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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
oh goodness i really just do love garth greenwell!! sure he is a little pretentious but i couldn't put this book down, love his long sentences that just carry you on their waves and his incredibly tender vulnerability. i thought this book was going to be a boring nazel-gazing slog at first but it ended up being a page turner for me lol, all the tangents about the house and L and poetry. an interesting play with the novel too, all of it takes place in the hospital bed and everything that happens to him is intensely laid out detail by detail but was actually so enthralling, as well as accompanied by constant tangents that take us all over his life.
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
I spent the vast majority of this book thinking it was memoir, only to realise that it was a novel (and that this was very clear on the blurb). I enjoyed this glimpse into one man' experience of life in the ICU during COVID. The weaving of his life pre-illness was done really well, as well as the exploration of his complex relationships.
Some of the language was a bit too poetic for me, and I did not feel informed enough to engage with the poetic analysis included. I'm sure for more literary inclined individuals they would have loved that section.
Some of the language was a bit too poetic for me, and I did not feel informed enough to engage with the poetic analysis included. I'm sure for more literary inclined individuals they would have loved that section.
Potentially the next NBA/pulitzer winner. Saving this to say I told you so.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
“[…] which is something else art can do, it can be a laboratory for thinking, for trying out ideas, not just abstractly but feelingly, so that we can live with them and see them through.”
“Maybe we need the idea of saints because we need to believe there is some category of person adequate to the demands of the others, whose eye can be on the sparrow, I don’t know; if so it’s a category that excludes me.”
“Maybe we need the idea of saints because we need to believe there is some category of person adequate to the demands of the others, whose eye can be on the sparrow, I don’t know; if so it’s a category that excludes me.”
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What a beautiful book. I felt like I was experiencing everything with the protagonist, pulled into his illness and memories. The author really captures how disorienting patient-hood can be, while also highlighting the intimate nature of patient-provider relationships. A story full of love and gratitude for health and freedom.