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August 01, 2005
Discussion Points for a Book Group
1. Djinn are famous for giving wishes. What's the difference between a wish and an ambition? An ambition is a wish that you can make happen yourself. Is it always good to have your wishes granted? Might it not be better to work for something instead of having it handed to you on a plate? Why do djinn say "be careful what you wish for"? Do you think it's because you might get exactly what you wish for? In other words, having a wish might make you very careful with how you use language; having a wish might make you feel a little in awe of the power of a wish. This is what happens to Mister Groanin in Book One.
2. If you had three wishes what would they be? And why? See my blog entry for my own three wishes. I've noticed that some children wish for themselves and others make wishes for other people. One little boy I met wished to be 'dead rich'. Discuss whether that might be a good wish or a bad wish.
3. John and Philippa go to Egypt and there they see the pyramids. And visit the world famous Cairo Museum. There they see the statue of Akhenaten (actually there's an equally good one in the Louvre in Paris, so if you go to Paris make sure you check out the Egyptian Halls, which are fantastic). Akhenaten was a real Pharaoh. He was known as a heretic because until he came along Egypt was run by priests and was polytheistic - which is to say they worshipped many gods. But Akhenaten decided that there was only one god - the sun, or the Aten - and tried to do away with all of the rest. He was monotheistic, which is to say that he believed in one god. This made him very unpopular, especially with the priests and eventually he was deposed. Can you think of any other famous heretics? Akhenaten's nephew was Tutankhamen, who was previously known as Tutankhaten. After Akhenaten was got rid of, all traces of the Aten heresy were wiped out. And this explains why Tutankhamen had to change his name. Akhenaten was married to Nefertiti, who looks like she was a very beautiful Queen. Her bust is in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. Do you think it's right that all of these great treasures should be in cities outside Egypt? After all, not everyone can get to Egypt. Some people are afraid to go. And when the Germans the English and the French took away those treasures, the local people weren't really looking after them.
4. Djinn can live a long time. What would be the disadvantages/ advantages to living for a long time? Discuss.
5. As well as being djinn John and Philippa are twins. Some ancienht societies used to believe that twins were holy and had magical powers over things like the weather. See Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough for more information on this subject. From my own experience - my late stepfather was an identical twin - it seems certain that twins just know stuff about what's happening to the other twin through a kind of telepathy. Discuss.
I hope that these ideas help. I'll try to come up with some more discussion points.
Posted by pbkerr at August 1, 2005 09:50 AM