February Book Discussion - The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

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BlueHeartScraps

BlueHeartScraps

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If you haven't had a chance to start this month's book, no worries...there's still plenty of time to enjoy the book and take part in this month's discussion with us. If you need a digital copy to read along with us (epub, mobi, PDF) -- please don't hesitate to email me at ​
[email protected]
. I'd be honored to share my copy to help others read and discuss with us!

If you've started, but not yet finished, the book...you might want to close out this tab and revisit it when you've finished reading. Personally, I think there's a twist at the end (one that I didn't see coming, for sure)...and while I don't discuss it specifically in my questions, other might...and I would hate to spoil it for you before you have a chance to reach that part in the book!

Below are a few Book Club questions designed to start a discussion about the book -- however, feel free to ask questions, make comments and bring up any portion of the book you'd like. These questions are only intended to help get the comments flowing!

Can't wait to hear what all of you think about the book! ​
:)

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1. Who do you think is truly to blame for Gabriel’s death - in both a legal and a moral sense?
Or, do you think there is a difference in guilt when it comes to those two stances?

2. When did you figure out the twist, and what were the clues that led you there?

3. Much of this story takes place inside a psychiatric hospital. How did this setting impact your
perception of the characters—both inside and outside The Grove—and what effect did it have
on the atmosphere of the book?

4. This book plays with the idea of trustworthiness, with characters seeming reliable one moment
and unreliable the next. Were there any spercific elements that made you trust certain characters or not?

5. What is the meaning of the Alcestis? Why do you think the author included this reference to
Greek mythology, and does it add anything to your experience of the story?

6. How did you feel about the dynamic between Theo and Alicia and between Theo and Ruth as
therapist and patient? What lines should or shouldn’t be crossed in these relationship? What
power dynamics are at play here?

7. How did you feel about Theo and Kathy’s marriage? What are your thoughts on how their
relationship is resolved?

8. This book includes many different types of communication: conversation, diary entries, art, and
even silence. How are each of these used to progress the story line and character development?
Which did you find to be the most effective or powerful?

9. Were you satisfied with the ending? What do you think the future holds for Theo and Alicia?​

​
 
1. Who do you think is truly to blame for Gabriel’s death - in both a legal and a moral sense?
Or, do you think there is a difference in guilt when it comes to those two stances?

This is not easy to answer. If Alicia's father had have treated her differently and never said what he did she may have turned out a totally different person so she was guilty only because of circumstances. If Theo had not tied Gabriel up and revealed the truth about her husband Alicia would not have shot him.

2. When did you figure out the twist, and what were the clues that led you there?

From the star I felt there had to be a twist because when the police arrived the house was in darkness and they could not switch on lights. Then I wandered how could Alicia be able to tie up her husband herself. I did not figure out who did the tying up until Theo shared about following his wife's lover and watching the lover's wife and then the penny dropped for me.

3. Much of this story takes place inside a psychiatric hospital. How did this setting impact your
perception of the characters—both inside and outside The Grove—and what effect did it have
on the atmosphere of the book?

The setting of the psychiatric hospital brought thoughts of the movie - Shutter Island.
In this book I wondered about the amount of freedom the patients had in all dining together. Also the staff member ( cannot remember his name and difficult to look it up on my kindle) selling drugs did not make sense to me as you would not think the patients would have money on them.

4. This book plays with the idea of trustworthiness, with characters seeming reliable one moment
and unreliable the next. Were there any spercific elements that made you trust certain characters or not?

Interesting question as I did have doubts about most of the characters being honest. At one time I thought the Art gallery owner may have been the murderer. As I read I felt I needed to trust Theo so the outcome disappointed me that respect.
5. What is the meaning of the Alcestis? Why do you think the author included this reference to
Greek mythology, and does it add anything to your experience of the story?

The meaning of the Alcestis was that the wife died instead of the husband. This was included and the real meaning was not revealed until the end when we discovered about Theo involvement and what he said to Gabriel etc.

6. How did you feel about the dynamic between Theo and Alicia and between Theo and Ruth as
therapist and patient? What lines should or shouldn’t be crossed in these relationship? What
power dynamics are at play here?

At no time did I think that Theo was falling in love with Alicia which was eluded do by some characters. Theo should not have gone to Ruth's home when he wanted her help.

7. How did you feel about Theo and Kathy’s marriage? What are your thoughts on how their
relationship is resolved?


All along I felt their marriage was not a good one and I wondered if Kathy's acting career carried over into her real life with Theo. Their relationship was not resolved. Theo lost his wife when he put into action the chain of events leading to Gabriel's death. At the end you can see that Kathy is grieving for her lost lover.

8. This book includes many different types of communication: conversation, diary entries, art, and
even silence. How are each of these used to progress the story line and character development?
Which did you find to be the most effective or powerful?


I felt the diary entries had a big impact on the story, especially of course the final entries.

9. Were you satisfied with the ending? What do you think the future holds for Theo and Alicia?

I thought Alicia was in a coma and not possible to come out of. If not I need to open up my kindle and re-read the last pages. Theo would have been charged as being an accessory to the murder of Gabriel, so he would have ended up with a jail sentence especially for drugging Alicia.

Was I satisfied with the ending?..... not sure. I felt deep down it would not end happily other than I thought at one time that Alicia was innocent. The book was well written and had me wanting to keep turning the pages to see how it would all pan out.
This is not possibly a book I would normally choose to read but I did find it interesting. I ignored the bad language as I know they have that in most movies.
 
