The Gathering

published	September 10th 2007 by Grove Press, Black Cat
binding	Paperback
isbn	0802170390 (isbn13: 9780802170392)
url	http://www.rbooks.co.uk/produc...
pages	261
setting	Ireland
literary awards	Booker Prize Winner 2007
description	Anne Enright is a dazzling writer of international stature and one of Ireland’s most singular voices. Now she delivers The Gathering, a moving, evoc...more [close] Anne Enright is a dazzling writer of international stature and one of Ireland’s most singular voices. Now she delivers The Gathering, a moving, evocative portrait of a large Irish family and a shot of fresh blood into the Irish literary tradition, combining the lyricism of the old with the shock of the new. The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan are gathering in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother, Liam, drowned in the sea. His sister, Veronica, collects the body and keeps the dead man company, guarding the secret she shares with him—something that happened in their grandmother’s house in the winter of 1968. As Enright traces the line of betrayal and redemption through three generations her distinctive intelligence twists the world a fraction and gives it back to us in a new and unforgettable light. The Gathering is a daring, witty, and insightful family epic, clarified through Anne Enright’s unblinking eye. It is a novel about love and disappointment, about how memories warp and secrets fester, and how fate is written in the body, not in the stars. [close]
date added	05-25-07 edit book

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Jason rated it:

(review of isbn 0224078739)

04/29/08

Read in April, 2008

(My full review of this book is larger than Goodreads' word-count limit. Find the entire essay at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

As a book critic, I of course try to steer clear of any information I can about a book I'm about to review, until I'm done with the book myself and have already made up my mind about what I thought; so imagine my sur...more

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Matt rated it:

05/28/08

bookshelves: contemporary-literature

Read in May, 2008

May 29 CVN:

“The Gathering”

The stream of Veronica’s consciousness is confusing, contradictory, conflicted and rarely clear. She does battle with the tragic, but also the mundane. She, like many around her, is trying to navigate through the hurts, the loves, the villains and herself—in order to make sense of it all. Veronica is human. Anne Enright successfully depicts this chaotic stream of impressions and memories in “The Gathering,” and although the book is often as depressin...more May 29 CVN:

“The Gathering”

The stream of Veronica’s consciousness is confusing, contradictory, conflicted and rarely clear. She does battle with the tragic, but also the mundane. She, like many around her, is trying to navigate through the hurts, the loves, the villains and herself—in order to make sense of it all. Veronica is human. Anne Enright successfully depicts this chaotic stream of impressions and memories in “The Gathering,” and although the book is often as depressing as it is difficult, it also serves as a reminder that no one is that far from the chaos.

Amidst a grayish life of complacency and baggage, Veronica is struck with the bludgeoning fact that her brother Liam has drowned himself. Of the members in her oversized Irish family, Veronica was the closest to Liam, having formed a close and intimate bond with her brother; a bond that was tied by shared experiences and long, late-night talks. However, the bonds wrapped tightly around the siblings are the same entanglements that caused Veronica to hate Liam. She cared more deeply for Liam than anyone else on earth, but because she often did not like him—he was not all that likable—her care was often transformed into the most excruciating pain.

In the wake of this tragedy Veronica hates her mother for being hopelessly naïve and clueless; avoiding pain and suffering by putting up walls between herself and reality. She hates her brothers and sisters for supposing to have an equal share in her pain over the loss of Liam despite the fact that none of them had an equal share in his life. She despises everyone and everything, in a sense, including her husband for just being there—and for not giving her a more exciting life—and figures from the distant past that may or may not have played a defining role in Liam’s life.

But of all the so-called villains in her life, no specter does Veronica despise more than herself. She feels guilt, pounding guilt, from not having done more; from having hated Liam; from having been given the right to live through a shameful experience shared with Liam decades prior while he was doomed to live a cursed life.

Thus, with a morose and plagued psyche, Veronica plods into the shadow of death; casting darkness on her life and making it seem all the more dissatisfying. She steps in and out of the present, going through the motions of Liam’s wake and funeral while losing herself in memories and images that are impossible to call true or false—they simply are.

With a backdrop of alcoholic siblings and a past so hurtful but so clouded, Veronica must figure out how to live in a world of tragedy and influence by learning to conceptualize both the past and the present. “The Gathering” depicts a woman struggling to make sense of it all, and reveals that perspective, no matter how flawed, is an inseparable part of who a person is.

