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Andas
En trollbindande roman om kärlekens pris.
Michaela och hennes man har flyttat till det vackra men karga New Mexico för att arbeta vid ett framstående akademiskt institut. Men makarnas nya liv förvandlas snart till en mardröm när Gerard drabbas av en dödlig sjukdom. Endast trettiosju år gammal står Michaela inför den skrämmande utsikten att bli änka och förlora Gerard, vars identitet i hög grad har format hennes egen.
Hon tar desperat hand om sin make under hans sista dagar. Samtidigt inser hon att hennes kärlek, hur stark och osjälvisk den än är, inte kan rädda honom och att hans död går bortom hennes fattningsförmåga. En kärlek som vägrar att ge upp vid döden – är det en välsignelse eller en förbannelse som måste drivas ut?
Andas är en intimt skildrad kärlekshistoria, men också en skräckhistoria rotad i det verkliga livet. Det är en roman om kärlek och sorg – och om det kaos som uppstår när den man älskar tas ifrån en.
Michaela och hennes man har flyttat till det vackra men karga New Mexico för att arbeta vid ett framstående akademiskt institut. Men makarnas nya liv förvandlas snart till en mardröm när Gerard drabbas av en dödlig sjukdom. Endast trettiosju år gammal står Michaela inför den skrämmande utsikten att bli änka och förlora Gerard, vars identitet i hög grad har format hennes egen.
Hon tar desperat hand om sin make under hans sista dagar. Samtidigt inser hon att hennes kärlek, hur stark och osjälvisk den än är, inte kan rädda honom och att hans död går bortom hennes fattningsförmåga. En kärlek som vägrar att ge upp vid döden – är det en välsignelse eller en förbannelse som måste drivas ut?
Andas är en intimt skildrad kärlekshistoria, men också en skräckhistoria rotad i det verkliga livet. Det är en roman om kärlek och sorg – och om det kaos som uppstår när den man älskar tas ifrån en.
368 pages, Hardcover
Published April 29, 2024
487 people are currently reading
4259 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Carol Oates
919 books9,406 followersJoyce Carol Oates is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000), and her short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel Them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize (2019).
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 316 reviews
September 8, 2025
Michaela is in her mid-thirties and is nursing her dying husband Gerard during his final days in a cancer ward. She is willing him to survive, hoping her love (…..like no other) is enough to make this happen. Urging Gerard to “Breathe.” Anyone who has been present during the death of a loved one – knows about looking for the next breath, it’s a terrible time.
We skip back and forth in time and learn about this couple. Their love for each other, we learn a great deal about Michaela’s love for Gerard. It’s absolute – she needs this man, depends on him. If we knew her personally, we would probably guess she would not do too well on her own.
She feels more relevant, more lovable, when he makes fun of her. One of the most moving thoughts she had after his death was, “who will laugh at me now?.” That moved me. Poking one’s loved one, being an essential part of a healthy relationship methinks.
This is the ninth book I have read by Joyce Carol Oates, yes – JCO is one of my favourite authors. Her writing is brilliant, she always enthrals me – captivates me, and she often shocks me and sometimes she disgusts me.
This one is very good, but not one of my favourites, it’s a bit long for my liking.
Most of the book, is following Michaela’s descent into abject grief. You know that hollow black hole inside your body, following a traumatic loss. There’s some spooky stuff happening, is it real, is it in her imagination. Is she willing it?
The last fifty pages were suspenseful and a tad spooky – and of course, after closing the book – I had much to think about. In fact, thinking about this bloody book will keep me up when I go to bed tonight.
Highly recommended.
4 Stars
We skip back and forth in time and learn about this couple. Their love for each other, we learn a great deal about Michaela’s love for Gerard. It’s absolute – she needs this man, depends on him. If we knew her personally, we would probably guess she would not do too well on her own.
She feels more relevant, more lovable, when he makes fun of her. One of the most moving thoughts she had after his death was, “who will laugh at me now?.” That moved me. Poking one’s loved one, being an essential part of a healthy relationship methinks.
This is the ninth book I have read by Joyce Carol Oates, yes – JCO is one of my favourite authors. Her writing is brilliant, she always enthrals me – captivates me, and she often shocks me and sometimes she disgusts me.
This one is very good, but not one of my favourites, it’s a bit long for my liking.
Most of the book, is following Michaela’s descent into abject grief. You know that hollow black hole inside your body, following a traumatic loss. There’s some spooky stuff happening, is it real, is it in her imagination. Is she willing it?
