Literary fiction · Book club
Memorial book club questions
Here are 11 book club questions for Memorial by Bryan Washington, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
Memorial begins with a swap: Benson, a Black American childcare worker in Houston, and his Japanese boyfriend Mike are in a troubled relationship when Mike's estranged father calls from Japan — he is dying.
Bryan Washington · 2020 · 5h 0m
Full summary and key takeaways →The 11 questions
- 1.
The swap — Mike leaves, Mitsuko arrives — is a structural conceit. Does it feel contrived, or does it earn its strangeness?
- 2.
Benson and Mitsuko develop a relationship that might be friendship, or might just be proximity. How would you describe what develops between them?
- 3.
Food is the novel's main emotional language. Pick a specific meal in the book. What was Washington communicating that the characters couldn't say?
- 4.
Mike's father is dying and Mike goes to him despite years of estrangement. Is that a defensible choice, an admirable one, or something else entirely?
- 5.
Benson's race and Mike's Japanese background are both present but never the explicit subject of a scene. Does that restraint feel honest or evasive?
- 6.
The novel is set very specifically in Houston. How much does that particularity matter? Could this story be set anywhere, or is the city doing real work?
- 7.
Both Benson and Mike are somewhat opaque as narrators — we don't fully trust either of them about their own motivations. Is that a limitation or a formal choice?
- 8.
Washington's sentences are short and declarative throughout. Does that style convey emotional restraint, or does it feel like a tic?
- 9.
The ending withholds a resolution that most romantic novels would provide. Did you find that satisfying, frustrating, or honest?
- 10.
Memorial and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous were both published in 2019-2020 and are both queer novels about immigrant family dynamics. Where do they diverge most sharply?
- 11.
What do you think Mike actually wants by the end of the novel? What does Benson want? Are those wants compatible?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for Memorial?
Here are 11 book club questions for Memorial by Bryan Washington, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on queerness and domesticity, race and family, grief and inheritance.
How long should a book club discussion of Memorial last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in Memorial?
Queerness and domesticity, Race and family, Grief and inheritance, Food and intimacy, What home means. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like Memorial or questions for other book club picks.
