The narrator wins the attention of a much older man and then engages in a sexual relationship for about eighteen months. Are there any aspects of the narrator—besides frequent sex with a willing young woman—that the older man apparently finds compelling or even attractive?

The narrator meets the lover while traveling over the turbulent waters of the Mekong River. Later, the narrator compares her love to water hiding in sand. Discuss the extended metaphor of water as love. How is the imagery of water used within the text to indicate love?

Imagine that, at the end of the novel, the lover had contacted the narrator in person instead of via telephone. Do you think the lover would still have expressed his undying love for the narrator? Why or why not?

The narrator often states an awareness of the significance of...