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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
The plot of this book was fairly propulsive, though its main beauty is in its ideas about shame and grief. How do we exact vengeance from those who hurt us most, when sometimes those people spend their lives suffering? There are no lightweight hurts here--- death of a child, betrayal by a spouse, shame, the painful living death of alcoholism. There are some lovely thoughts about perceptions, especially of how people look-- beauties, fat people, white people in Africa....
And so much about 'what ifs' and how each turn of our own universe might rest on such small moments of chance.
And so much about 'what ifs' and how each turn of our own universe might rest on such small moments of chance.
Listened to this. 2.5 stars. Got a little lost now and then. Might have been a better read vs. listen.
You can find my review of The Gloaming in F(r)Online: http://tetheredbyletters.com/book-review-the-gloaming-by-melanie-finn/
This book tackles the difficult subject of families torn apart by child death and loss and illness and war, and does it on two continents and through many eyes. And is wrapped in mystery and the supernatural. In style and intensity I am reminded most of Russell Banks. My second book by this author, it was every bit as gripping as the first. I read it in a day.
My perfect kind of novel. Beautiful writing, with every sentence crafted and considered, but with a gripping story and characters. In Switzerland, Pilgrim's husband leaves her for another woman and shortly afterwards she has a terrible car accident, the consequences of which reach far across the world. She turns up in Tanzania, traumatised and guilty, waiting and watching for when her shame will catch up with her.
I will be in conversation with Melanie Finn on 2nd February 2021. Visit www.clairefuller.co.uk/upcoming-events/
I will be in conversation with Melanie Finn on 2nd February 2021. Visit www.clairefuller.co.uk/upcoming-events/
Sometimes you find just the right book at the right time for a little bibliotherapy. This book captured the aftermath numbness of being dumped. Not only has Pilgrim Jones' human rights attorney husband left her, but he has stranded her and set her adrift in a small town in Switzerland. After constantly travelling the world with her husband, she has no home and no friends. When she accidentally strikes and kills 3 of the town's children with her car and incurs the wrath of the locals, she flees to Africa where she is even more adrift. The poverty and violence and absolute feeling that one cannot do anything to ever stop the suffering, but that one should still try to do as much good as they can, make Africa the right place to awaken Pilgrim's shaken soul and return a semblance of meaning to the fact that her heart is still beating.
Review for ST: http://bookslive.co.za/blog/2015/08/03/book-bites-2-august-2015/
Quotes:
- Guilt, he said, is seldom felt by the guilty. -
- Memory is narrative. It is not truth. It is the worst witness. -
- Because life, like a wire, requires tension on both ends. -
- I remember what Strebel said about narrative. But what he didn't make clear enough was how malleable the narrative might be, how slippery the stories. Physics might fix the course of a moving vehicle away from a dog. But what of the non-physical world? -
- At any moment the mundane might turn lethal. -
- But maybe it's a mistake to go around comparing pain and trying to make it match up. -
Quotes:
- Guilt, he said, is seldom felt by the guilty. -
- Memory is narrative. It is not truth. It is the worst witness. -
- Because life, like a wire, requires tension on both ends. -
- I remember what Strebel said about narrative. But what he didn't make clear enough was how malleable the narrative might be, how slippery the stories. Physics might fix the course of a moving vehicle away from a dog. But what of the non-physical world? -
- At any moment the mundane might turn lethal. -
- But maybe it's a mistake to go around comparing pain and trying to make it match up. -
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I didn't expect to get so sucked in by this book, but sucked in I was. After a day and a half of feverish reading, I was spat out, a bit disoriented, wondering what in the hell I just read. I recommend it to anyone who would like to embark on an exploration of grief, loss, and redemption via rural Tanzania, Kenya, and Switzerland.