Join us here in The Bistro for a discussion on the entire Gamache series. Feel free to ask or answer any questions about any of the books or the series as a whole.
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3,639 replies on “The Bistro”
Next to the last post on 106 Paul posted the link to the reading guide questions for AGR.
I am so glad you did.
Gamache is such an interesting character but I feel we still have a lot to learn about how he thinks and feels. Jean Guy has been laid bare to us in many ways especially through his battle with addiction. There is a lot more vulnerability to Armand than is easily recognisable at first and he manages that through controlling and protecting. But in some ways that makes him even more vulnerable.
Anna, I looked it up when I was reading AGR because I was sure the name had been mentioned in an earlier book. I have all the books on kindle as well as in hardback so I can find parts when I want to. It’s one of the best things about kindle!
Thanks Cathryne! Brilliant work. Did you remember that or have you been detectiving! New word, roll with it. Either way, well done you!
Anna and Julie, I like your ideas about why Gamache behaved as he did and I need to think about them further. It has seemed like a key question, starting early in the book.
Hi, Anna and Julie. Yes, the town called, Notre-Dame-de-Roof-Trusses is mentioned in The Cruelest Month, pp. 78-79. Gamache and Beauvoir pass through it as they drive to Hazel’s home.
I thought it sounded familiar too but which book would have referenced a town no longer there?
That makes sense, Anna. I’d forgotten that he definitely kept people in the dark in HTLGI to make sure that whatever punishment there might be for this only came to him. He COULD have been wanting to make sure that Isabel had “plausible deniability”. I think it really was a mistake not to warn Beauvoir, and I wonder how many times he can be hurt by feeling that Gamache doesn’t trust him, before he begins to put a distance between himself and Gamache… Still – it’s a very good point about Brebeuf – it was so personal and painful, I can see that it would be difficult. There was a point made that he had only talked to Reine-Marie about his parents’ death (and probably how his friend helped him) once, in all the time they’d been together. It must still be too painful. Okay, I feel better about this now. Of course, it’s so easy to see after the fact, hahahaha.
I had talked about magic and Three Pines earlier. This was from the imagery of the cadets when they first came to Three Pines. They were sure there was nothing there – nothing on their GPS, etc., and then they climb a hill, and just as they crest it, they feel they are falling into blackness – and then, like magic, the village opens up before them. Later on, Gamache notices headlights pointed toward the sky as a second car crests the hill, and the light seems to hang in the sky for minute, then disappears, as the car obviously turned around and left. This really struck a cord with me. It’s been there all along – the town that isn’t on any map. The unknown child who put it on the map in the schoolroom – marking it, not “Three Pines”, but “Home” – the retreat to safety for Gamache to the village in HTLGI… and of course, that wonderful stained glass window, which has been a part of every single book. I love how this mystery and magic are explained, and yet, how it’s still magic, right down to the mapmaker leaving a clue for her son in case he came home… So lovely.
Now – didn’t we hear about “Roof Trusses” in another book? I could swear I remember it, and it can’t be because it’s a real town, because I looked, hahahaha. There are some strange names, and the name of the town AFTER it was renamed is very close – Our Lady of Sorrow is how I would have translated the name of the town in the book… Notre Dame des Sept Doleurs (Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows) is the name of a real town in Quebec. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs,_Quebec
I too have pondered why Gamache behaved as he did, beyond the exigencies of the storyline, and there are a few thoughts. With Brebouf, it was a very deep and personal disappointment he suffered with this man. I can imagine he found the whole story too hard to discuss with anyone much as it reinvigorated the grief for his parents. Brebouf redeemed him then, I think he hoped to offers redemption in return, knew at a visceral level that it might fail but retained enough hope to try.
Gamache is also still very much in the fortress mindset he developed as he tried to save the department when secrecy was paramount to protect his friends and work his plans. He gambled very much on that ploy. Has he forgotten how to open up now and invite his colleagues in or are they still people he seeks to protect at all costs. It is very human to turn a strength into a weakness….the desire to protect can lead to isolation.
