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A review by literarycrushes
What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez
4.0
Sigrid Nunez’s newest novel, What Are You Going Through, feels like a natural extension of her 2018 National Book Award winning novel, The Friend. Both novels are unconventional in their structure as well as in how they detail the various ways we process grief. The unnamed narrator (“of a certain age,” as is frequently repeated) is conflicted. While she ultimately makes the decision to help a life-long friend commit suicide rather than watch on as her (uncurably) cancer-ridden body turns against her, our narrator can never quite fully commit to this plan. She is frequently ashamed and struggles not with the morality of what she is doing, but with the larger meanings of life when faced with death.
Throughout the novel, Nunez references well-known authors’ (from Fitzgerald to Faulkner) thoughts on life and death. The title itself comes from a quote by the famous French philosopher Simone Weil, made in response to the question of what the love of one’s neighbor truly meant. In French, Nunez points out, it sounds quite different: Quel est ton tourment?
I recommend reading this book as a companion to (or at least after) The Friend, both of which could be read in a single sitting.
Throughout the novel, Nunez references well-known authors’ (from Fitzgerald to Faulkner) thoughts on life and death. The title itself comes from a quote by the famous French philosopher Simone Weil, made in response to the question of what the love of one’s neighbor truly meant. In French, Nunez points out, it sounds quite different: Quel est ton tourment?
I recommend reading this book as a companion to (or at least after) The Friend, both of which could be read in a single sitting.