The last fifty pages were suspenseful and a tad spooky – and of course, after closing the book – I had much to think about. In fact, thinking about this bloody book will keep me up when I go to bed tonight.
Highly recommended.
4 Stars
August 11, 2021
How do we maintain self-worth when we lose those we value the most? This is one of the arresting questions at the centre of Joyce Carol Oates' heart-wrenching novel “Breathe”. Gerard and Michaela are academics who have temporarily moved from their home in Massachusetts to New Mexico in order to work at a distinguished institute. They consider this trip to be like the honeymoon they never had time to experience when they first married twelve years ago. However, when Gerard becomes terminally ill, Michaela's life spirals into chaos and she's left alone struggling to continue. Oates' novels often concern the question of survival for those in challenging situations where the individual faces vast obstacles of oppression, violence and prejudice. They chronicle the irrepressible will of the human spirit to overcome challenging circumstances. This novel describes the journey of a woman confronted with the insurmountable reality of death and the solemn fact that we will eventually lose those we love. Unable to face the fact of Gerard's death, she becomes lost in a fever dream where time is looped and she's plagued by wrathful gods eager to consume her. It's a tense, sobering and artfully-composed tale full of insight and tender feeling.
Read my full review of Breathe by Joyce Carol Oates on LonesomeReader
JCO and I had a lovely long discussion over zoom about what she's been up to lately and her new novel Breathe which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NElkoUXn2Nc
Read my full review of Breathe by Joyce Carol Oates on LonesomeReader
JCO and I had a lovely long discussion over zoom about what she's been up to lately and her new novel Breathe which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NElkoUXn2Nc
April 26, 2021
If a prize was given for the saddest book of the year....
“Breathe” ....would be a running contender.
In the first sentence of the blurb description—in bold capital letters—
reads: A NOVEL OF LOVE AND LOSS FROM BESTSELLING AND PRIZEWINNING AUTHOR JOYCE CAROL OATS.....
....man ‘o man.....or women o’ women .....no two words LOVE & LOSS are more truthful and haunting than in “Breathe”.
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: no two Joyce Carol Oats books are the same. Often completely different genres with varied writing styles. This distinguished author is certainly not a one trick pony writer.
Yet.... we are in the hands of a remarkable talent.
In “Breathe”, we can hear the sounds of love....and the quiet sounds of
death.
“Breathe”, not an unfamiliar story; cancer has taken people we love. Who hasn’t experienced this?
But Oats takes us places with her descriptions....allowing us to hear, experience, and examine the quiet voices of Michaela and Gerard’s fears, grief, loss, suffering, panic, rage, terror, memories, loneliness....[not shying away from grueling and graphic harsh realities]
.....so rarely expressed to the depths that JCO’s has done with ‘Breathe’.
RIGHT INTO OUR FACES....we are given nitty gritty technical aspects of how a dying body breaks down.....piercing our hearts with truth. It’s sooo frightening—- and soooo sad!!!!
Death is just not beautiful —but this powerful story - with its engrossing horrifying clinical exactness — and poetic eloquent prose — felt like an IV drip slowing moving through my veins — nourishing and supporting me in ways I couldn’t and shouldn’t fully comprehend (yet) ....
Truth is, the thought of losing MY HUSBAND to death is beyond horrifying. There is no way I can fathom being prepared for such a major loss. It’s impossible to read this book (married 42 years to a man I love wholeheartedly), and not feel shaken from the emotional storytelling.
I can definitely understand this book won’t sit well with all readers. It’s STUNNINGLY FRANK! But..... as challenging as it was to ‘feel’ my own discomfort .....I admire Joyce Carol Oats .....(more today than twenty years ago)... she simply transcends the limits of writing ....
She writes!
I reflect her words!
A few excerpts.....
“Acceleration nearing the point of impact. No time to plan what you might have planned—a more deliberate death, a shared death. For you I’ve been taken by surprise. Your brain has been stunned, it is slow to react. You are limping, faltering behind. You are being pushed out onto a stage. You are blinking, blinded by dazzling light. You have no script, no words. You cannot see an audience. You can only plead for a change in the script. For mercy”.
“I am here, I have your hand, I love you— please don’t give up . . . “
“You cannot bargain away your soul for if you had a soul, by now it is in tatters like a papier-mâché lantern battered in a windstorm. It is time for your husband to die, the medical staff has expressed amazement that he has endured so long preserving in this twilit state neither awake nor asleep, neither conscious nor unconscious; perhaps he is dreaming, perhaps he is dreaming of a frantic woman leaning over his hospital bed trying to embrace him, face wet with tears, face made ugly and contorted by tears, unrecognizable as his wife, determined to hold her husband fiercely in an embrace from which not even death can pry him”.