I feel like I should go back and re-read the ending...I'm a little fuzzy on what happened to Alicia...I thought she dies ??
 
CindyB said:
I feel like I should go back and re-read the ending...I'm a little fuzzy on what happened to Alicia...I thought she dies ??
Click to expand...

My understanding is that she was in a coma, and not expected to wake up -- BUT, when they said that, they were under the assumption that she had taken an overdose of drugs being sold in the hospital. I wondered if, given the new knowledge that it was an injection of morphine, if perhaps they could do something to help reserve things? I don't know...a google search said there are things that could be done, but I don't have the medical knowledge to truly know, lol.
 
I've never been a part of a book club, either in real life or online, so I just read the book, and you will probably understand why I may not have good answers to much, and my comprehension is not that great either.

1. Who do you think is truly to blame for Gabriel’s death - in both a legal and a moral sense?
Or, do you think there is a difference in guilt when it comes to those two stances? Yes.
In the legal sense, it is definitely Alicia, since she pulled the trigger. In the moral sense, I think it is Theo and perhaps Gabriel himself, since he chose to save himself when confronted by Theo.


2. When did you figure out the twist, and what were the clues that led you there?
I've never been good at figuring things out, so I was completely surprised.


3. Much of this story takes place inside a psychiatric hospital. How did this setting impact your
perception of the characters—both inside and outside The Grove—and what effect did it have
on the atmosphere of the book?
I couldn't trust any of the patients. I'm not sure what effect it had on the atmosphere of the book.


4. This book plays with the idea of trustworthiness, with characters seeming reliable one moment
and unreliable the next. Were there any specific elements that made you trust certain characters or not?
I thought I could trust Theo, but as it turns out, I shouldn't have. I did wonder at time whether I could trust Jean-Felix, due to his feelings for Alicia.


5. What is the meaning of the Alcestis? Why do you think the author included this reference to
Greek mythology, and does it add anything to your experience of the story?
I thought it played a role in the whole story, because I kept wondering how it was going to play out. The author included it because Alicia basically lived it.


6. How did you feel about the dynamic between Theo and Alicia and between Theo and Ruth as
therapist and patient? What lines should or shouldn’t be crossed in these relationship? What
power dynamics are at play here?
Both of those relationships went beyond the line of professionalism, as they were too personal. Very strange that Theo would go to Ruth's house and moreso that she would let him in. That was over the top. Alicia I felt was controlling Theo.


7. How did you feel about Theo and Kathy’s marriage? What are your thoughts on how their
relationship is resolved? I really didn't think much about it. Kathy probably didn't either, considering that she left her laptop open so that Theo could find out for himself. Their resolution of their relationship was not a good solution. It was just based on lies instead of him confronting her and having her be truthful to him, even though her lover was dead.


8. This book includes many different types of communication: conversation, diary entries, art, and
even silence. How are each of these used to progress the story line and character development?
Which did you find to be the most effective or powerful?
Each type of communication matched the personality of the character. I thought Alicia's paintings were the most effective and powerful; a picture tells a thousand words. The diary entries were all-telling, though!


9. Were you satisfied with the ending? What do you think the future holds for Theo and Alicia?
Yes. Hopefully Theo will be arrested; if not, hopefully he will lose his medical license. I think Alicia will eventually wake up.
 
Thank you, JoyLynn and Rae! That makes me feel a lot better!

Overall, I thought the book was very good, and it was a page turner for me!

For those of you that figured out the twist before it happened, how did you figure it out? I was surprised, because it seemed as though Theo told us about Kathy's affair after he had started treating Alicia at the hospital. I know a lot of books flashback, but I never picked up that the affair was well before Gabriel died.
 
lizziej said:
Thank you, JoyLynn and Rae! That makes me feel a lot better!

Overall, I thought the book was very good, and it was a page turner for me!

For those of you that figured out the twist before it happened, how did you figure it out? I was surprised, because it seemed as though Theo told us about Kathy's affair after he had started treating Alicia at the hospital. I know a lot of books flashback, but I never picked up that the affair was well before Gabriel died.
Click to expand...

Don't feel alone, I didn't pick up on it until the very end, either -- when he's telling the story of standing outside the house watching her, and then walking into the gate because it was unlocked. I literally stopped reading, and said out loud "THAT'S ALICE!". My husband thought I was losing my mind ;)

I knew they were flashing back through her diary entries, but I never expected them to be flashing back through his tale, too -- but I'm glad I didn't get the twist. I like it better when they come out and slap me in the face like that, lol! :D
 
BlueHeartScraps said:
Don't feel alone, I didn't pick up on it until the very end, either -- when he's telling the story of standing outside the house watching her, and then walking into the gate because it was unlocked. I literally stopped reading, and said out loud "THAT'S ALICE!". My husband thought I was losing my mind ;)

I knew they were flashing back through her diary entries, but I never expected them to be flashing back through his tale, too -- but I'm glad I didn't get the twist. I like it better when they come out and slap me in the face like that, lol! :D
Click to expand...

I gasped when I got to that part! I like being surprised!
 
BlueHeartScraps said:
Don't feel alone, I didn't pick up on it until the very end, either -- when he's telling the story of standing outside the house watching her, and then walking into the gate because it was unlocked.\
Click to expand...

That's exactly when I was like WHATTTTT!?!?! I didn't fully grasp they were flashing back (other than the diary entries) until this point either. I loved that twist!
 
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