Armand has been accused of being arrogant by his detractors. I don’t think he means to be, I don’t believe he acts for self aggrandizement but out of true fear at times.it is not the same thing. I do agree Julie that he made a mistake and he should have asked for help but I can imagine the psychological factors that worked against him.
Oh, goodie – let’s do it then! I think you are right about the gore factor – though that’s never been WHY I read mysteries, I do expect it to be part of some books, and I can handle it. I don’t go looking for it, however, and it certainly wouldn’t upset me if it wasn’t there, hahaha. I hadn’t thought, either, Cathryne, as you so astutely point out – why say “two GAY men” instead of just “two men”? There’s an agenda there…
So let’s get right to it. For me, while this isn’t quite my new favorite, I thought it was a fantastic book, and I enjoyed it more than the last one. Actually, I think the true evil of the bad guy in the last one made it hard for me to read again, while I know I’ll be reading this one again soon!
In general though, I’m a bit mystified as to why Gamache doesn’t share his burdens more? If he’d told Isabel and Beauvoir what he was doing and why, it would have been easier to flush out The Duke and perhaps have avoided not only his death, but maybe even his coercion of the students to play Russian roulette. At least I hope so. I found it actually, kind of frustrating that he didn’t tell Isabel that he was asking for the RCMP Commissioner (whose name I’ve already forgotten) and why. She could easily have been some help in that regard. And for Beauvoir (and even Reine-Marie!) not to understand why Brebeuf was there? Obviously, the remnants of their friendship is something that both men feel deeply and there’s the push me-pull-you of the emotions, but if Beauvoir had just known, he could have been more watchful..
All that aside – we needed the things to happen as they did to move the story forward, and perhaps Louise wasn’t willing to have all three of them not be able to stop the murder and the abuse of the cadets from happening…
Anyway – for me that’s the first big thing. I’m still in the “Gamache! What were you thinking?” mode, hahaha.
I think the murder when it fit the story line. I have never needed the crime to take place at the beginning of a novel. I think that is more for the gore and blood readers too.
Many other people are mentioned when their appearance takes the story line forward. Too many people entering and leaving in every chapter becomes too “busy” for me. The main characters have a purpose . All writers are not for all readers. I do not enjoy, and so don’t read some authors that my friends consider favorites.
LP writes carefully crafted novels that educate, inform, entertain and enthrall. All readers do not seek all of those qualities. No harm, no foul. Just further proof that people differ.
This week I read Ryhs Bowen’s latest. Always a fun read. Interesting bits of English-Irish
history as the book was placed primarily in Ireland.
As I said earlier, AGR is now my favorite LP book.
I think we can discuss it as spoilers are on other sites.
Hi,to all.
May your tent be free of tigers! Absolutely. Unless they are really tame protective sorts that keep even more aggressive creatures at bay.
I think it is ok to talk now Julie. There are far more spoilers from other sources like Amazon.
I agree Cathryne. I too find it interesting to read dissenting opinions and then ponder why someone doesn’t like the book. It helps me clarify why I do. Because we love the people of Three Pines we are happy to hear about them murder or not. For the same reason I happy whenever anyone post here whatever it is they have to say. Always happy to connect with friends. But then the world of Three Pines means so much more to us than a novel. If you are just looking for a book to read with some action in it then perhaps Three Pines is a disappointment. Similarly disappointing for those seeking random gore and violence!
I do wonder if Louise will expand the population of Three Pines. That is not so easy to do. New people upset the balance a bit and we have been wary of strangers.
Billy Williams, who is a brave, smart, and hilarious villager.
Oh no, I lost a post! I’ll try again.
I have had fun reading all the Amazon reader reviews of AGR. I like reading the observations of the other readers in the community, even ones I don’t agree with. I found the one complaining about the village only being populated by women and two gay men to be untrue and incredibly dismissive. As Jiulie pointed out, Armand lives in Three Pines and, in fact, he spends quite a bit of time there in this book. Billy (I’ve forgotten his last name) plowed the snowy roads and M. Belevoe was called in to help answer a question about the village’s history. We know many other men who live in or near the village and they are present at the special occasion toward the end of the book.
