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brooklynbrianreads 's review for:
Turbulence
by David Szalay
On the map the plane was marked by a plane-shaped symbol that would be, if it were to scale, about a thousand kilometers long. In fact it was hard to understand quite what an insignificant speck this airplane was, in terms of the size of the ocean it was flying over, in terms of the quantity of emptiness that surrounded it on all sides.
I read this trim novel in two propulsive seatings. Each of the ten or so interconnected chapters focus on a different character and the life they are living. People travel for work, family, to escape their lives at home, get closer to home. Szalay explores -successfully, in my opinion giving the economy of words- how the development of air travel has simultaneous brought us closer and left us isolated; how some people have the “right” to travel anywhere while others need “sponsors” to go anywhere. Maybe some of the themes could have used some further development particularly the nurse in Kerala who talks about toxic masculinity and the domestic servant in the Gulf who’s in a secret gay relationship.
PS: Maybe one of the reasons I found this narrative so captivating and original is because I have not read enough of travel writing. That will change soon!
I read this trim novel in two propulsive seatings. Each of the ten or so interconnected chapters focus on a different character and the life they are living. People travel for work, family, to escape their lives at home, get closer to home. Szalay explores -successfully, in my opinion giving the economy of words- how the development of air travel has simultaneous brought us closer and left us isolated; how some people have the “right” to travel anywhere while others need “sponsors” to go anywhere. Maybe some of the themes could have used some further development particularly the nurse in Kerala who talks about toxic masculinity and the domestic servant in the Gulf who’s in a secret gay relationship.
PS: Maybe one of the reasons I found this narrative so captivating and original is because I have not read enough of travel writing. That will change soon!