70 pages 2 hours read

Michael Christie

Greenwood

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

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Essay Topics

1.

Greenwood uses a nested structure to tell its stories across a long span of time. Compare and contrast this to the novel Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, which uses a similar nested narrative structure but begins in the past instead of the future. How do Christie’s and Mitchell’s approaches to nested structure support the ideas they want to convey in their respective novels?

2.

The novel explores the value of a family legacy, arguing that an inheritance may include immaterial objects, like values. Track the Greenwood family’s values across generations. What values are sustained across the four narratives? What values differ?

3.

Harris is a complex character with clear motivations, functioning as both an ally and an antagonist to his brother, Everett. Considering that Harris makes his fortune in the logging industry, what does it mean for the novel’s environmentalist message that Christie depicts Harris as a sympathetic character?