The Divers' Game

A Novel

By: Jesse Ball

Narrated by: Devon Hales, Sophie Amoss, Cassandra Campbell

From the inimitable mind of award-winning author Jesse Ball, a novel about an unsettlingly familiar society that has renounced the concept of equality—and the devastating consequences of unmitigated power.

The old-fashioned struggle for fairness has finally been abandoned. It was a misguided endeavor. The world is divided into two groups, pats and quads. The pats may kill the quads as they like, and do. The quads have no recourse but to continue with their lives.

The Divers’ Game is a thinly veiled description of our society, an extreme case that demonstrates a truth: we must change or our world will collapse.

What is the effect of constant fear on a life, or on a culture? The Divers’ Game explores the consequences of violence through two festivals, and through the dramatic and excruciating examination of a woman’s final moments.

Brilliantly constructed and achingly tender, The Divers’ Game shatters the notion of common decency as the binding agent between individuals, forcing us to consider whether compassion is intrinsic to the human experience. With his signature empathy and ingenuity, Jesse Ball’s latest work solidifies his reputation as one of contemporary fiction’s most mesmerizing talents.

Unfinished?

While I liked what I read, it felt like a poorly abridged book. Loose ends, unfinished plot lines and plot features that weakened the story. The writing has flow and is beautifully constructed, but the plot left me wanting.

Imaginative world but loosely connected

I usually find myself complaining that most modern novels are overwritten and underedited. This author had a great idea and, to the extent that she executed it, she had me. But I felt as if it needed to be "filled out" - I felt I was left hanging in every relationship, and maybe that's what she wanted to accomplish, who knows? But it was an unsatisfying experience. I also think that the director of one of the narrators, the one who was the friend of the character Oliver, needed some guidance from the director, because she didn't have the acting chops yet to carry out her choices, and it was very distracting.