1) Shosha says she loves several men, but differently. What does she mean?
2) Describe the friendship between Rabbi Gimelman and Jakub Chelzak.
3) Describe the friendship between Henryk Wojskowy and Moryc Zydowski. What role do their differing faiths play in their friendship?
4) Do Franny and Greta Strauss love one another? How would you describe his love for her? Her love for him?
Family
1) Who are the married couples in the novel? Describe their marriages and how they evolve.
2) Fathers are a recurring motif in the story. Who are the fathers (or fathers-to-be)? How do they approach fatherhood?
3) Compare and contrast the Mordechai and Chelzak families.
4) What do the officers at Camp Melinka have in common with a dysfunctional family?
Religion and Mysticism
1) In instances of “magical realism,” several unexplainable events happen during the story. Describe some of them and what they might represent.
2) Jakub Chelzak has a reputation as a healer of maladies. Does he actually heal anyone during the story? How do you think he got this reputation? What happens to the people that he “heals?”
3) If the Dolina Koscieliska is a Garden of Eden, what do you think F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald represent? Franz and Greta Strauss?
4) The “Christ Figure” and “Moses Figure” are literary devices. The prisoner Andy in the Shawshank Redemption is a Moses Figure who finds freedom and shows his friend the “promised land.” In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, R. P. McMurphy becomes a Christ Figure by sacrificing himself for the freedom of his friends. Who might represent a Christ or Moses Figure in The Fires of Lilliput? Why?
Theme
1) How do the thoughts of Jewish philosopher Viktor Frankl mirror those of Christian theologian Langdon Gilkey? How do you think they relate to the story?
2) What do you think the evolving relationship between Shosha and Jakub represents?
3) “Character is Destiny,” says an old adage. Who survives in this story? Who perishes? In each case, what kind of people are they?
4) After reading this story, do you see any differences between religion and faith? Which term would you use to describe Shosha—religious, faithful, or both? Jakub? Rabbi Gimelman? Major Petersdorf?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Martin is a science, technology, and social justice journalist. He started his career as a science writer for United Press International, and has written articles for The Scientist, MIT's Technology Review, Harvard Magazine, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the Epilepsy Foundation, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the US. Department of Energy, and the California, Oregon, and Missouri university systems. For Science Magazine, he broke the story of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's attempt to "gag" his Chief Science Adviser over a climate change controversy. Other UK publications followed the piece, including The Independent and Daily Telegraph. After Martin profiled her mysterious seven-year disappearance for Psychology Today, famed evolutionary biologist Margie Profet reunited with her family when a reader reported her whereabouts to authorities. Martin has been a member of the National Press Club, the National Association of Science Writers, and Local Independent Online News publishers association.
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