Event: ENSFR reading group, March meeting
March 9 @ 17 h 00 min - 18 h 30 min
The next short fiction reading group meeting will take place (via Zoom) on Monday 9th March at 5pm (UK time). Below, you can find information on how to join the online meeting room. I have attached an iCalendar file that you can add to your calendar.
During the meeting, we will be discussing Paul’s reading suggestion: the short story “The Pain Cave” by Lauren Groff. It is a very short story at just two pages long. You can access the short story from this link: https://granta.com/the-pain-cave/
Our conversation will focus on the following key questions that Paul has selected:
- How does the story portray family relationships, and what ideas about family life emerge through the narrator’s reflections?
- What picture of childhood does the story create, and how does the narrator’s view of children shape the emotional tone of the narrative?
- In what ways does the story use nature—its beauty, harshness, or indifference—to deepen its themes or challenge the narrator?
- What meanings do you think Groff intended by choosing the title “The Pain Cave,” and how does it resonate with both the physical and emotional journey in the story?
- Does the narrator strike you as someone who understands herself clearly, or do you sense blind spots or contradictions in her self‑perception? What moments in the story shaped your view?
Join the Zoom here:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83325132386?pwd=pccLzay1p6eLKg9PxP5C2HRJwqFLz6.1