BOOK CLUB: AUTHORITY by Jeff VanderMeer

“A circle looks at a square and sees a badly made circle.”
- Jeff VanderMeer

2nd Novel of the "Southern Reach" series.

Themes we are going to explore:

• Bureaucracy and control
• Transformation and evolution
• Fear of the unknown
• Rationality vs. Intuition
• The illusion of control

Interview with the author: SPOTIFY LINK

Can I come without reading the book?
No.

1. What does AUTHORITY suggest about the limits of human understanding when faced with Area X? (Johns analogy with the heliocentric vs geocentric worldview)
2. How is language shown to be inadequate to understand area X? What does this say about human attempts to categorize reality?
3. Entering the science department John made comparisons to cathedrals and godhood. What parallels do you see between how science and religion is depicted? (Superstition chapter)
4. How/When did you spot that Control is under hypnosis?
5. What role do personal names have in the novel and in company politics?
6. What‘s your theory on the undying plant and the mouse Control finds in the previous directors office?
7. How does the introduction play into the themes of the novel?
8. What do the titles of the trilogy ANNIHILATION, AUTHORITY AND ACCEPTANCE try to tell about the overarching story?

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