Introducing^
THE MOST
ADVANCED
TECHNOLOGY
GPEEN
ectric operation
ift Water '
ii service flow rates
ited salt and water consumptioij
Counter current regeneration
•24/7J
• Hi(
Book Talk
SOFT WATER SOLUTIONS, LLC
252.222.3220 or 252.725.7464
4911 Bridges Street Ext. Morehead City, NC
' 41
H ■ I
I Johnson
Owner
Will Johnson
Service Coordinator
The Divers Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida
Harper Collins, 2015
Review by Ken Wilkins
Punctuated equilibrium
A blurb deemed Vendela Vida’s The Divers Clothes Lie Empty a cautionary
tale for travelers, and that’s what caught my attention. Unfortunately, the novel
is far from that. It turns out to be a trite story of deceit and divorce, couched in
a scenario that is simply unbelievable. Ihe novel is set in Casablanca and, as the
story opens, our heroine is on the plane for a visit, the circumstances of which
are obscure. Also, in the entire work, she is addressed as “you,” unusual to say
the least, and eventually cloying and irritating.
Vida takes us on an adventure through the eyes of the narrator, whose
name we never learn. Upon arrival at her hotel, her backpack with passport,
credit cards and money is stolen. The police are called, and two days later
return a backpack, credit cards and passport—none of which are hers. From
here, she tries the American Embassy without much luck. One lie leads to
another, and soon she cannot undo them.
Remarkably, she gets a job as a stand-in for an actress, paid in cash and
with no need for documentation. The only interview for the job was with a
bodyguard, who had a surprising interest in evolution, and who talked about
“radical speciation” (also called punctuated equihbrium), a period of dramatic
change that forces species to adapt rapidly or die out. Little did he reaUze that
his interviewee had exactly that need to adapt to her new circumstances.
Predictably, the movie setup crashes and she flees. Here, we learn the reason
for her trip in the first place. I won’t give away the story; suffice it to say that the
events exceed one’s ability to suspend disbelief. And once our nameless narrator
starts to lie, the deceptions never stop, down to the last line.
The title of Vida’s novel comes from a poem by Rumi, “The Diver’s Clothes
Lying Empty,” that appears in the book by convenient accident. Its subject is our
ability to choose whether to be present in the moment. Our heroine is running
away from circumstances that would be daunting to anyone, and Vida raises
important questions about how we respond to adversity.
The narrator chooses, however, to continue to run from everyone she meets.
As a result, she runs away from herself. Inadvertently, then, Vida reprises a
theme from Kate Atkinson, who has explored alternative endings in her recent
works. Our heroine here moves from one picture of herself to another. This
blurring of reality is intriguing, but, ultimately, the writer fails to do much other
than titillate.
The prose is straightforward and fine (with only one glaring use of the fad
word “issues”). Vida is a talented writer. Her themes of identity and reahty bear
our scrutiny, but the far-fetched plot and the second-person voice detract too
much from The Divers Clothes Lie Empty. Perhaps, then, I was wrong. This novel
may serve only as a reminder to hold on to your backpack while traveling in a
strange place.
^10.53 cokv.ta.lKer rKa.Kufa.cturers use up to
70% rec^Ledl 3lass^ or "cuLletT
A 9Lass coKtalKer caK 30 frow a recv^llK3
biK to a. store sUelf Lk as few^ as 3o cta^s.
24 TheShorelins i September 2015