“I’m so sorry, Michaela. That this is happened, screwing up our time here—wherever we are. . . In New Mexico, in a beautiful place, Jesus!—me in the God-damned hospital. . .”
“Don’t leave m! Don’t leave me!—begging like a child, helpless sobbing like a child, how can this frantic women be you?— dissolving in tears, and more tears, never an end to tears, in one who’d claimed (boasted) that she rarely cried, hadn’t cried in decades, not since her parents’ deaths, a beloved grandmother’s death, emptied of all the tears but crying now whenever she is alone, whenever she is in a private place, trying not to cry in the patient’s presence because that will only frighten and demoralize him”.
Time is running out—
“decline, not rapid at first, yes but then rapid, and seemingly irreversible: weight-loss, dehydration, renal failure, the pressure of the (4-by-14 centimeter) urethral tumor on the stomach causing nausea, impossible for the patient-husband (who happens to be Gerard) to endure the strain on his organs much longer, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver; he has not eaten a meal in weeks, what seemed at first a snobbish disdain for mediocre hospital food in which (almost) one could take a kind of reverse pride has been revealed as a symptom of pathology, and not exquisite taste; even if he tries now, he cannot eat; has barely eaten at all for the past week; if he tries to swallow even soft foods he gags, if he tries to swallow even liquids he gags, he is clearly very exhausted, his ankles and wrists are badly swollen, his
urine is being retained and his
(hard, swollen) bladder, such extreme edema in itself can be lethal and so of course you must prepare yourself for the end, for his final minutes; you must prepare yourself, yet your mind drifts away in a vapor of unknowing; recall when you’d first met, at the Murray Perahia recital in Cambridge, a meeting of pure chance, introduced to each other by a mutual acquaintance who would never afterward figure in our lives”.
“Saline drip. Oxycodone drip. Dilaudid drip. Hydro morphine drip. Kidney stent. Pulmonary embolism. Adenocarcinoma Venous thrombosis.
Gastrointestinal consultant.
Gallbladder ultrasound.
Echocardiogram. CT brain scan. MRI. fMRI. Radiation, chemotherapy, immunology.
Transition to hospice care”.
So much grief and exhaustion.
Michaela McManus - a widow - needed to resume her responsibilities - move back to Cambridge.
“She has allowed herself to succumb to grief. She has allowed herself to deteriorate mentally, physically. Failed to open crucial letters and so she has failed to mail copies of her husband‘s death certificate to the lawyers office. Failed to return crucial telephone calls, emails since in the time required to even make a decision returning such calls and emails she is likely to have lapsed into an open-eyed dream recalling in painful detail how for years she and Gerard shopped together at the Safeway on Massachusetts Avenue”.
Oh Michaela.....how I felt your feelings. Your excruciating pain. And hell you were going to move forward is so hard to comprehend....so absurd, I understood when you wrote ...”life was almost laughable”.
Terrific writing .... the sensitive descriptive narrative permeated intensely human compassion.
Thank you Ecco publishing, Netgalley, and Joyce Carol Oats
“Breathe” ....would be a running contender.
In the first sentence of the blurb description—in bold capital letters—
reads: A NOVEL OF LOVE AND LOSS FROM BESTSELLING AND PRIZEWINNING AUTHOR JOYCE CAROL OATS.....
....man ‘o man.....or women o’ women .....no two words LOVE & LOSS are more truthful and haunting than in “Breathe”.
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: no two Joyce Carol Oats books are the same. Often completely different genres with varied writing styles. This distinguished author is certainly not a one trick pony writer.
Yet.... we are in the hands of a remarkable talent.
In “Breathe”, we can hear the sounds of love....and the quiet sounds of
death.
“Breathe”, not an unfamiliar story; cancer has taken people we love. Who hasn’t experienced this?
But Oats takes us places with her descriptions....allowing us to hear, experience, and examine the quiet voices of Michaela and Gerard’s fears, grief, loss, suffering, panic, rage, terror, memories, loneliness....[not shying away from grueling and graphic harsh realities]
.....so rarely expressed to the depths that JCO’s has done with ‘Breathe’.
