Salem Falls Discussion

I finally finshed reading Salem Falls last night. It was good, and in the end I really liked the way
that it was written. I would deffinatly read more from Picoult. It was also the first book that i've read that had to deal with a court room and that was actually kind of fun. I bought Rainmaker a decade ago and never got around to reading it. Now I just may go back and pick that one up.
Back to Salem, it bothered me that there was so much evidence against Jack with the first accusation. I mean he just seemed to be so naive but also slightly moronic. If you find a student's bra leave it on the ground. Sure she may be embarrassed later, but that is so not your problem. And if by any chance you do pick it up, throw the damn thing away. And really, why did he have to be the one to drive her to get the birth control? That was not his place at all, and in fact it really made me not like Jack's character in the beginning of the book. Simply because she was writing this guy who was supposed to be so smart, a teacher, a trivia whiz, but he couldn't see how inappropriate it was for him to get involved with a student in that manner. I mean come on!!! What he should have done is had another FEMALE teacher give Cathrerine the wohole "if a guy wont wear a condom with you then he isn't worth it" speech and even if she wouldn't listen, that is still CATHERINE'S problem, not his. I just found it really hard to believe that Jack could be so smart and so naive at the same time. But I guess that was his great human flaw through out this book.
I really liked Addie. Sure I wished that she could have had a little more faith in Jack from the beginning instead of having to go to Loyal to hunt down the truth. But really they had only known each other for 2 months, and I didn't trust him that much either. Plus since she had been raped in the past I can see where she would have a few more trust issues that she still hadn't gotten over quiet yet. It was heartbreaking the way she hung onto Chloe for so long, but in a way that made her character more endearing.
I suspected that Amos had a little somethin-somethin on the side with Gillian. And it bothered me that I felt it was so obviouse but there was never a time where she blatently wrote about him doing that. Unless I skimmed over that part. I just remember that I thought all of their interactions where a little strained and, I don't know something was just not right about those two. But Picoult never really comes out and says that he was abusing her. Or that it was his seman on her thigh, which is what I was waiting for.
Now as far as the questions go:
3) I loved the tension between truth and fiction in the book, more from Addie's perspective then the young girls. But I think it is obvious because of Meg's perspective that the girls in the beginning really did believe the lies that Gilly told theml. I just can't quite put my finger on how much Gilly believed it.
8 ) I think the significance of Jack's knowledge of trivia is that to him, that is the solid truth that he can cling to when he is in prison. With so many lies making up the course of his life, those are the only truths that he has to stand on. Of course that changes once he has Addie. The first time he is in prison he was saved by his knowledge, but when he is faced with going back, it is Addie he wants to take with him. I think the fact that he taught history is just an irony in a way. Because so many of the characters can't escape their own histories and are trying so hard to out run them.
13) truth is NOT beauty and beauty is NOT truth. Lies can be beautiful, they have to be to get you to believe them. The truth can be harder, and most of the time the truth is ugly and painful. That line bothered me the first time I read it and it still bothers me now. It is bull !
15) I think the reason that Jack's mother doesn't forgive him as quickly as she forgives the prostitute is because, she feels that she brought him up to know better. With all those other people that she tries to help she can glaze over all their mistakes with a simple "they didn't know any better" but her own son, her Jack, he was supposed to be different. She raised him to be different. And as much as I do wish that she had at least asked him what his side of the story was, at the same time, I can understand with all that she has seen, that it would never even occur to her that a women would ever lie about something so awful.