Following the disorganized thoughts of Enright’s Veronica can be as frustrating for the reader as it appears to be for Veronica herself. But this is the point. There is no better way to portray the chaos of emotions evoked by both tragedy and monotony than to mirror that chaos with stream of consciousness-style writing. Readers may initially be lost in the impressionistic snapshots that fail to follow any sequential order, but portraying the psychological life of Veronica, or anyone for that matter, is most accurately dealt with in this manner.

People will often see a psychologist, or just talk to a trusted confidant, and let loose with a free-flowing, snapshot monologue. Simply talking about one’s life can help an individual conceptualize and better understand the confusion that is the inner life. In the same way, “The Gathering” becomes richer and more revealing when it is talked about.

None of the characters in this book are truly likable, but they are at least relatable. We might not want to be like Veronica, but close inspection of our own thoughts and memories may reveal a closer kinship with the beleaguered character than hoped for....less

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Gin rated it:

04/17/08

bookshelves: best

Outstanding. The Gathering is an early (and strong) contender for my favorite book of 2008. I'm tempted to add it to the "best" shelf but I want to wait a bit just to be sure that I'm not over-zealous in my surprise and affection. Give me a couple of months to make up my mind as it matters more than a little. I'll be honest; I'll use semi-colons. Hyphens too. And fragments. Anyway, I was prepared to like this book but I did not expect to seize it as fiercely as I have. It's abo...more Outstanding. The Gathering is an early (and strong) contender for my favorite book of 2008. I'm tempted to add it to the "best" shelf but I want to wait a bit just to be sure that I'm not over-zealous in my surprise and affection. Give me a couple of months to make up my mind as it matters more than a little. I'll be honest; I'll use semi-colons. Hyphens too. And fragments. Anyway, I was prepared to like this book but I did not expect to seize it as fiercely as I have. It's about grief and revision--and grief and revision--about failed lumps of passion that become these tar-pits of evil, horror, memory and love love love. The characters who are already dead have clamped down and clamped hard upon the living (though some do not live so long after all, there are wrenching ends and also brightly colored ones), the living nearly choke on the knowledge that they are little more than entertainment for the rest of the world, and all of them willingly abbreviate their, well, souls, for the sake of...appearances? Convenience? The Roman Catholic church? I don't know, and my sense is that I will fall down all over this question for quite some time.

Another thing about Enright's book is how precisely tricky it is. There are blunt moments of almost happy endings, tender little lures and sweet ones at that which the reader knows--knows just well enough so that it hurts--will not come to be. It's Enright's sharp blow that puts out the world, the shudder that makes all the sea (you'll know it when you see it) of sickness that everyone involved will have to swim through, the awful thing that when it ripens (and does it ever) is dispatched in measured bites of custard pie. No, really. Those moments when the novel stumbles into hope only do so when everything else has been wiped out or boxed up or joined some muddy plain of ghosts. Or plane. The various understandings of the words are applicable. Look them up. While you're at it, look up the word "catholic". Interesting, no?

It is also tempting to draw quotes from the book, but I think that to do so would be an insult to the text. I have similar (though stronger...sorry, Ms. Enright) feelings about Coetzee's work. Like Coetzee, Enright has managed to find the barest parts of life, her work is sharp, observant, and bruising. Let's leave the comparison at that for now, eh? Hopefully she'll keep true to her gifts and continue to produce works of almost perfect exposure...and in a way, those things that are *almost* perfect are also the loveliest. The Gathering--for all of its darkness-- touches upon all of those things that are beautiful because they will never be close enough. Don't believe me? Fine. Read it for yourself, then stare and wonder.

Update: this book has compelled me to re-examine (calibrate?) how I read everything...which for me is both harsh and exhilarating. Accordingly, I have given it the "Best" designation.

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Fiona rated it:

02/26/08

bookshelves: books-i-loved

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: the bereaved

This is the best novel about grief and bereavement that I have read.

Enright captures the peculiar relationship of close siblings perfectly. It is not about love - you don't "love" a close sibling just as you don't "love" your arm. They are a part of you. When they die, you are broken. It is a hard, bitter, angry book because the grief you feel when a close sibling dies is a hard, bitter anger. An anger that is as close to madness as makes no difference. Grief colours ever...more This is the best novel about grief and bereavement that I have read.