RIGHT INTO OUR FACES....we are given nitty gritty technical aspects of how a dying body breaks down.....piercing our hearts with truth. It’s sooo frightening—- and soooo sad!!!!
Death is just not beautiful —but this powerful story - with its engrossing horrifying clinical exactness — and poetic eloquent prose — felt like an IV drip slowing moving through my veins — nourishing and supporting me in ways I couldn’t and shouldn’t fully comprehend (yet) ....
Truth is, the thought of losing MY HUSBAND to death is beyond horrifying. There is no way I can fathom being prepared for such a major loss. It’s impossible to read this book (married 42 years to a man I love wholeheartedly), and not feel shaken from the emotional storytelling.
I can definitely understand this book won’t sit well with all readers. It’s STUNNINGLY FRANK! But..... as challenging as it was to ‘feel’ my own discomfort .....I admire Joyce Carol Oats .....(more today than twenty years ago)... she simply transcends the limits of writing ....
She writes!
I reflect her words!
A few excerpts.....
“Acceleration nearing the point of impact. No time to plan what you might have planned—a more deliberate death, a shared death. For you I’ve been taken by surprise. Your brain has been stunned, it is slow to react. You are limping, faltering behind. You are being pushed out onto a stage. You are blinking, blinded by dazzling light. You have no script, no words. You cannot see an audience. You can only plead for a change in the script. For mercy”.
“I am here, I have your hand, I love you— please don’t give up . . . “
“You cannot bargain away your soul for if you had a soul, by now it is in tatters like a papier-mâché lantern battered in a windstorm. It is time for your husband to die, the medical staff has expressed amazement that he has endured so long preserving in this twilit state neither awake nor asleep, neither conscious nor unconscious; perhaps he is dreaming, perhaps he is dreaming of a frantic woman leaning over his hospital bed trying to embrace him, face wet with tears, face made ugly and contorted by tears, unrecognizable as his wife, determined to hold her husband fiercely in an embrace from which not even death can pry him”.
“I’m so sorry, Michaela. That this is happened, screwing up our time here—wherever we are. . . In New Mexico, in a beautiful place, Jesus!—me in the God-damned hospital. . .”
“Don’t leave m! Don’t leave me!—begging like a child, helpless sobbing like a child, how can this frantic women be you?— dissolving in tears, and more tears, never an end to tears, in one who’d claimed (boasted) that she rarely cried, hadn’t cried in decades, not since her parents’ deaths, a beloved grandmother’s death, emptied of all the tears but crying now whenever she is alone, whenever she is in a private place, trying not to cry in the patient’s presence because that will only frighten and demoralize him”.
Time is running out—
“decline, not rapid at first, yes but then rapid, and seemingly irreversible: weight-loss, dehydration, renal failure, the pressure of the (4-by-14 centimeter) urethral tumor on the stomach causing nausea, impossible for the patient-husband (who happens to be Gerard) to endure the strain on his organs much longer, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver; he has not eaten a meal in weeks, what seemed at first a snobbish disdain for mediocre hospital food in which (almost) one could take a kind of reverse pride has been revealed as a symptom of pathology, and not exquisite taste; even if he tries now, he cannot eat; has barely eaten at all for the past week; if he tries to swallow even soft foods he gags, if he tries to swallow even liquids he gags, he is clearly very exhausted, his ankles and wrists are badly swollen, his
urine is being retained and his
(hard, swollen) bladder, such extreme edema in itself can be lethal and so of course you must prepare yourself for the end, for his final minutes; you must prepare yourself, yet your mind drifts away in a vapor of unknowing; recall when you’d first met, at the Murray Perahia recital in Cambridge, a meeting of pure chance, introduced to each other by a mutual acquaintance who would never afterward figure in our lives”.
“Saline drip. Oxycodone drip. Dilaudid drip. Hydro morphine drip. Kidney stent. Pulmonary embolism. Adenocarcinoma Venous thrombosis.
Gastrointestinal consultant.
Gallbladder ultrasound.
Echocardiogram. CT brain scan. MRI. fMRI. Radiation, chemotherapy, immunology.
Transition to hospice care”.
So much grief and exhaustion.
Michaela McManus - a widow - needed to resume her responsibilities - move back to Cambridge.
“She has allowed herself to succumb to grief. She has allowed herself to deteriorate mentally, physically. Failed to open crucial letters and so she has failed to mail copies of her husband‘s death certificate to the lawyers office. Failed to return crucial telephone calls, emails since in the time required to even make a decision returning such calls and emails she is likely to have lapsed into an open-eyed dream recalling in painful detail how for years she and Gerard shopped together at the Safeway on Massachusetts Avenue”.
