Book Club Discussion Questions
Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
About This Book
Henrik, a retired general of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, has lived for years as a recluse in his castle in the Hungarian forest waiting for the arrival of Konrad, the best friend of his youth, whom he has not seen for forty-one years. The two men met when they were roommates in military school during the heyday of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Their friendship was influenced from the beginning by the vastly different circumstances of their births: Henrik was born into nobility, whereas Konrad was impoverished and living out his parents' dream for him to lead an aristocratic life. Despite these different backgrounds, their unusually close friendship persisted into adulthood. The young soldiers shared an apartment in Vienna and experienced that city at the height of its splendor. Then, after Henrik's marriage to Konrad's friend Krisztina, the threesome remained close, regularly dining together, but at their last dinner, grave events severed Henrik and Konrad's relationship, culminating in Konrad's sudden abandonment of Vienna. When the novel begins, forty-one years have passed, and Henrik has finally received word of Konrad's return.
On the evening of their reunion, the aged soldiers will engage in the most painful battle of their lives–a war of words waged to reach the truth of their past. In the course of their conversation, Henrik recounts the calamitous aftermath of Konrad's departure, and the painful betrayal that Henrik and Krisztina faced because of Konrad's actions. Now, Henrik has had a lifetime to gain the wisdom and perspective of age and to ponder not only the meaning of friendship, but also the purpose of life itself. And as the tragic mystery of their relationship subtly unravels, so too unfolds a portrait of a man shaped by a defunct empire and cleaving to the last vestiges of his obsolete nobility.
Reader's Guide
- What makes the bonds of a "friendship that reaches back to childhood" so strong that "death itself cannot undo" it [pp. 141–2]? If friendship is, in fact, "a duty," as Henrik asserts [p. 110], what is the nature of the "duty" between Henrik and Konrad? Did one or the other fail in this obligation, and if so, how? Was Konrad "faithless" [p. 112]?
- What was the "debt" that one of them feels toward the other after Henrik meets Konrad's parents and learns the truth about Konrad's background [p. 47]? How does this realization change the nature of their friendship? Was this event the turning point in their friendship?
- Henrik says, "One would need to know why all this happened. And where the boundary lies between two people. The boundary of betrayal. . . . And also, where in all this my guilt lies" [p. 169]. Of what is Henrik guilty? If Henrik's twice-made assertion that the guilt is "in the intention" [pp. 112, 139–140] is true, which was Konrad's greatest offense: his intention to kill Henrik, his affair with Krisztina, or his abandonment of their friendship? Or, as Henrik speculates, was both men's betrayal of Krisztina the greatest offense of all [p. 192]?
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- How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
- What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
- Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Vintage.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.