Enright captures the peculiar relationship of close siblings perfectly. It is not about love - you don't "love" a close sibling just as you don't "love" your arm. They are a part of you. When they die, you are broken. It is a hard, bitter, angry book because the grief you feel when a close sibling dies is a hard, bitter anger. An anger that is as close to madness as makes no difference. Grief colours everything, and makes everything - the past, the present, present loved-ones - unknowable and unreachable, for a time.

Veronica tells the story of her grandmother, acknowledging that the story she tells is imagined, unreal. I see this as a metaphor for the veil of unreality that bereavement places between the bereaved and external reality. Because you can't tear down the veil, you live in a capsule in a state akin to madness, unable to reach out to those who you love[d]. Unable to connect with their attempts to love you and bring you back. And resenting their efforts to do so.

This novel is not "about" the revelation of what happened to her brother. What may or may not have actually happened is ultimately not important. Rather, it is a novel that describes the symptoms of Veronica's grief. One of these symptoms is her attempt to understand the past and to "see" (reveal) what happened to her brother. (Veronica's disconnection from her husband and children is another symptom. Her bitterness towards her surviving family is another.)

Veronica attempts to make sense of her grandmother's history is symptomatic of how the bereaved - lost in their capsule of unreality - struggle to make sense of their experience. That struggle can lead us to misinterpret both what we see and the meaning of what we do. We do irrational things but think they are significant and rational choices. We misunderstand events in the past and present, yet think we are being clear-sighted and insightful. Or we remember things in the past that were true then, and think that they are the key to the present. We grasp at straws in our attempts to find something tangible to hold on to. Meanwhile our sense of the reality going on around us seems heightened and intense, yet we at the same time disconnect from it.

Above all, we get very, very lost in the whole experience. Lost, desperate, confused, angry and alone. And so very sad.

We, we we. Clearly I mean me. This was my experience of bereavement and I had never read it as I experienced it, until I read The Gathering. No other author past or present has so accurately represented what I lived through. Because it captures the state of grief so succinctly, with such subtlety, I consider Enright's book to be a work of genius.

And by the way, her writing is at times breath-taking.
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Trevor rated it:

10/29/07

Read in October, 2007

This was the only book on the Booker short list that I did not want to read. When it won, I was disappointed because I thought it looked too much like Banville's The Sea, and I did not enjoy my time with that book. However, I thought I needed to give The Gathering a shot. No, I was not pleasantly surprised.
Enright's The Gathering may have a some inciteful, well written sentences, and it may be well structured both in sequence and theme, but for what purpose? I did no...more This was the only book on the Booker short list that I did not want to read. When it won, I was disappointed because I thought it looked too much like Banville's The Sea, and I did not enjoy my time with that book. However, I thought I needed to give The Gathering a shot. No, I was not pleasantly surprised.
Enright's The Gathering may have a some inciteful, well written sentences, and it may be well structured both in sequence and theme, but for what purpose? I did not feel that the structure was unique and, frankly, I'm getting tired of all of these books that are praised because of how many different ways the author can write a depressing sentence (Enright usually generates hers by showing the human being and its body at its basest). Those poetic depictions lose their impact (and really make me question the skill of the author--does she not know how to write another type of sentence?) when they are repeated line after line, page after page. There was no balance.
I know that Enright was not attempting to balance this book. She admits that anyone not wanting to feel depressed should not read it. But just because she executed her intent does not make me appreciate it. I don't shy away from depressing novels, but I at least hope feel somewhat what the narrator is feeling--but in this case I did not care at all about the narrator. Her depression did not affect me, at least, not frequently enough.
Though they are similar as both deal with present grief and a tragic past, this Booker is worse that Banville's The Sea. At least The Sea was written in beautiful prose. It flowed smoothly. Enright's is downright base and choppy. The only poetry is in how basely she describes sex and death with her disconnected, stiff prose. And even that runs dry after a few chapters.
The Booker judges say that they did not think this book would win when they first read it but that it is better with subsequent reads. Well, they had to read it more than once. I'm not willing to give it another try, and I would advise others to forgo it altogether....less

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Sammy rated it:

04/20/08

bookshelves: the-bad

Read in February, 2008

Please excuse me as I make a noise of annoyance, disgust, boredom and all around dissatisfaction... UGHARGHHHHUHHH. Don't even know how to spell that or if it makes any sense. Hey, that makes a nice segue into my review.

