Games to Play After Dark
Page 27
Discuss the combination of affection and scorn that characterizes Kate’s attitude toward her mother. Does she see Edie in a more compassionate light as the novel unfolds? If so, what accounts for this?
The relationship between Kate and Dennis profoundly changes when Kate enters adolescence. For Kate, “the fault, the source of their estrangement, is hers; the problem rises directly from her flighty, supplicating body” [this page]. Does this self-perception influence—and validate—her sexual encounters with the Anderson boys next door? Why does she choose Rudy rather than Topher as the object of her sexual drives and desires [this page–this page]?
Why does Kate exclude Colin from the events surrounding her father’s death [this page–this page]? Does she deliberately provoke Colin when she returns home, and if so, what is her motivation? What is the literal and symbolic significance of Kate’s breaking and cutting herself on the glass bowl?
As she adjusts to motherhood, Kate experiences the mixed emotions shared by many women. Do the images she conjures up (“The fatigue was like a small rodent working its way through her brain” [this page]) and comparison she makes between having a household and “a rare glandular disorder” [this page] express these feelings well or did you find them disturbing? Do the conflicts Kate and Colin deal with reflect the reality of contemporary middle-class marriage [this page–this page]?
What light does their session with the therapist shed on the sources of their anger, anxieties, and priorities as individuals and as a couple [this page–this page]? Do the revelations have an effect on the way they think about and interact with each other?
How does Kate see herself in relation to the women she works with at the Rose Center [this page–this page; this page–this page]? Does she draw parallels between their situations and the choices she’s made in her own life? How do their tales and confessions affect her interactions with Colin—including their sexual encounters [this page–this page; this page–this page]? How do you interpret Kate’s suggestion that “we should go back to that then.… When I respected you and you didn’t respect me. That was better” [this page]?
Why does Kate have an affair with Jack Auerbach? What role does her dissatisfaction with her life and marriage play? How does Jack’s connection to her father enhance his appeal as a friend and as a sexual partner?
What do Dennis, Colin, and Jack have in common? In what ways do Kate’s relationships with them blur the lines between the attachment of parent and child and the romantic feelings and intimacy shared by lovers?
How has Kate changed by the end of the novel? Why does she make the decision she does?
Does the author depict the men and women in an even handed way? Does she employ stereotypes in her portraits of the main characters? To what extent are the men seen as villains and the women as victims? Would you describe Games to Play After Dark as a feminist novel?
As a child, Kate internalizes the voices of the Valkyrie Valeries and they continue to haunt and taunt her throughout her life. What do the Valkyries, the mythological warrior maidens of Norse myth, and the trio of Valeries represent? What situations or emotional states trigger their appearances?
The ongoing chronology of the novel is alternated with flashbacks to Kate’s past. How does the focus of the flashbacks evolve as the book progresses? In what ways do the flashbacks enhance and clarify the present? What does the novel reveal about why we fall in love with the people we do?
Games to Play After Dark deals with the serious issue of abuse and its consequences in a direct, often harrowing manner. Why does Borden include these graphic scenes? What reasons or explanations does the novel give for domestic violence? Discuss the impact of physical abuse on the bonds among family members.
What associations did the title have for you before you read the novel? In what ways does it redefine and expand your understanding of the games men and women play?
Suggestions for further reading
Ann Beattie, Another You; Elizabeth Berg, The Art of Mending; John Cheever, Bullet Park; Michael Cunningham, By Nightfall; Sue Miller, Lost in the Forest; Rick Moody, The Ice Storm; Tom Perrotta, Little Children; Anna Quindlen, Black and Blue; Anita Shreve, Strange Fits of Passion; Jane Smiley, Ordinary Love and Good Will; John Updike, Couples; Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to the following individuals: Libby Borden, Gavin Borden, Fred Borden, Jenni Ferrari-Adler, Jennifer Jackson, Dave Marsh, Tristine Skyler, Robin Black, Renata Rainier, and Jennifer and Christopher McFadden.