Beatrice and Virgil, by Yann Martel

First of all, enjoy this Big Think interview with Yann Martel; for reading groups you will find a number of topics for discussion on the Beatrice and Virgil website.

The Longshot, by Katie Kitamura

In The Longshot, Katie Kitamura tells the story of mixed martial arts fighter Cal and his trainer, Riley. Cal is on his way to a rematch with Rivera, a now legendary MMA fighter with whom Cal had a disastrous fight a few years earlier; a fight that doused the flame of passion Cal had for MMA fighting. Three years later, Cal and Riley respond to Rivera’s request for a rematch. For Cal, it presents an opportunity to get back in the ring with the person who made him question his love for fighting. For Riley, it gives Cal the chance to become the fighter he once was — a powerful, fast champion who could easily become the best in the MMA circuit.

Kitamura focuses on the electrifying days before the fight which find Cal and Riley traveling, training and traversing a number of obstacles, both physical and psychological. In a unique narrative form, Kitamura gives insight into both the minds of Riley and Cal, leaving us alone with each of them for a few minutes at a time. In doing so, readers feel like they are really there and share the anxiety and excitement of stepping back into the ring with Rivera for the fight.

1. A number of times over the course of the story, a certain question comes up: What went wrong in that fateful fight between Cal and Rivera four years ago? Discuss Cal and Riley’s conflicting opinions on what actually happened. Who do you think is right?
2. Riley comments that in the beginning of Cal’s career, Cal got so used to winning that he just thought it was “the way it was.”(p. 16) How did that make losing to Rivera that much harder for him? Why has it taken him so long to get back into serious fighting?
3. What was the result of Murray and Rivera’s fight? Do you think Cal would rather follow in Murray’s footsteps than risk another defeat by Rivera? Why do you think he chooses to fight him again?
4. Cal and Riley each experience a fight-or-flight impulse during the twenty-four hours leading up to the fight. Why does each of them decide to stay? How do you think the novel would have turned out if one of them had fled? What would it have meant to the one who got left behind?
5. Discuss the dwindling of Riley’s optimism over the course of the book. What makes him realize that Cal should not go into the fight? Why does Riley shut his eyes and say, “Things would have to play out. There was no other way” (p. 150)? In your opinion, was there, in fact, another way?
6. What is Riley’s game plan for Cal’s fight with Rivera? Why do trainers create a game plan, and why does he think it will work? Does the strategy actually come into play during the real fight?
7. Discuss this statement: “The kid had everything a fighter needed and if he didn’t become champion then Riley would have no one to blame but himself” (p. 15). Why does Riley put so much pressure on himself to turn Cal into a champion? Do you think this blindly leads him into believing that Cal can win the rematch?
8. Even though he has never been knocked out, why do you think Cal “guessed he knew the feeling” (p. 23)? Why is it so important to Cal to remain standing in the final fight?
9. Having read Kitamura’s work, do you agree with her statement that “there was nothing simple about a fight” (p. 27)? Did The Longshot change your perspective on the world of mixed martial arts fighting, on the people involved in it, and on the fighting itself? Why or why not?
10. Do you agree with Kitamura’s assertion that “a fight was just a series of logical conclusions” (p.111)? If so, how do you feel about Cal’s claim that habit overrides fear, logic and need (p. 139)?
11. Do you think Cal dies at the end of the book? Why or why not?
12. The Longshot could have been a much longer story. Why do you think Kitamura chose to keep it short in length and free of much description? How does this choice affect the story’s impact? Does it make it more or less powerful? How so?

Horse Soldiers, by Doug Stanton

Horse Soldiers is the true, dramatic account of a small band of Special Forces soldiers who entered Afghanistan immediately following September 11, 2001 and, riding to war on horses, defeated the Taliban. Outnumbered 40 to 1, they capture the strategic Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif, and thereby effectively defeat the Taliban throughout the rest of the country. They are welcomed as liberators as they ride on horses into the city, the streets thronged with Afghans overjoyed that the Taliban have been kicked out.
The soldiers rest easy, as they feel they have accomplished their mission. And then, the action takes a wholly unexpected turn. During a surrender of Taliban troops, the Horse Soldiers are ambushed by the would-be P.O.W.s and, still dangerously outnumbered, they must fight for their lives in the city’s ancient fortress known as Qala-I Janghi, or the House of War . .

1. Were you surprised to learn of America’s secret effort to attack the Taliban in the fall of 2001, or did you already know about it? How advisable was this plan? Does knowing about the success of this campaign change your understanding of America’s war in Iraq, which followed?
2. As Doug Stanton shows, the American soldiers preparing for their mission to Afghanistan were yanked out of their lives and family relationships to go to war. How did you respond to his portrayal of the men and women involved? Did this exposition add to the power of the story, or were you impatient for the action to begin? Why? Do you know anyone who served in this or another comparable conflict, and was his or her experience similar?
3. Doug Stanton felt that the soldiers’ efforts to get into Afghanistan by flying Chinook helicopters over 14,000 ft. mountain peaks was an important part of the story. Do you agree? Did you enjoy knowing what the men went through just get to the battle zone?
4. There are a number of key American soldiers in this story. Which ones were your favorites, and why? Were you interested in their relationships with the Northern Alliance soldiers? Did you trust the Northern Alliance soldiers? Why? How about the Northern Alliance generals?
5. This book shows the relationship between a theoretical military strategy, designed by American generals, and its on-the-ground implementation in real-time conditions. How did well were the soldiers able to fight according to plan? What was your reaction to the combination of horses, conventional arms, and high-tech laser bombing? How did you respond to some of the graphic description of war’s carnage? How would the book be different if it didn’t include such description?
6. The military action in Horse Soldiers is divided between the battle to secure the city of Mazar-i-Sharif and then the defense of the surprise attack in the fortress of Qala-i-Janghi. How do these two actions relate to one another? Did you prefer one over the other, and why?
7. Horse Soldiers was written by reconstructing the points of view of its participants. Did you enjoy the novelistic technique used? How sympathetic were you, or not, to the portrayal of John Walker Lindh, the American man from California who joined the Taliban and who was discovered in the group of Taliban prisoners by the soldiers?
8. Although the soldiers bravely retake the Qala-i-Janghi fortress, they are soon dispersed, most never to see each other again. What did you learn about the relationships between soldiers in a time of war?
9. America’s involvement in Afghanistan changed a great deal in the time after the actions described in this book. Have you followed them? Did the story told in this book affect your perception about the advisability of American involvement in Afghanistan subsequently and in the current day?
10. Doug Stanton worked hard to create an afterword that would put the book in the context of the present time. If you read this afterword, did it add useful perception to your understanding? Or did you mostly like the book for the “war story” that it was? What does this mean about how you read about war, and why?

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