Let me start with the one perk I can honestly give this book. Anne Enright has a beautiful grasp of words but she doesn't know how to use them. She also had a wonderful gem of an idea for a story, but she didn't know how to develop it. Combine those two together you get ...more Please excuse me as I make a noise of annoyance, disgust, boredom and all around dissatisfaction... UGHARGHHHHUHHH. Don't even know how to spell that or if it makes any sense. Hey, that makes a nice segue into my review.

Let me start with the one perk I can honestly give this book. Anne Enright has a beautiful grasp of words but she doesn't know how to use them. She also had a wonderful gem of an idea for a story, but she didn't know how to develop it. Combine those two together you get a reader thinking, "I want to like this, but I don't know how." The Gathering could have easily been a beautiful, deep and touching novel, but unfortunately Enright fails at delivering that.

I found the story as a whole much too disconnected and disjointed. I constantly felt like I was being bounced around. By the time I got relatively comfortable in one scene I suddenly found myself in a completely different time and place with unfamiliar characters. It wasn't just the line of the story that was disjointed, but the actual writing itself. Actually, that might not be the best way to describe writing that is mostly run-on sentences and rambling thoughts, that's pretty much the opposite of disjointed, even so, it somehow still managed to feel that way.

The story wasn't even saved by it's characters. There wasn't a single fully developed, or even half developed character throughout the whole book. Even our main character, Veronica, remained two-demensional at best, despite having moments where I felt I should be feeling a connection with her. Rather it felt like I was standing awkwardly by someone I barely knew while they had an emotional breakdown, glancing occasionally over my shoulder wondering if I should leave them alone or dumbly pat them on the back. I think I was expected to be attatched to most of the characters, but I wasn't. I didn't feel sympathy for them, nor did I even like any of them. It made the book even more boring and uncomfortable.

It's a great disappointment to read a book you think has so much potential to only have it fall flat. If Enright has written any poetry I might be interested in reading that, I have an inkling she would make a fairly good poet, but I'm going to be staying away from any other novels she's written. Especially if they're anything like this....less

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Melody rated it:

04/29/08

bookshelves: bookgroup

Read in April, 2008

recommended to Melody by: Pat Clotfelter

Veronica and the remainder of her large family, are about to gather at the family home for the wake of her brother. As she prepares for this reunion she tries to decide which of her memories are real and which are imagined. There is something that Veronica remembers that may or may not have happened in her grandmother’s house. She skitters around it – teases us with what she may or may not have seen, then deliberately goes off to something that she may, or may not remember; something that ...more Veronica and the remainder of her large family, are about to gather at the family home for the wake of her brother. As she prepares for this reunion she tries to decide which of her memories are real and which are imagined. There is something that Veronica remembers that may or may not have happened in her grandmother’s house. She skitters around it – teases us with what she may or may not have seen, then deliberately goes off to something that she may, or may not remember; something that may or may not be related, something that may or may not be significant, until she decides – enough is enough, then she hits us with what she thinks occurred – then goes right back to her possible memories with the fumes of alcohol stinking up the clarity.

This is a book of pieced together memories, or an attempt at memories. A central question in the book is what events in your life make you who you are? Reading the book is like walking through a murky, foggy alley, feeling your way around; touching some things, smelling something slightly familiar, but still not quite knowing where you are or where you are going. At one point the narrator, Veronica, tells us how a part of her remains at the point where she is remembering:

“And a part of me goes with her when the car drives away. Another part of me is still, these years later, walking along the road where the stranger set us down.”

All through the story Veronica fiddles with her memories until she gets a version she can live with – a version that gives her comfort or explains things for her. But her biggest struggle is to decide what things in her past or in her brother’s past, or in her mother’s past, caused happiness or unhappiness. It’s hard enough knowing if things happening in the present make you happy; if things in the present are good or bad things; if things in the present should be stopped or continued – much less whether things that happened in the past, things you remember or think you remember made you happy or if you simply tolerated it.

