The Fairfax Library
Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, January 12th at 7 p.m. to discuss our
January book, The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida.
Discussion questions are
below.
Here are some links
for additional background and information:
Coming up, we have the
following books to look forward to reading:
Thurs. Feb. 9 The
Sellout by Paul Beatty
Thus. Mar. 9 The
Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra
(One Book/One Marin selection)
Thanks for reading
with us. I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.
Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax
Library
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela
Vida
1.
The unnamed protagonist
is a twin. In what ways is the twin metaphor used throughout the book? Does the fact that she is a fraternal twin make any difference?
2.
What effect does
the author using the second person have on your reading of the novel?
3.
How does the
novel relate a search for self?
4.
It may be hard to
understand why the protagonist does the things she does in the novel such as
taking someone else’s backpack and using that person’s credit card. Did your
feelings about those actions change after learning about the birth of her niece
and husband’s infidelity?
5.
On page 95, the
red-haired bodyguard explains his interest in Darwin and “punctuated equilibrium”
saying, “There are periods in evolution when species are in stasis because
there’s no need for change. But then, usually because of a change in their
environment, they have to adapt rapidly. That’s how new species come about.” How does this information affect the protagonist?
6.
What is the
nature of identity? Is it what people call you? What makes you “you”? Is it
based on place – where you lived and live or the community in which you live or
something else? How does acting play into identity?
7.
What affect does
the location of the novel, Casablanca, have on your impressions of the story? Would the story have worked in other locations?
8.
The Diver’s
Clothes Lie Empty is a novel about many things, including loss. What losses has
the narrator endured?
9.
We recently read Outline
by Rachel Cusk in which the main character remains nameless for most of the
book and is recently divorced. Are there any other comparisons between the
novels?
10. Have you ever wanted to or tried to re-invent
yourself?
You’re sitting here with us, but you’re also out
walking
in a field at dawn. You are yourself
the animal we hunt when you come with us on the
hunt.
You’re in your body like a plant is solid in the
ground,
yet you’re the wind. You’re the diver’s clothes
lying empty on the beach. You’re the fish.
In the ocean are many bright strands
and many dark strands like veins that are seen
when a wing is lifted up.
Your hidden self is
blood in those, those veins
that are lute strings
that make ocean music,
not the sad edge of
surf, but the sound of no shore.
