pickBrought this after @squirrelbrain review and then bumped it up the list after @BarbaraBB review this week.
Thoughtful, reflective, detailed musings on life,death and poetry after an emergency medical event. Beautifully written.
pickAnother fantastic book from Sarah Moss (which I put off reading for ages, for superstitious reasons).
I love her fierce intelligence, and her insight into what makes families tick.
I've seen reviews elsewhere complaining of its being another book by her about "woke middle class people". (Yeah, and Jane Austen just writes about marriage, right?)
It's about parents being faced with the mortality of a child.
pickThe narrator is hospitalized with a rare vascular condition. For days he‘s at ICU, not really knowing what‘s happening, though he knows it‘s serious.
Each medical detail is described, as is the narrator‘s view on life, his past and future.
And it‘s 2020 and COVID is everywhere. In the hospital, in people‘s attitude, in the protests in the streets. It took me back to those days and although it frightened me I loved this about the book. Very good!
Happy milestone, @dabbe !
My #moodboardcontest vibe is, “Everything‘s a mess but at least the tender buds are blooming.” Easter has always been my favorite but my family is going through a rocky patch right now…as is our country, as is the world. I‘m taking comfort in soft breezes, soft petals, & soft puppies whenever I can. I‘ve also been conducting scientific research re: how long the average 39-year-old woman can stay submerged under coffee.
pickLovely days reading and finished this one 😁
I‘m working my way through Moss‘s back catalogue that I haven‘t read.
There‘s not much of a plot, but beautiful, insightful writing as always.
I‘m on a day reading retreat in a hotel in Liverpool 😁
pickThings I love:
-The pacing leaves plenty of room for emotions to develop.
-The perspective shows both the frustration of the US medical system and the wonder we can access when knocked out of our unconscious narratives.
-The writing, beautiful without being sappy.
Things that don't quite work:
-The extended treatises on poetry and music go on too long for my taste.
-The meticulous detail, which gets tedious.
Soft pick for a #tob25 longlist title
pickWow - this book 🙌 I was reading it thinking how sad and harrowing it was to be experiencing Elena‘s Parkinson‘s and her grief at her daughter‘s death. And then Pineiro knocks you out as both Elena and the reader‘s eyes are opened to the underlying truths - the story behind the story. This is the sort of novel where you dont realise how clever it is until the end.
Photo: subterranean tunnel Waiheke Island
so-so