Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Burr:
1. His infamous duel with Hamilton—and rumors of dubious political activities in later years—sullied Burr's reputation among Americans for 200 years. Has reading Vidal's book changed your views of Burr? How does Vidal portray Burr— what character traits does Burr exhibit? Vidal uses Burr as his point of view—and a narrator usually gains readers' sympathy. Do you find Burr sympathetic? Why or why not? Do you think Vidal wants us to find him sympathetic?
2. What do you think of Burr's descriptions of America's most exalted heroes: Washington, Jefferson, and of course Hamilton. Are his snipes, quips, observations trustworthy, to be believed, taken at face value? Or not.
3. Some of the book's characters are fictional, in particular Charles Schuyler. Do you find him a fully-developed, three-dimensional character? Is he more fleshed-out than Washington and some of the other historical figures? What purpose might Vidal had in doing so?
4. Does Vidal make the era's history come alive for you, especially the political intrigue and players? Did you learn something about the young republic's beginnings—a clearer understanding, perhaps, of the Federalists and their role in the early republic? Was there anything that surprised you about America's early development?
5. Some have compared the shenanigans going on in Burr to the vitriol and deception in Washington during the Watergate scandal—which was precisely when Burr was published. For those familiar with the era (i.e., OLD enough to remember), do you see any parallels? Are there parallels in Burr with the present national political climate?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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