Oh Michaela.....how I felt your feelings. Your excruciating pain. And hell you were going to move forward is so hard to comprehend....so absurd, I understood when you wrote ...”life was almost laughable”.
Terrific writing .... the sensitive descriptive narrative permeated intensely human compassion.
Thank you Ecco publishing, Netgalley, and Joyce Carol Oats
May 17, 2021
Joyce Carol Oates is a wonder. Her fiction spans genres, her output, superhuman. In 2011, she broke the fourth wall and shared a searing account of her life as a widow after Raymond Smith, her husband of 47 years, dies unexpectedly from complications due to pneumonia. Now here we have a fictionalized account of the experiences of a woman whose husband dies unexpectedly. This book, which lacks the personal details of the first, is nonetheless dedicated to Oates's second husband, Charles Gross. We meet a middle aged couple who are in New Mexico on a residency, far from all that is familiar. It is told completely from Michaela, the wife's, point of view, sometimes in second person mostly in third. As her husband begins to fail irredeemably, Michalea experiences all the stages of grief, including anger and denial, fantasizing that she can save him just by the force of her will. Unfortunately, although written with Oates's undeniable skill, this is the first book of hers in a long time I've felt went on far too long and didn't seem to have a satisfactory resolution.
April 21, 2021
This is the first book I have read by this award-winning author and I was sorely disappointed. It was a very disturbing read, both in the topic as well as the writing style. I hesitate to give negative reviews, because I have great respect for the courage and commitment it takes to be a professional writer. Unfortunately, this author’s style and intention was not a match for me – it was one of the worst books I have ever read for the following reasons.
First, the initial chapters are written in a stream of consciousness – incomplete sentences and phrases that were difficult to follow and made it challenging to engage with the protagonist. The entire book is peppered with parenthetical adjectives and adverbs as a literary device that became tedious and then annoying by their overuse. The time sequencing within the story jumps from past to present to future within the same chapter making the reading disjointed. The characterization of the love the protagonist claims for her husband is so contaminated with codependency that it is hard to admire their relationship and her devotion to him. Lastly, the protagonist seems to be living in a “twilight” state – one foot in this world among the living and the other in the world of her deceased husband. Her delusional state expressed through fantasies and hallucinations went way beyond even the most heart-wrenching grief. I wanted to feel compassion for her state of mind, but I found little I could relate to in this dark novel.
The one positive note for me was the author’s ability to keep me reading by hoping for redemption for this tortured soul. I’ll leave that as an unknown for future readers to decide.
My thanks to the author, Ecco, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing a digital ARC in exchange for an independent, honest review.
First, the initial chapters are written in a stream of consciousness – incomplete sentences and phrases that were difficult to follow and made it challenging to engage with the protagonist. The entire book is peppered with parenthetical adjectives and adverbs as a literary device that became tedious and then annoying by their overuse. The time sequencing within the story jumps from past to present to future within the same chapter making the reading disjointed. The characterization of the love the protagonist claims for her husband is so contaminated with codependency that it is hard to admire their relationship and her devotion to him. Lastly, the protagonist seems to be living in a “twilight” state – one foot in this world among the living and the other in the world of her deceased husband. Her delusional state expressed through fantasies and hallucinations went way beyond even the most heart-wrenching grief. I wanted to feel compassion for her state of mind, but I found little I could relate to in this dark novel.
The one positive note for me was the author’s ability to keep me reading by hoping for redemption for this tortured soul. I’ll leave that as an unknown for future readers to decide.
My thanks to the author, Ecco, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing a digital ARC in exchange for an independent, honest review.
June 29, 2021
Reading "Breathe" by Joyce Carol Oates is a staggering experience. Michaela is in the depths of despair, trying to will her husband to keep breathing as he struggles to stay alive in the hospital. Her existence at this point is a nightmare as she tries in vain to grasp how the couple's journey could stop so abruptly here. Gerard dies, stops that breathing... and Michaela is lost in free fall.
The image which repeatedly came to mind was Edvard Munch's "The Scream." Michaela is a soul whose screams meld into everything surrounding her. Her sky is on fire, the air she breathes is on fire... her reality can not be counted on. She is a foreigner feeling out of place in the New Mexico home they had recently moved into-- where primitive "prank god" artworks seem to mock her. Visions of her husband constantly beckon to her from around the corner, shadows just out of reach. Michaela knows Gerard has to be alive, a huge error has been made, she must find him.
