Scan barcode
A review by stefhyena
As We Are Now by May Sarton
5.0
I bought this book years ago and I hesitated to read it because I was very young and thought the ramblings of an old woman locked up would make tedious and depressing reading. I thought I ought to read it but I couldn't make myself.
I am glad I read it. Caro reflects on old age, powerlessness, agency (she is a resister and fighter to the end), friendship, love and what it is to be a human being. It was depressing. It made me think of the asylum seekers (some at the very beginning of their life) locked up in horrible centres by our government subject not only to passive-aggressive violence (like Harriet inflicts on Caro) but outright violence too and the same sort of lies and insincerity (though increasingly not even that as our society averts it's eyes.
Invisibility is dangerous, it brings out the worst in people. Transparency allows for safety. The book is a bit classist, but seems self-critical at that anyway and there is a passing thought about low wages and hard, unrewarding work not bringing out the best in people.
The passion, critical thought and above all resistance that is possible even by Caro in her horrible home, and the humanity she finds in some people (meanwhile the emotional sloveliness of others) makes this a book about being human.
I am glad I read it. Caro reflects on old age, powerlessness, agency (she is a resister and fighter to the end), friendship, love and what it is to be a human being. It was depressing. It made me think of the asylum seekers (some at the very beginning of their life) locked up in horrible centres by our government subject not only to passive-aggressive violence (like Harriet inflicts on Caro) but outright violence too and the same sort of lies and insincerity (though increasingly not even that as our society averts it's eyes.
Invisibility is dangerous, it brings out the worst in people. Transparency allows for safety. The book is a bit classist, but seems self-critical at that anyway and there is a passing thought about low wages and hard, unrewarding work not bringing out the best in people.
The passion, critical thought and above all resistance that is possible even by Caro in her horrible home, and the humanity she finds in some people (meanwhile the emotional sloveliness of others) makes this a book about being human.