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Teres's Reviews > I Have Some Questions For You
I Have Some Questions For You
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Haven’t I read this before?
That was the question I had while reading Rebecca Makkai’s new release I Have Some Questions for You.
Likely inspired by the Adnan Syed/“Serial” story in the news recently, Questions is a 400+ page commentary on internet sleuths and the true-crime podcast fever sweeping the nation.
Our narrator, UCLA Professor Bodie Kane, returns to the elite New Hampshire boarding school she graduated from in 1995 to teach two mini-courses in film history and podcasting.
During her senior year, Bodie’s roommate Thalia was murdered and found floating in the school swimming pool.
One of few people of color on campus back in the 90s, the school’s sports trainer was quickly arrested and convicted of the crime. The case has drawn national attention over the years — hello, "Dateline" with Lester Holt — and many believe him to be the victim of racist policing and wrongly convicted.
Surprise, one of Bodie’s podcasting students decides to reexamine the case.
Revisiting her high school haunts, Bodie is forced to confront her own demons and reassess the tragedy that shook the entire school in her senior year. This time, however, from the perspective of someone twenty-five years older and wiser.
With lots to discuss and dissect — the validity of the Court of Twitter, how true crime fetishizes dead girls, racial profiling, misogyny, privilege, grooming — I Have Some Questions for You would make a fabulous book club selection.
And, given our cultural obsessions, it seems destined to be turned into a Netflix miniseries soon. Stay tuned.
That was the question I had while reading Rebecca Makkai’s new release I Have Some Questions for You.
Likely inspired by the Adnan Syed/“Serial” story in the news recently, Questions is a 400+ page commentary on internet sleuths and the true-crime podcast fever sweeping the nation.
Our narrator, UCLA Professor Bodie Kane, returns to the elite New Hampshire boarding school she graduated from in 1995 to teach two mini-courses in film history and podcasting.
During her senior year, Bodie’s roommate Thalia was murdered and found floating in the school swimming pool.
One of few people of color on campus back in the 90s, the school’s sports trainer was quickly arrested and convicted of the crime. The case has drawn national attention over the years — hello, "Dateline" with Lester Holt — and many believe him to be the victim of racist policing and wrongly convicted.
Surprise, one of Bodie’s podcasting students decides to reexamine the case.
Revisiting her high school haunts, Bodie is forced to confront her own demons and reassess the tragedy that shook the entire school in her senior year. This time, however, from the perspective of someone twenty-five years older and wiser.
With lots to discuss and dissect — the validity of the Court of Twitter, how true crime fetishizes dead girls, racial profiling, misogyny, privilege, grooming — I Have Some Questions for You would make a fabulous book club selection.
And, given our cultural obsessions, it seems destined to be turned into a Netflix miniseries soon. Stay tuned.
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Reading Progress
December 12, 2022
– Shelved
March 9, 2023
–
Started Reading
March 13, 2023
–
Finished Reading
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Sarah
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Mar 13, 2023 07:26PM
I enjoyed the “Serial” podcast back in the day, but I feel you... it's become a formula at this point.
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Hm, sounds like it wanted to work but didn't quite make it. Maybe it just didn't add anything new to this popular trope? Great review, Teres!
An excellent review, Teres, I had wondered about this one, but I ended up passing on it.
LOL....now I want to downgrade my star rating! You make great points. I loved her writing and I found the ways she reminded us all the times women have been dismissed intriguing. I agree the page count could have been less......
Excellent review, Teres! The themes in this sound like this should be a must read!
Film history was one of my favorite elective classes in college. Hmm. I'm still trying to figure out if I would like this or not.
Terrific review; it sounds like it will probably be a Netflix series.
I think I'll pass on this one. Excellent review Teres!🌷
Yeah, I don't get the hype. The writing is mundane and telling, loads of info dumps, and when she called out Don without calling out Don from the Hae Min Lee case?? I don't think it's okay to make those kind of accusations in a book without presenting evidence. Overall, so underwhelming.
The premise does sound familiar, but I can see how this would make a good book club read. Fabulous review, Teres!
Definitely getting to be an overdone premise for sure.
Great review, Teres! I'm not sure if I want to read this one, but it sounds like an engaging enough mystery story.
I kind of enjoyed this one - the way it explored so many different facets of the case. I think it’ll make for a good show!
Sounds wonderful! I love the title as well. Great review, Teres!
She does reference the Syed case when the narrator mentions "a girl whose boyfriend definitely wasn't working at LensCrafters that day" or something along those lines. It's kind of a bizarre reference, though, since it seems to indicate that the narrator thinks Don killed Hae, which is a theory not shared by many.
