Falling Out of Time Read online

  as if a hand

  had stitched us

  with a thread: perhaps

  when the man

  stood up

  in his little kitchen

  and said:

  I have to go there,

  perhaps at that same moment

  something also shifted

  there.

  And when

  the man began

  to walk around himself

  in circles

  by his house—

  they, too,

  from there,

  began to walk

  here,

  to the meeting point?

  We pictured them

  now slightly stooped,

  waning,

  slowly turning

  back.

  WALKING MAN:

  And he

  is dead.

  I understand, almost,

  the meaning of

  the sounds: the boy

  is dead.

  I recognize

  these words

  as holding truth.

  He is dead,

  he is

  dead. But

  his death,

  his death

  is not

  dead.

  CENTAUR:

  Yet still it breaks my heart,

  my son,

  to think

  that I have—

  that one could—

  that I have found

  the words.

  April 2009–May 2011

  Notes

  The quote on this page is from e. e. cummings’s

  poem “a clown’s smirk in the skull of a baboon.”

  The quote on this page is based on Avraham

  Huss’s Hebrew translation of “Orpheus,

  Eurydice, Hermes,” by Rainer Maria Rilke.

  A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  David Grossman was born in Jerusalem, where he still lives. He is the best-selling author of several works of fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature, which have been translated into thirty-six languages. His work has also appeared in The New Yorker. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the French Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Buxtehuder Bulle in Germany, Rome’s Premio per la Pace e L’Azione Umanitaria, the Premio Ischia International Award for Journalism, Israel’s Emet Prize, and the 2010 Frankfurt Peace Prize.

  A NOTE ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

  Jessica Cohen was born in England, raised in Israel, and now lives in the United States. She translates contemporary Israeli fiction, nonfiction, and other creative works, among them David Grossman’s critically acclaimed To the End of the Land. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Financial Times, Tablet Magazine, Words Without Borders, and Two Lines.

  About This Reading Group Guide

  The questions, discussion topics, and reading list that follow are intended to enhance your reading group’s discussion of Falling Out of Time, internationally acclaimed author David Grossman’s powerful, genre-defying exploration of grief and bereavement as experienced by residents of a small village.

  About This Book

  Part prose, part play, and pure poetry, David Grossman’s Falling Out of Time is a powerful exploration of mortality, mourning, and the long good-bye that follows the death of a loved one. As linguistically impressive as it is emotionally wrought, Grossman’s trim fable unpacks the complexities of grief as they are experienced on a personal and collective level, leading readers on a journey to define the universal, yet often indescribable, feeling of loss.

  Set in a small seaside village, the characters of Falling Out of Time are bound by grief: all are parents who have experienced the death of a child, and all struggle with pain they are unable to articulate. The book opens in the home of two such characters, a man—simply described as Walking Man—and his wife, who are mourning the death of their son. Unable to bear the burden of his grief in the confines of his home, the man sets out on a journey to reach his dead son. He begins to walk around the village in ever-widening circles, reflecting on his sorrow as he paces. One by one, he is joined by a lively cross section of townspeople—from the Midwife to the Net-Mender to the Duke—each with his or her own story of loss to reflect upon. As they walk, questions about death and mortality are raised: Is there an afterlife? Is peace of mind attainable after such a loss? Is it possible, even for a fleeting moment, to trade places with the dead, to free them of their fate? The collectivity of the group serves as catharsis, ultimately turning these individuals’ private experiences of pain into a comforting hymn of hope. Elegantly economical and intensely moving, Grossman’s book is a singular exploration of how to live life in the face of tremendous loss.

  Questions for Discussion

  1. As Falling Out of Time opens, Walking Man and his wife are embroiled in a tense discussion about whether or not he should embark on his journey. Why does his wife protest the decision? How does her perspective on her husband’s journey change in the course of the book?

  2. On this page, Walking Man’s wife asks him: “Will I ever again / see you / as you are, / rather than as / he is not?” How is the relationship between husband and wife changed by the loss of a child? How does it affect specific couples in the novel—the Town Chronicler and his wife, the Midwife and the Cobbler?

  3. The Town Chronicler is initially introduced as a sort of omnipresent force who objectively catalogs the events of the town from a distance. Yet as the book progresses, his own melancholia is revealed. What initiates this change? What does this suggest about the presentation of self in professional versus private spheres?

  4. Walking Man begins his journey by circling his own home—in hopes of getting his wife to join him—and gradually widens his path to cover greater swaths of the town. Why do you think the author chose to make his path circular rather than linear?

  5. On this page, the Duke calls himself “an impostor of sorts, a sham / pretending to be an everyman.” Over the course of the narrative, how does the Duke’s admission of loss bring him closer to the townspeople? Does the shared experience of loss make him an “everyman”?

  6. Explore the relationship between the Duke and the Town Chronicler. What did you make of the edict from the Duke? Did you believe that the Duke ordered the Town Chronicler not to mention his loss, or do you think that the Town Chronicler’s reticence developed as a coping mechanism?

  7. The Centaur initially challenges the authority of the Town Chronicler, taunting him for his government role, but on this page, he describes him as a “friend.” How does this tension eventually lead to mutual respect? How does it help to unite the townspeople?

  8. At the beginning of the narrative, the Town Chronicler observes that the mute net-mender has broken her nine-year silence and that her voice is “heavenly.” How does this description contrast with her physical description? When the Duke refers to her as “Lady of the Nets” on this page, is it done ironically or as a sign of respect?

  9. Why do you think the Midwife stutters throughout? What leads her husband to think that “her words are / hardly broken / anymore!” on this page?

  10. Falling Out of Time is a unique blend of prose, poetry, and drama. Why do you think the author chose to structure the narrative in such a way?

  11. In the first section of the book, the dialogue moves from character to character, but in Part II, the townspeople’s voices are often considered collectively as “Walkers.” What does this say about the shared experience of grief? How does the similarity of their experiences bring a leveling effect to their society?

  12. On this page, several characters struggle to remember who they are. What does this say about the shift in identity after the death of a child? How does memory interfere with their ability to redefine themselves?

  13. Several characters express regrets about how they interacted with their children, or about how time was spent with a child. Whose admissions had the greatest impact on you?

  14. W
hy do you think the author chose to represent the writer character as a Centaur? How does the Centaur’s struggle to write reflect the mourner’s communal struggle to communicate?

  15. On this page, the Walkers state that “poetry / is the language / of my grief.” Do you agree? How is this reflected in the text?

  16. On this page, the Centaur expresses his struggle to articulate death: “Death will deathify, / or is it deathened? Deatherized? / Deathered?” What does the Centaur’s “little game” say about the limitations—or flexibility—of language? How does the playful transformation of the word “death” limit or enhance its power for the speaker?

  17. What does the appearance of the boy on this page signify? How do the townspeople react to hearing his voice? Explore the notion that “there / is breath / inside the pain.”

  Suggestions for Further Reading

  A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis

  The Child in Time by Ian McEwan

  Mortality by Christopher Hitchens

  The Still Point of the Turning World by Emily Rapp

  The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion