1. In the first chapter, after falling in the bedroom, David learns that his wife, Darlene, seems like a different person. He then sees differences in his physical world—railroad tracks that were missing in his “home” universe, speed limit signs in miles per hour instead of kilometres. Yet he’s not sure whether the view is different from across the bay, or whether those lupines in the driveway were the same ones he’d always seen.
What
would need to change in your or your surroundings before you realized that
something was different? And maybe the something that had changed was you?
2.
If you’re Canadian, you’re familiar with Terry Fox. For those who aren’t, Terry
Fox was a young man with bone cancer. His treatment required a portion of one
leg to be amputated. Believing he’d been cured, he wanted to spare other young
people his experience. In 1980, he decided to run across the width of North
America—thousands of kilometres from Newfoundland to British Columbia—to raise
money for cancer research, in what he called his Marathon of Hope, running the
length of a full marathon every day.
His
effort caught the public’s imagination, and people assembled along the route to
cheer him on. When he reached about the halfway point, near Thunder Bay,
Ontario, he found that his cancer had returned. He abandoned his marathon and
died some ten months later. Cities across Canada still hold Terry Fox runs.
More about him is at his namesake Foundation’s website, terryfox.org
In
one of the early universes David lands in, David seems especially unnerved by
the vandalism of the Terry Fox monument—the hand still missing, the amethyst in
the base chipped away. If you traveled to a different universe, what
iconic figure, statue, or symbol might be especially upsetting if it’s missing
or vandalized?
3. The travels that David and Caroline undertake greatly
expand their experiences of life. Caroline finds versions of herself that spent
significant time on the west coast of the U.S. David grows gills.
But their travels also involve loss. David never finds his
friend Carlos, and his aunt’s family in Washington isn’t there. At one point,
Caroline “loses” her friend Stan.
They also face truths about themselves—for example, David
learns that a different version of him is a better poet. And he recognizes that
he’s not really the main character in the story; instead, he’s along for the
ride as Caroline grows stronger and more confident her abilities.
What kinds of choices have you made that looked to be “grand
adventures” but also included losses? Have you ever made the best of a bad
situation forced upon you, and found consolations in it?
And which of those situations do you think David and Caroline
are in? Are they making the best of a bad situation, or embarking on a grand
adventure that involves loss?
4. What did you think of the different versions of Bernie
that David and Caroline encounter? In one, he’s living in a basement apartment,
happily fixing appliances. In another, he’s a wealthy international software
genius—also apparently happy. And yet another Bernie, whom Caroline meets and
David doesn’t, is a professor at Lakehead University.
What do you think caused these different lives for
Bernie—were they the result of different choices he made, or different elements
in the universe in which that Bernie happened to live?
How about you? Have you ever said, “In another life, I’d …”?
What would have to change—in you or the universe—to live that life?
5. What moments in the book show the kind of teacher David
Williamson was? Do you think he was a good teacher? Was he a good learner?
Which are you better at, teaching or learning?
6. David and Caroline are reluctant to admit that Rey is
determined to kill them. They’re even more reluctant to kill him, even to save
their own lives, partly because it seems unlikely that they could find a method
that Rey couldn’t escape.
Do you think David managed to successfully lure Rey to his
death? How do you think David will handle his troubled conscience going
forward? What other options, if any, do you think Caroline and David had?
7. At the end of the novel, David and Caroline discuss their
ideal world over yet another cup of coffee. They talk about a universe that
includes poetry, sidewalks, and flowers in flowerpots hanging from lampposts.
They want a universe in which Bernie and Dr. Anna are alive. By speaking it,
they create it.
What elements would be important in your ideal universe—both
seemingly trivial, like flowers, and more meaningful, like specific
individuals? What actions can you take to help bring about that universe?
Thank you for reading The Iterations of Caroline!
