Perfection

- Perfection contains no dialogue, instead exclusively favouring rich and
  detailed description of inanimate objects. In an interview with the
  Guardian, Vincenzo Latronico says, ‘I have a terrible ear for dialogue
  and can never quote verbatim what somebody said, even at important
  moments of my life. But I memorise details of clothing immediately;
  description, more than dialogue, resonates with what seems salient to
  me in the world.’ How did you find the experience of reading the novel
  with no speech?

- Latronico never refers to Anna and Tom individually; he always refers
  to them as a couple, with the reader unable to comprehend the couple’s
  separate personalities beyond their superficial experiences, habits and
  purchases. Latronico told Hungarian Literature Online that providing
  distance between the reader and the main protagonists was deliberate
  on his part. ‘We are used to reading literature through this mechanism
  of liking the characters, of supporting them, being on their side. But it’s
  not the only way to write. I think that I didn’t want you to like them, I
  wanted you to see them.’ Do you understand Latronico’s decision for
  portraying the characters in this way? Did you find that you saw Anna
  and Tom for who they were, and did you like them?

- It is never revealed in the book which country Anna and Tom originally
  came from, with Latronico only alluding that they are from a southern
  European country. Why do you think he left this information out of the
  novel? 

- Even though they had been living in Berlin for many years, Anna and
  Tom never fully integrate into German society. Their friends are mostly
  other expats, their knowledge of the German language is minimal, and
  they have stopped consuming media from their home country or Berlin,
  instead concentrating on American and other international news sites.
  Why do you think they are unable to fully engage with their life in Berlin?

- There is a period in which Anna and Tom become involved in the
  humanitarian crisis surrounding refugees, after they become aware of
  a photograph of a drowned boy on a beach. They volunteer at a centre
  set up for the refugees, but acknowledge that they ‘found it increasingly
  hard to feel useful,’ questioning whether their involvement had really been
  more about themselves. But as they posted photos on social media, ‘they
  would watch the likes and shares go up, and still feel sure they were doing
  the right thing’. To what extent did their participation seem genuine, or was
  largely performative volunteerism to gain recognition and validation online?

Questions taken from: 
https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/reading-guide-perfection-by-vincenzo-latronico-translated-by-sophie-hughes