Anyone who has dealt with devastating loss identifies with the hell Michaela is going through. In viewing "The Scream" you instantly recognize that the emotion and horror portrayed are true. Committing to a book with this much heartbreak is not for everyone but Ms. Oates paints this world so vividly it is impossible not to invest in Michaela's struggle.
I am grateful to Joyce Carol Oates, Ecco Press, and NetGalley for providing the Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. #Breathe #NetGalley
The image which repeatedly came to mind was Edvard Munch's "The Scream." Michaela is a soul whose screams meld into everything surrounding her. Her sky is on fire, the air she breathes is on fire... her reality can not be counted on. She is a foreigner feeling out of place in the New Mexico home they had recently moved into-- where primitive "prank god" artworks seem to mock her. Visions of her husband constantly beckon to her from around the corner, shadows just out of reach. Michaela knows Gerard has to be alive, a huge error has been made, she must find him.
Anyone who has dealt with devastating loss identifies with the hell Michaela is going through. In viewing "The Scream" you instantly recognize that the emotion and horror portrayed are true. Committing to a book with this much heartbreak is not for everyone but Ms. Oates paints this world so vividly it is impossible not to invest in Michaela's struggle.
I am grateful to Joyce Carol Oates, Ecco Press, and NetGalley for providing the Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. #Breathe #NetGalley
November 30, 2021
When I saw a new novel by Joyce Carol Oates in the NetGalley request list, I jumped on it! This woman is an American icon in the world of writers and I was excited to receive the NetGalley pre-release copy (scheduled for publication 8/3/21) – thank you NetGalley!
Breathe is an exquisitely written fictional story told from the point of view of an adult woman losing her husband to cancer.
When I googled the book’s dedication (“In memoriam, Charlie Gross”), I learned that Charlie Gross was Ms. Oates’s second husband, to whom she was married for 10 years, and who passed away in April of 2019. This book was clearly written immediately after his passing, with what I expect are minor changes to make it fictional, such as the age of the protagonist, but with many similarities, such as the protagonist’s husband being a professor at an Ivy (Mr. Gross was a professor of neuroscience at Princeton), him having adult children from a prior marriage (as Mr. Gross does) and the protagonist being a writer (as Ms. Oates clearly is).
This book is, in its entirety, a journey of desperate mourning by a woman who cannot envision life without her husband. The fact that she has living family members and stepchildren, as well as many loving friends, does not enter the equation of her searing, mind-altering mourning in the extreme, and that makes it difficult to read.
I actually think this book should come with several trigger warnings for readers who have a friend or loved one with cancer, or who have lost someone to illness, or are even married to someone and are over the age of 50, when illness is much more prevalent. I think it is a wholly unsuitable novel for anyone in those categories, as it so frightening to read or comprehend the protagonist’s (and likely the author’s) emotional mindset throughout the book. With that said, the writing was beautiful and Ms. Oates can convey feelings like few authors can, and that is what makes it so very difficult to read.
I could forgive much about the book had it provided a glimmer of closure around 1) the situation with the man with whom the protagonist shares a coffee after meeting him in town; 2) what actually happened during the flash floods in the New Mexico canyons; 3) why the husband’s children were not called and how they possibly forgave her for that slight; and 4) her move back to Cambridge. I NEEDED CLOSURE on those things and was left with none, which made me a little angry after reading this, let’s face it, emotionally draining book.
I hope writing the book was cathartic for Ms. Oates and I hope she is on the path to emotional recovery after the death of her husband. I give 5-stars for her writing talent, but must take away stars for the lack of closure on the topics mentioned above as well as the unrelenting sadness and “fever dream” quality of the book.
I expect the audience for this novel will be a small group of fans who will read anything written by Ms. Oates or are curious about her mindset after the passing of her husband.
#Breathe #NetGalley
Breathe is an exquisitely written fictional story told from the point of view of an adult woman losing her husband to cancer.
When I googled the book’s dedication (“In memoriam, Charlie Gross”), I learned that Charlie Gross was Ms. Oates’s second husband, to whom she was married for 10 years, and who passed away in April of 2019. This book was clearly written immediately after his passing, with what I expect are minor changes to make it fictional, such as the age of the protagonist, but with many similarities, such as the protagonist’s husband being a professor at an Ivy (Mr. Gross was a professor of neuroscience at Princeton), him having adult children from a prior marriage (as Mr. Gross does) and the protagonist being a writer (as Ms. Oates clearly is).
