Jane Smiley: Early Warning

17. ‌How does Smiley use Tim’s brief time in Vietnam to lend specificity to the way the war was fought, from the setting to the interactions among the men to their understanding of their goals there? In what ways does Lillian’s sense that “he would manifest again” after his death come true?

18. What are the differences between the military experiences of Tim, Michael, and Richie? How do these also compare with what you know from Some Luck , or heard retold in Early Warning , about Frank’s and Walter’s military service?

19. Describe the diaspora among the younger Langdons. What takes some of them away from Iowa and what makes others, like Joe and Jesse, stay? What events and emotions consistently bring them back together, and what does this say about the pull of home in general in a family?

20. What do Henry’s romantic interests — from his cousin Rosa to Basil and Philip — reveal about his character and the times in which he came of age?

21. How does Smiley juxtapose the older, more traditional values of a previous generation of characters, those in Some Luck with the changing cultural climate of the ’60s and ’70s at the end of Early Warning ? Which of the characters emerge as supporters of a more liberal point of view, and which are more conservative? Were you surprised by any of the characters’ decisions or attitudes?

22. What true feelings does their trip to Paris arouse among the members of Frank’s family? Does Janet’s confrontation with Frank surprise you? Why might the level of trust and support among Frank, Andy, and Janet be especially complicated, even beyond the normal tensions among parents and children?

23. How does Janet embrace the revolutionary fervor of her time? What are some of the more personal reasons she has for joining certain protests and the Peoples Temple when she’s young, and how does her rebelliousness change once she is a wife and mother herself?

24. How is Frank’s buying out of the farm received by other members of the family, and why do you think he did this? Who do you think is the real inheritor of the farm? What might you guess is to come of the land based on this transaction and the kinds of crops, techniques, etc. being used by Jesse as he takes over from Joe, his father?

25. Why does Lillian keep the truth of her illness from her family for so long, and how have perceptions of cancer changed since she first discovered the lump in her breast? What does the tone of Lillian’s funeral suggest about her place in the family and how they’ll continue without her?

26. What is fitting about the way that Chance, Michael and Loretta’s son, is born? Does it suggest anything to you about the twins might behave as fathers in the future?

27. Who is Charlie, and why do you think Smiley introduces him into the story the way she does? Were you able to figure out his identity while reading? What does his presence add to the sense of mystery and secrecy that pervades the story in other ways?

28. How does the conclusion of Early Warning both tie up narrative threads woven throughout the book and introduce new potential conflicts and through-lines for the Langdons in the final volume of the trilogy? What do you expect will come next, and how does this degree of expectation compare to what you felt upon finishing Some Luck ?

Suggested Reading

Don DeLillo, Underworld

Joseph Heller, Catch-22

William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying

Jonathan Franzen, Freedom

Rachel Kushner, The Flamethrowers

Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried

Marilynne Robinson, Gilead; Home; Lila

J. Courtney Sullivan, Maine

John Updike, Rabbit series

Meg Wolitzer, The Interestings

JANE SMILEY is the author of numerous novels, including A Thousand Acres , which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and most recently, Some Luck , the first volume of the Last Hundred Years trilogy and long-listed for the National Book Award. She is also the author of five works of nonfiction and a series of books for young adults. In 2001 she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2006 she received the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature. She lives in Northern California.