The book also explores the way that you can completely forget some aspects of your life, your 21st birthday, how you met a certain person, what color your first boyfriend’s eyes were, but some memories just will not go away – they haunt you, they are constantly with you.
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Kate rated it:

05/24/08

Read in May, 2008

recommended to Kate by: Matt Duncan

"There has always been something childish about England for me. Haywards Heath/Wivelsfield/Burgess Hill/Hassocks/Names so silly and twee they must be made up" (41)

"I have never trusted men who pray. Woman have no option of course--but what do men think about, when they are on their knees? I do not think it is in their nature to pray: they are too proud" (66).

"Other people have children. Other fathers do not feel, as he does, unmanned by it--by the lack of mon...more "There has always been something childish about England for me. Haywards Heath/Wivelsfield/Burgess Hill/Hassocks/Names so silly and twee they must be made up" (41)

"I have never trusted men who pray. Woman have no option of course--but what do men think about, when they are on their knees? I do not think it is in their nature to pray: they are too proud" (66).

"Other people have children. Other fathers do not feel, as he does, unmanned by it--by the lack of money and the mayhem, and the fact that there is no place here for his considerable charm" (72).

"It is the way he refused to own me, no matter how much I tried to be owned. It was the way he would not take me, he would only meet me, and that only every halfway. I think I am ready for that now. I think I am ready to be met" (82).

"Anyway. For someone who was blunderingly stupid most all of the time, my brother was very astute. And what he was astute about were other people's lives, their weaknesses and hopes, the little lies they like to tell themselves about why and whether they should ever get out of bed. This was Liam's great talent--exposing the lie" (125).

"I relax into the seat and drink in its chilly embrace, quite happy:" the whole encounter made private by the rain" (149).

" . . . the whole ritual of landing feels so cinematic and fake . . . " (158).

"Don't get me wrong, Liam loved people who suffered--he loved the poor, the destitute, the lonely, the alcoholic, he pitied anyone with a problem, just so long as they didn't pity themselves. Which doesn't sound altogether fair to me. Which sounds like *pride,* to me" (167-8).

"It was the quiet of a house that had no children and the rooms were full of things. There were things on mantelpieces and little things on tables, that you might not touch. There were drawers full of things that had not been used for years, or were only used once a year. All of these were separate from each other, and special, in a way that things were never separate at home" (47) --This quote reminds me of Ank & D.C.'s house.

"He does one thing at a time, that is the notable thing about him. He wipes his fingers on a paper napkin and looks for a place to set it down, and when he finds none, he scrunches the tissue up and tucks it firmly under the rim of his empty plate" (202)

"*People,* she used to think, *do not change, they are merely revealed*" (252)

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jaye rated it:

(review of isbn 0224078739)

06/08/08

bookshelves: book-club-selection

Read in June, 2008

recommended to jaye by: book club
recommends it for: no one

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

The Gathering by Anne Enright:
Well, this book started out verrry slow for me. it was too disjointed and too out of sequence for me to follow comfortably so as a result, i had to force myself to
read this one. about a third through i had to stop and read a bunch of reviews to spur me on and it helped. i didn't care about spoilers at that point and i only
ever read reviews after i've read a book (unless i'm researching my next selection).

there was a lot of maybe it happened this way...o...more The Gathering by Anne Enright:
Well, this book started out verrry slow for me. it was too disjointed and too out of sequence for me to follow comfortably so as a result, i had to force myself to
read this one. about a third through i had to stop and read a bunch of reviews to spur me on and it helped. i didn't care about spoilers at that point and i only
ever read reviews after i've read a book (unless i'm researching my next selection).

there was a lot of maybe it happened this way...or maybe not. then finally, about half-way through the book on page 142, they reveal the big "thing
that happened at their gran's house in 1968" that had been alluded to on the back cover of the book and most of the previous pages.
by then you kinda know what it's going to be about.

it was all pretty grim and sad and dark. i was unimpressed. UNTIL i got to the very last chapter. that's right, on page 254 is where something clicked in
for me and i was so drawn in that is actually took me by surprise. then she really had me at page 257 where her little girl emily says,

"Mummy?"
"Yes, sweetie."
"i give you a word," she says. "and that word is "love"."
"Yes,' i say finally. "Yes. that's a good word to give."
"Bye bye!" and to save me the bother, she slaps down the phone.
Emily - i do not know if the child is brilliant or odd - she can't make things connect up, somehow, but when they do it is always amazing.

and then she goes on about the hate/love for family, her newly discovered pregnancy and how she's been falling for months back into her own life.

wow, what an ending. i was all choked up and i thought, i've never read a book that i could be so indifferent to and then just at the last moment, get all
emotional about. but i really think i was applying all the grief in that last part to my life, more than the character's life. so the emotion was more
for me than anyone in the book. but nevertheless, a part of the book did move me, so instead of giving it one star (out of five), i'll give it a three. but i
probably wouldn't recommend it nor re-read it again.

