When Theo saw his father on an old TV show, he tells us that the "multiple ironies of this were so layered and uncanny that I gaped in horror." What are some of the ironies?
On p. 702, Theo outlines his father's world view and it echoes in various parts of the chapter. What are the flaws in his view? What actually makes sense?
How is the advertisement quote on p. 707 germane to the story?
Theo is worried about being hunted by the bad guys, he is worried about where Boris might be, his phone is dead, his passport is missing, the Embassy office is closing for the holidays...what are his options?
"The Old Masters, they were never wrong." This is an allusion. Find out what it is , where it comes from, and how it is significant here.
Did Theo's mother's spirit actually visit him, or was it all just a fever-induced dream? What do you think? Explain.
"First rule of restorations: Never do what you can't undo." What is meant by this reference to Hobie's professional code? How is it significant?
"...good doesn't always follow from good deeds, nor bad deeds result from bad, does it? [...] What if our bad and mistakes are the very thing that set our fate and bring us round to good?" Do you agree with Boris's assessment here? How does this play out in the story? How many ways?
"And isn't the whole point of things -- beautiful things -- that they connect you to some larger beauty? Those first images that crack your heart wide open and you spend the rest of your life chasing something to recapture, in one way or another?" Have you ever felt this way about any form of art? If so, tell about it.
After Hobie's speech about art, Theo tells Hobie that he sounds like Theo's dad. In what ways is Hobie more like a dad than Theo's actual father?
How do you feel about the final state of Theo's relationship with Kitsey? with Pippa? Do they make sense to you?
Theo spends a lot of time describing the painting and its significance at the end of the novel. What stands out to you in this section? What makes the most sense to you?
Is life catastrophe? Is Theo right? If so, is it "possible to play it with a kind of joy"?
How was Amsterdam Theo's Damascus? What does he mean by this?
Is there truth beyond illusion? Is there a "middle zone, a rainbow edge where beauty come into being"? Is this where love exists?
"And in the midst of our dying, as we rise from the organic and sink back ignominiously into the organic, it is a glory and a privilege to love what Death doesn't touch." This seems to be one of the bigger ideas in the novel. What are your thoughts on this quote and how it plays out in the novel?