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A review by craftygoat
Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer
3.0
I heard Diane Rehm interview Jonathan Safran Foer several months back. (I'm a sucker for author interviews.) The scene at the zoo captured my imagination, so I added the book to my "To Read" list. I perhaps should have done more research -- read some reviews or something -- as this is not a book I would have normally chosen if I hadn't heard the interview. I prefer books where I actually like some of the characters, and (ahem) this isn't a book I would have chosen to listen to while waiting to pick my kids up from school. So maybe the book wasn't a good match for me.
On the other hand, it was quite an examination of people. Good themes, thought-provoking ideas. Not being Jewish (or really having known many Jews), I wasn't familiar with a lot of the customs in the book. But most of the ideas were universal. The disjointed timeline allowed revelations about the characters, peeling layer after layer back to reveal the inner motivations, flaws, etc.
Fave quotes:
p. 103 (Sam in Other Life discussing the bat mitzvah): "My bat mitzvah portion is about many things, but I think it is primarily about who we are wholly there for, and how, that, more than anything else, defines our identity."
p. 247 (Julia at mock UN): "Julia hated to see nervous children. She wanted to go to her, give her an inspirational talk -- explain that life changes, and what is weak becomes strong, and what is a dream becomes a reality that requires a new dream."
p. 298-9 (family discussing bat mitzvah plans): "'You are the luckiest people in the history of the world,' Tamir said." [...] "'The problem,' Tamir said, standing up, 'is that you don't have nearly enough problems.'"
p. 314 (on Sam wondering where God, who is everywhere, put the world when he created it): "That night Jacob did a bit of research and learned that Sam's question had inspired volumes of thought over thousands of years. [...] Basically, Godwas everywhere, and as Sam surmised, when He wanted to create the world, there was nowhere to put it. So He made Himself smaller. Some referred to it as an act of contraction, others a concealment. Creation demanded self-erasure. [...] Jacob wondered if maybe, all these years, he had misunderstood the spaces surrounding Julia. [...] What if she [was] making a world for their children, even for Jacob." (Is parenthood an act of self-erasure?)
p. 408 (Tamir and Jacob discussing trading freedom for companionship): "So many blessings, but did anyone ever stop to ask why one would want a blessing?" "Blessings are just curses that other people envy."
p. 511-2 (Max's bat mitzvah): "You only get to keep what you refuse to let go of. [...] It's easy tobe close, but almost impossible to stay close. Think about friends. Thank about hobbies. Even ideas. They're close to us -- sometimes so close we think they are part of us -- and then, at some point, they aren't close anymore. They go away. Only one thing can keep something close over time: holding it there. Grappling with it. Wrestling it to the ground, as Jacob did with the angel, and refusing to let it go. What we don't wrestle we let go of. Love isn't the absence of struggle. Love is struggle."
p. 566 (Jacob taking Argus to vet): "We live in the world, Jacob thought. That thought always seemed to insert itself, usually in opposition to the wordideally . Ideally we would make sandwiches at homeless shelters every weekend, and learn instruments late in life [...]. But we live in the world, and in the world there's soccer practice, and speech therapy [...], and also we're only human, [...] so as nice as that idea is, there's just no way we can make it happen. Ought to, but can't. Over and over and over: We live in the world."
p. 571 (Argus's last moments): "Argus's eyes rose to meet Jacob's. There was no acceptance to be found in them. No forgiveness. There was no knowledge that all that happened was all that would happen. Their relationship was defined not by what they could share, but what they couldn't. Between any two beings there is a unique, uncrossable distance, an unendurable sanctuary. Sometimes it takes the shape of aloneness. Sometimes it takes the shape of love. [...] He told [Argus]: 'Look at me.' He told himself:Life is precious, and I live in the world. He told the vet: 'I'm ready.'
I think it's poignant that Jacob was able to be there for Argus in a way that he wasn't there for (especially) Isaac, but maybe for anyone else either.
Final notes:
- I'm not used to reading novels set in the current day. Weird to have Syrian refugees and NPR and iPhones. Foer does a good job of presenting our modern world with its modern challenges.
- The audiobook was great. As I've been doing lately, I checked out both the book and audiobook so I can conveniently listen, but still re-read and mark passages. The times when I actually read the novel, I realized how difficult it was to keep track on some of the un-attributed pages of dialogue. Glad I had a reader who made it easy to keep track.
On the other hand, it was quite an examination of people. Good themes, thought-provoking ideas. Not being Jewish (or really having known many Jews), I wasn't familiar with a lot of the customs in the book. But most of the ideas were universal. The disjointed timeline allowed revelations about the characters, peeling layer after layer back to reveal the inner motivations, flaws, etc.
Spoiler
Who, if anyone, is to blame for the spiraling down? If Jacob had told Julia about taking Propecia (and its affect on their sex life), would things have turned out differently? Did Jacob script his own downfall? The book has no real resolutions, no happy ending, but hey, "We live in the world."Fave quotes:
p. 103 (Sam in Other Life discussing the bat mitzvah): "My bat mitzvah portion is about many things, but I think it is primarily about who we are wholly there for, and how, that, more than anything else, defines our identity."
p. 247 (Julia at mock UN): "Julia hated to see nervous children. She wanted to go to her, give her an inspirational talk -- explain that life changes, and what is weak becomes strong, and what is a dream becomes a reality that requires a new dream."
p. 298-9 (family discussing bat mitzvah plans): "'You are the luckiest people in the history of the world,' Tamir said." [...] "'The problem,' Tamir said, standing up, 'is that you don't have nearly enough problems.'"
p. 314 (on Sam wondering where God, who is everywhere, put the world when he created it): "That night Jacob did a bit of research and learned that Sam's question had inspired volumes of thought over thousands of years. [...] Basically, God
p. 408 (Tamir and Jacob discussing trading freedom for companionship): "So many blessings, but did anyone ever stop to ask why one would want a blessing?" "Blessings are just curses that other people envy."
p. 511-2 (Max's bat mitzvah): "You only get to keep what you refuse to let go of. [...] It's easy to
p. 566 (Jacob taking Argus to vet): "We live in the world, Jacob thought. That thought always seemed to insert itself, usually in opposition to the word
p. 571 (Argus's last moments): "Argus's eyes rose to meet Jacob's. There was no acceptance to be found in them. No forgiveness. There was no knowledge that all that happened was all that would happen. Their relationship was defined not by what they could share, but what they couldn't. Between any two beings there is a unique, uncrossable distance, an unendurable sanctuary. Sometimes it takes the shape of aloneness. Sometimes it takes the shape of love. [...] He told [Argus]: 'Look at me.' He told himself:
I think it's poignant that Jacob was able to be there for Argus in a way that he wasn't there for (especially) Isaac, but maybe for anyone else either.
Final notes:
- I'm not used to reading novels set in the current day. Weird to have Syrian refugees and NPR and iPhones. Foer does a good job of presenting our modern world with its modern challenges.
- The audiobook was great. As I've been doing lately, I checked out both the book and audiobook so I can conveniently listen, but still re-read and mark passages. The times when I actually read the novel, I realized how difficult it was to keep track on some of the un-attributed pages of dialogue. Glad I had a reader who made it easy to keep track.