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mali rated it:

04/16/08

bookshelves: ireland, literature, memory, uk

Read in April, 2008

In terms of writing, characterization, and the exploration of memory - this is among the best books I have read, period.

I am not a grieving middle-aged woman with a large family who has lost her brother to suicide. But the strong and accurate portrayal of alienation, loss, and grief - and the way people deal with these things in ways that are erratic, self-destructive, confusing, and unpredictable and illogical even to themselves - had me finding myself identifying with the narrator much mo...more

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Lisa rated it:

05/27/08

Read in April, 2008

When I see that some people have given this book five stars, I start to question my own sanity. For me, the book had wonderful potential when I took it off the shelf and the Booker Award sticker only reinforced my impression that this would be a great read: WRONG. Wonderful words strung together does not a good story make. The narrator is completely two-dimensional as written and I was unable to connect with her or her perspective in any way. Yes, I understand the woman's "beloved" ...more

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Alice rated it:

03/14/08

bookshelves: read-in-2008

Read in March, 2008

I bought this book because I once again fell for Borders' Buy-1-Get-1-50%-Off deal. I needed a 2nd book, and this one won the Man Booker Prize in 2007. Hell, I thought, it can't be that bad.

Well, it wasn't terrible, but once again, I was deathly bored. More and more, I find myself very annoyed at authors who use the carrot-on-a-stick opening shtick (e.g. "OMG, you guys! Something HORRIBLE happened at my grandmother's house in 1968!! Now you've got to read this to find out what it w...more

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Brian rated it:

06/24/08

This book actually angered me, and I think this paragraph sums up why:

"I know, as I write these... that they require me to deal in facts. It is time to call an end to romance and just say what happened in Ada's house, the year that I was eight and Liam was barely nine."

That passage occurs about halfway through the book. The preceding pages are an endless series of shapeless ponderings on what may or may not have happened. The narrator leaps from one era to the next, with the...more

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Jessica rated it:

05/30/08

Read in May, 2008

In The Gathering (winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2007), Anne Enright tells the story of a bitter and bruised family in bitter and bruised prose. I was sucked in for the ride - even though I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to go.

Veronica Hagerty narrates the story about her Irish Catholic family of twelve children. She is particularly concerned with a disturbing event that occurred one summer when she and two of her siblings, Liam and Kitty, are sent to live with their grandmother....more

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Sharon rated it:

01/31/08

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: language lovers

Enright does many lovely things in this novel. I imagine the language of this novel is what gained the admiration of the Booker committee. Enright can do a lot in a paragraph:

The problem with Liam was never something big. The problem with Liam was always a hundred small things. He had cigarettes but no matches, did I have matches? Yes, but the match breaks, the match doesn't strike, he can't light these cheap Albanian trash matches. Do I have a lighter? F—k, he has split the matches. Why ...more

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Louise rated it:

07/02/08

I read this book in a day. That's not too say that it is particularly riveting or even interesting, but it is written in the 'stream of consciousness' style, so I found it flowed very easily and it was easy to read quickly. By doing so though, I feel like I missed out on a lot of the signifigance and symbolism that the author wove through out - either that, or the book simply isn't very good. I was left with the feeling at the end, that I just didn't get it - that it was too heavy and deep for m...more

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Rebecca rated it:

12/15/07

Read in December, 2007

I'd like to give this book 2.5 stars. It's better than okay, but I can't really say that I liked it. It's a romantic, drifty, floaty, "I've been unmoored" book about grief, and I much prefer more concrete books like Joan Didion's Magical Thinking.

There are some moments of real illumination here. But I never felt the loss of the person being grieved, and the marriage complication seems tacked on to give a possible consequence to the narrator's extremely self-involved actions. ...more