But, MOSTLY, why say two”gay” men instead of two men???
Oh, Anna – this is full of interesting tidbits. You are right about the Chinese curse – I certainly prefer “may your tent be free of tigers”… I haven’t read any reviews except “professional” ones – hadn’t thought at all that now there are only gay men and women. Of course, it’s not true – it’s just that these are pretty much the only characters we interact with. In my mind, we kind of see Three Pines through Clara’s eyes much of the time, and these are her friends. She isn’t going to go out and get new men friends just because Peter’s gone. Maybe precisely because Peter’s gone, she is not close to men right now. And, of course, Gamache is neither female nor gay, but I take their point. Doesn’t bother me a bit, hahaha. I didn’t find the first bit slow or boring – I wonder if that comes mostly from people who haven’t read the others? Or from those who, for whatever reason, still believe all these are fictional people instead of real ones? Once you’re really vested in the village and the people, how can what they are doing (and especially the danger they’re in) not be interesting? I’m kind of champing at the bit to talk about the book… Paul – what do you say we set Monday, Sept. 19 as the start date for the discussion?
Here you go: http://gamacheseries.wpengine.com/a-great-reckoning-reading-group-guide/
Let the discussion begin!
No man, or woman, is an island. We all have so many influences and in the end we are unique in both our similarities and differences. The former unite us and the latter are just so interesting. I want to live in an interesting world but that is also perilously close to a Chinese curse……may you live in interesting times.
I read some of the reviews on Amazon of AGR. The vast majority are positive and a few are less so. if there is any negativity it has to do with the fact that there is a significant portion of the beginning of the book before the murder takes place and that secrion was long winded. There was one other criticism of Three Pines that since Peter’s death the village has been populated only by women and gay me. They forgot dogs and ducks but otherwise it is an interesting observation.
I personally did not find the first 100 pages slow or boring. I could see threads being found and followed. I also don’t feel the ‘murder’ has to be the first incident but I do see that many readers are drawn in if it is. I think I am tempted to write a story where the murder is at the end. I am sure that has been done before but it adds a extra degree of difficulty. Mind you, lots of thrillers do the slow build.
I like “stew” too. Canada often calls itself a mosaic, rather than a melting pot, though I think “stew” captures it better – you DO have the melding, but the distinct parts as well. Certainly, some areas of Pennsylvania would find you thinking you’d landed in Germany (since Pennsylvania “Dutch” is an English mangling of the word “Deutsch”. Somehow, it sticks, though people of the area have been trying for many years to change it to “Pennsylvania German”. I halfway feel that many areas of the northern mid-west would make you feel you were in Scandinavia, and some parts of Seattle, would, too, as the first people here seemed to be mostly Swedish or Nordic. It’s very interesting to see what this brings to the development of a place. Winnipeg, where I lived before Seattle, is where a lot of Icelandic people settled (I can just imagine them coming to the coldest spot in the country, basically, and deciding “Yup – yust like home.”
I like that Barbara….a stew. The world would be boring if we were all the same. Thank goodness there is such a variety of interesting cultures around!
Big storm threatened here just now but it has passed thank goodness.
The US is called the “melting pot” and I have always loved to learn about the history and customs of all the different groups that have contributed to “our” country. I think people should never forget or fail to respect their own history and language. Not a “melting pot” but a “Stew” each contributing to the whole but retaining individuality.
I love the Fall festivals where so many ethnic groups present their food and culture….Arts in the Heart of Augusta, the Greek Festival and others.
I have always felt cheated that I did not grow up with a sense of belonging to a group that came to these shores from elsewhere. My heritage was that we were Southern and Baptist. Great. A few hundred years of history and no connection to the thousands of years before. Not all areas of the US are like that though. There are cities and large areas of some states that retain the “flavor” of the country of the immigrants that settled there.
I don’t know if the American Revolution and GA being one of the original 13 colonies influenced our turn from England.
Here I am… a devoted Anglophile.