This book is, in its entirety, a journey of desperate mourning by a woman who cannot envision life without her husband. The fact that she has living family members and stepchildren, as well as many loving friends, does not enter the equation of her searing, mind-altering mourning in the extreme, and that makes it difficult to read.
I actually think this book should come with several trigger warnings for readers who have a friend or loved one with cancer, or who have lost someone to illness, or are even married to someone and are over the age of 50, when illness is much more prevalent. I think it is a wholly unsuitable novel for anyone in those categories, as it so frightening to read or comprehend the protagonist’s (and likely the author’s) emotional mindset throughout the book. With that said, the writing was beautiful and Ms. Oates can convey feelings like few authors can, and that is what makes it so very difficult to read.
I could forgive much about the book had it provided a glimmer of closure around 1) the situation with the man with whom the protagonist shares a coffee after meeting him in town; 2) what actually happened during the flash floods in the New Mexico canyons; 3) why the husband’s children were not called and how they possibly forgave her for that slight; and 4) her move back to Cambridge. I NEEDED CLOSURE on those things and was left with none, which made me a little angry after reading this, let’s face it, emotionally draining book.
I hope writing the book was cathartic for Ms. Oates and I hope she is on the path to emotional recovery after the death of her husband. I give 5-stars for her writing talent, but must take away stars for the lack of closure on the topics mentioned above as well as the unrelenting sadness and “fever dream” quality of the book.
I expect the audience for this novel will be a small group of fans who will read anything written by Ms. Oates or are curious about her mindset after the passing of her husband.
#Breathe #NetGalley
June 5, 2022
I almost have to say that I hated it more than 1 star could ever convey. Not because it was badly written but because Gerald's slow death was agonizing to read about. I ask you...who wants to read about all the excruciating details about a loved one dying? I caught myself breathing with Gerald as he breathed what could have been his last breath, and it was almost a relief when it finally was. I truly understood Michaela's love and devotion to begin with, but the story was beyond difficult. I guess that was probably the whole point of the title. Another thing that I started to hate Michaela for was that she refuses the most minute extensions of any support. I believe this one may actually give me more nightmares than any of the horror/paranormal genre books I read ever could.
October 8, 2021
Wild that this is rated so poorly. Well written, as per usual. An actual well and justified use of second person to third person use. Evocative, interesting, and structurally conveys ingrained themes.
A grieving woman dislodges from linear time as grief alters her reality. What should be safe becomes terrifying and surreal. Memory makes her dwell in situations with no agency. Almost anything can cause a spiral like this. There’s parallels to Greek myth and other tragedy. Form and structure do make it a challenging read somewhat—as we continually are pulled into heart wrenching and gut punching granular detail about death and love and general cruelties, ranging from self inflicted to the external when people lose an integral part of their makeup.
There is a lot of pain here and it has no intention of cushioning the blow. I could see how people wouldn’t want to spiral along with our protagonist. But it is exactly what it says it is on the tin, and then some.
A grieving woman dislodges from linear time as grief alters her reality. What should be safe becomes terrifying and surreal. Memory makes her dwell in situations with no agency. Almost anything can cause a spiral like this. There’s parallels to Greek myth and other tragedy. Form and structure do make it a challenging read somewhat—as we continually are pulled into heart wrenching and gut punching granular detail about death and love and general cruelties, ranging from self inflicted to the external when people lose an integral part of their makeup.
There is a lot of pain here and it has no intention of cushioning the blow. I could see how people wouldn’t want to spiral along with our protagonist. But it is exactly what it says it is on the tin, and then some.
July 3, 2021
Five things about Breathe by Joyce Carol Oates
1. Confession: This is my first Joyce Carol Oates. I know. I know.
2. I loved the New Mexico setting. I spent my middle school years living in that enchanted land and have such a live for it.
3. Oates’s writing is flawless, powerful, devastatingly honest.
4. This is a book about marriage, union, separation, loss, identity.
5. I’ll read more Oates now.
1. Confession: This is my first Joyce Carol Oates. I know. I know.
2. I loved the New Mexico setting. I spent my middle school years living in that enchanted land and have such a live for it.
3. Oates’s writing is flawless, powerful, devastatingly honest.
4. This is a book about marriage, union, separation, loss, identity.
5. I’ll read more Oates now.
November 27, 2021
4/5 stars
I feel a little comflicted about how to put my thoughts onto paper, so forgive my first rambly attempt to do so.
