entire life, as well as her daughters, for Gavin I just had to smack my face. The idea was just so dumb to me. Not to mention Gavin seems like a HORRIBLE person to date. He’s boring, uninteresting and mopes around a lot.
I know, and he’s such a wimp! I mean, just grow a pair and break up with Kay already. If that had been me at the dinner party with him, I would have been so pissed. He basically ignored her all night long and left her to her own devices with people she didn’t know at all. And how was she supposed to know that the subject of the Fields would be touchy for Mary? I couldn’t help but cringing during most of that scene, either at the drunken disaster of Samantha or Gavin being such a jerk to Kay.
I actually love it when Samantha gets really drunk and just starts speaking her mind. I find her perverse and brutally honest comments hilarious!
Samantha is definitely an amusing character. I loved when she started getting obsessed with her daughter’s boy band DVD. I think she just settled down so young and never got a chance to live the life she wanted, or even figure out what kind of life she wanted.
I also LOVE the name of her shop. “Over the Shoulder Boulder Holders.” lol it’s very Samantha.
OMG Gavin. I just kept thinking, “What the hell did Kay SEE in him?!” And I mentally dubbed that dinner scene “The Dinner From Hell” because it was just everything going wrong (although, like Scatty, I kind of love Sam’s drunken comments).
(And I’m glad the book club is making the book more enjoyable! It’s always nice to be able to discuss a book knowing you won’t have to write a paper afterwards!)
I agree 100% with you on Kay. I was really frustrated with her, because Gavin’s so clearly not the right guy for her, and I actually really like Kay, so it’s like seeing one of your friends dating a jerk.
And I think you’re right in saying that Gavin wants an option. I feel too that he’s just kind of waiting for Kay to make the move, like he’s thinking “well, eventually she’ll dump me.”
I felt like Fats got with Krystal because, like you said, it would be seeing the “authentic” side of life, but I feel like he’s also kind of doing to maybe piss off his father. I mean, he hasn’t said anything to Tessa or Colin about it, obviously, but I feel like he does it because he knows that somehow it’ll probably get back to Colin (small town, after all) and then Fats will have done one other thing to piss Colin off. Fats just seems so antagonistic towards Colin that I always think everything he does is somehow to get a dig in towards Colin.
I’m kinda mushing Kay and Gavin together for this one. I mean obviously the status – or lack thereof – of their relationship is created by their inability to communicate openly. I mean, they met, I assume Kay liked him, and considering their age, thought that he wanted the same things she did. As a single mother, she probably wanted to settle down with someone she loved, raise Gaia together, and have that happily ever after marriage that she never got. I think she just assumed he wanted the same thing and he never really did anything about it. I mean she probably thought “hey, nice guy, our relationship will be even more awesome if we’re closer together…he never said no, so let’s do it!” and I wish Gavin at least had the balls to call her out before she moved. Gavin’s problem is that he doesn’t know what the hell he wants. I think he’s somewhat nonchalant with his relationship because it’s similar to the other relationships he’s had before. So he’s just settling for what he can get without really committing to anything. ((long story short…he’s a douchenozzle)). I agree with Amanda that he likes keeping his options open. He’s trying to figure out what he wants, and I think he likes keeping her around in case something happens later.
I think Samantha’s so angry with Miles because he’s always doing what his parents want him to do without thinking about the wants/needs of his wife. I assume that like all (or most!) young adults, Sam had dreams to go off on adventures and to do amazing things with her life. Then she got pregnant and was stuck in a boring town. I think it’s resentment that her husband is content with his unfulfilling (in her opinion) life and she just wants to go out and do things. I think being unable to live her life the way she wanted just festered throughout the years, and this was just the last straw for her. Maybe she thought they could do things once their responsibilities of raising kids were finished, but now Miles is just cementing their future there by taking on things that don’t really concern him just because his parents say so. That might be a big problem in their relationship too. In my opinion, I think that Sam believes she was forced to grow up too quickly and Miles never had to; and he never really had to think for himself. As sad as their relationship is, I find it a bit hilarious how Sam’s repression manifested itself. She’s just like a big teenager…I find it funny but at the same time it bugs me because it reminds me so much of those “Twilight” moms.
In my opinion, Krystal’s situation was a combination of help from Nana Cath and Barry Fairbrother. I mean, Nana Cath helped while she was younger, but Barry gave Krystal a way to apply herself through rowing. It could’ve been to help her get noticed by the right people, get scholarships for school, or just give her something to do instead of doing drugs. It’s just sad that Nana Cath is getting sick and is unable to further help Krystal, and Barry is gone, so I don’t think good things will happen in her life. Terri just seems like a horrible mother 😦
I think Gaia attached herself to Sukhvinder for the same reasons that Fats makes fun of her – she’s different. I think Gaia just hates everything about the town because her mother dragged her their against her will for some guy that probably doesn’t even like her. So she latches onto whoever is an outcast like herself. Or maybe she just thinks Sukvinder is awesome. haha
I honestly have no idea what the deal is with Krystal and Fats’ relationship. Rowling doesn’t really give any indication why they want to be together, yet…Or it could be the obvious “small town, teenage hormones, sex” thing.