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Weve reached the final installment ofBeach Read Book Club.
Today, were discussing chapters nine through 11 ofThe Guestand asking: What the hell did that ending mean?
(If you oughta catch up, here are partsone,two, andthree.)
Lets talk about Jack and the whole stay at his ex-girlfriends house.
What was the reading experience like for you during those scenes?
Allison P. Davis:Ugh, I cant even use words.
Emily Gould:In a way, hes perfect for her.
Hes the easiest mark imaginable, hes super-vulnerable, completely at her mercy after she leaves him.
Hes ready to commit suicide because hes so unstable.
She can totally relax around someone who is more fucked up than she is.
Allison D.:Theres always a hidden rom-com in every thriller.
Is this the rom-com, guys?
The real love story is Jack and Alex?
Matthew Schneier:I dont know, I found it kind of moving.
Am I such a simp?
And he obviously sucks, butshekind of sucks.
If she had just made it to town, or stayed in town, theres a thousand Simons.
That is her Greek-tragic flaw she just cant do the semi-sensible thing.
By the time she met Simon, she was already unable to keep it together.
Emily:I dont do it, but I watch TikToks of it and I find them really soothing.
Matthew:Isnt Dr. Pimple Popper the reason the Discovery-Warner Brothers merger happened?
He is just the grown-up version of her like the ten-years-on version of that kid, really.
Hes still kind of the weakest animal in the herd.
If shes looking for prey out there, he is an easy target.
That whole sequence, it feels like someone is pretending that they are not with a child.
Its interesting in comparison with whos the townie friend, Max?
You have a kid who is presumably the same age who sees through everything immediately.
Did any of you believe that Jack was really gonna raid his dads safe for her?
Alison W.:I thought he would try and get caught immediately.
I did not expect that It was entirely made up.
Brock:I do think the safe exists.
Allison D.:I didnt think the safe existed.
I think that no grown person keeps their money in a safe like itsIndiana Jones.
Alison W.:The detail about the gold I was like,The safe is real, though.
And that was because hes a little coward or … ?
Brock:A little bitch boy.
Allison D.:Or is it because hes sort of done with her?
Doesnt want to give her the means to have freedom?
Was it just that he was scared?
Hes also come down off molly.
Allison D.:That too.
That she just gives you nothing in terms of anything of herself.
Brock:Whats up with the dog?
Alison W.:I felt bad for the dog.
An easy sprinkle-it-into-the-narrative thing.
Lets go all in on the ending, from the crash on.
Alison W.:I feel like I knew it was going someplace like this.
Allison D.:Because we all agree shes dead?
Thats a dead dream.
When I brought up that theory at my book club, it hadnt occurred to anyone else.
Matthew:I just kept thinkingSopranos.
Alison W.:I felt like it was left in between.
Isnt that just telling us isnt that just foreshadowing that shes gonna die?
Emily:I dont know, maybe Im dumb.
Which is an annoying way to end.
Its like the ending of aNew Yorkershort story: Descriptions, external factors, and then some unresolvable ambiguity.
You get an A from the Iowa Writers Workshop….I dont know if they give grades.
Alison W.:Its funny to think of her being a mess and walking through the party.
Alison W.:Deer and capitalism.
Thats the only way I like the book.
Matthew:I enjoyed it, I have to say.
The style, actually, is kind of great.
I started reading, and then that happened enough times where I was like,Youre good at this.
Alison W.:She is a good writer.
Allison D.:I also liked that the flashbacks never felt overused, or schlockily used.
Theyre exactly what you need them to be.
Emma Cline is a great writer.
If shes reading this book club, I dont want her to think I dont think shes good.
But you dont get to be in a book club if you dont criticize, guys.
Emily:Or at least the month to come.
Alison W.:Yeah, years to come is tough these days.
Everything comes and goes so quickly.
Im obsessed with the fact that Emma Cline grew up on a successful winery.
Has anyone had her familys wine?Cline Family Cellars?
Allison D.:No, but I will now.
One of them, I think, runs a small casino in rural Nevada.
Another one is in Ireland as a physicist or something.
One is married to a professional rodeo person?
Theres the girl getting fingered on the beach who says something like,God, do whatever you want.
And theres the wife who gets served the plate of blueberries when everyone else gets sorbet.
It feels like if youre going to be in this world, you should choose a guy.
Brock:I want to be one of the women!
Allison D.:I weirdly think I want to be Margaret.
I dont know why.
I feel like shes gonna go on to writeThe Guest,get the A24 deal.
High school will suck for her, but shell be fine on the other side.
Matthew:Id be the painting that gets scratched.
Allison D.:And nobodys gonna be Jack with the bacne and the braces.
Allison D.:And so are deer.
A selection of your responses to last weeks discussion questions.
What did you take away from Alexs encounter with Dana in the restaurant bathroom?
Alex is avoiding reality.
She is drugging herself, consciously blocking, and creating a fantasy world to escape to.
Then it became so meh.
Or was this a way to see how Alex could have ended up if she played the game right?
Many things, maybe.
Certainly, Dana sees Alex as the problem in whatever relationship it is that Alex and Dom have.
Her time with Jack, and how it all played out in the end, hit me the hardest.
He consistently tries to do everything right with Alex, despite his immaturity.
Cheryl
It seemed more of the same for her.
Alex chooses him over Margaret, who shes certain would let Alex stay with her if Alex wished it.
Evan Peters, Thomas Felton, Paul DanoNicholas:Thirty-ish and good looking.
Merit Leighton, Abby Ryder FortsonDana:Older than Alex; mid-late twenties.
).Sam
Im trying to re-imagineThe Guestwith an all-Black cast to see if it still holds up.
As such, my ideal casting is as follows:
Alex: Taylor Russell, hands down.
I think she could produce a youthful innocence while performing the most heinous of acts.
He also gives Howard educated investment banker daddy vibes.
Martin has this natural ability to communicate an anxious naivety that is central to Margarets vibe.