Breathe an undenialbly personal and skilled portrait of a widow in the most acute phase of grief, after losing her husband to a misdiagnosed and unexpected illness. Written in striking prose that compliments these difficult themes, it's a book I won't easily forget.
It's also a book that's hard to recommend to a broader audience, because of it's very nature. It's at times confusing, repetitive, emotionally draining and heavy to read, and based off that I can (sort of) see why it's rated so poorly. On the other hand; "confusing, repetitive, emotionally draining and heavy"... Grief itself is all of those things and more, and I feel it's a credit to the author talent that she brings these feelings across so well with her latest novel.
I feel a little comflicted about how to put my thoughts onto paper, so forgive my first rambly attempt to do so.
Breathe an undenialbly personal and skilled portrait of a widow in the most acute phase of grief, after losing her husband to a misdiagnosed and unexpected illness. Written in striking prose that compliments these difficult themes, it's a book I won't easily forget.
It's also a book that's hard to recommend to a broader audience, because of it's very nature. It's at times confusing, repetitive, emotionally draining and heavy to read, and based off that I can (sort of) see why it's rated so poorly. On the other hand; "confusing, repetitive, emotionally draining and heavy"... Grief itself is all of those things and more, and I feel it's a credit to the author talent that she brings these feelings across so well with her latest novel.
November 1, 2021
Michaela and her husband Gerard move temporarily to New Mexico for his job, but Gerard becomes ill and dies in hospital. Breathe is about Michaela's time by her husband's bedside, and her grief after he dies which becomes a period of magical thinking. Unfortunately, I never really got into Michaela's head, didn't worry about her, and was often irritated by the repetitiveness of the story. There are some subplots that I never really understood: Michaela trying to help one of her students who has been raped, Michaela visiting another student in his home, Michaela going to a museum. Oates also moves from first to second to third person and I just couldn't see why. The writing was fine, as always.
2.5 stars rounded up.
2.5 stars rounded up.
November 28, 2021
My husband recently went into ICU, surgery,decline, palliative care, hospice, final breath. Suddenly I went from wife to widow. Unable to sleep, eat or think clearly Grief consumed. I didn’t know what this book was about when I began reading and I was shocked at how accurately the author described everything that I had recently experienced. Her writing took my breath away and I had to remind myself to breathe.
August 4, 2021
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
𝐈𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫.
Joyce Carol Oates is one of the best authors to read if you want characters whose emotions are unfiltered, bloody and raw. With Oates, the guts are on full display- every single one of their fears, flaws, strengths, desires, shame, regrets, hopes, delusions, illnesses both physical and mental- are magnified. I don’t think there is a surface left unscratched nor depths remaining to be explored. It’s not always pretty but it makes for magnificent writing. The horror of this novel is in the diagnosis and the crashing terror of pending doom, because what is loss if not doom?
Death is an ever present threat, a stark reality that nothing can stop-certainly not Michaela’s loyal, bottomless love for her husband, Gerard (nine years her senior). Gerard McManus has taken an eight-month residency at the Institute for Advanced Research in New Mexico. Having left behind their comfortable life in Cambridge, Massachusetts they have taken on the challenge of living in a desert terrain, with all it’s exotic surroundings and where they don’t know a single soul. Michaela discovers, in their new home, artifacts that horrify her with their ugliness, particularly an awful female figurine. In time, those native pieces feel like a curse. She means to make the best of it, this ‘time-out-of-time’ in an unfamiliar place. She must adjust her expectations and not weigh Gerard down with her fears nor disappointments. Neither expected what would come next, that Gerard would succumb to a mysterious illness, before they’ve barely settled into this new life.
Michaela is accustomed to her role as Gerard’s happy wife. He has always been her protector, like a father figure in numerous ways. She has lived the past twelve years of their life together being defined by his love, his presence. As his condition worsens, she must face what could be a future without him. With childish faith, hope, she believes her love will save him, chase death out of the room. She remains by his side, faithful as a dog. Gerard faces the terror of failing health, chasing diagnosis and treatments while Michaela wants to believe that by offering herself (her hope, her goodness) that he will be saved, that soon they will put this catastrophe behind them. She uses her teaching as an escape, working as an adjunct in the English Department at a University, nothing so prestigious as her beloved husband’s career. If only she could focus on the students, but living what feels like a tragedy makes her feel like a fraud and yet it is a chance to pretend everything is fine in her life, this stolen time away from her suffering husband. She is ill too, sickened by sorrow, plagued by terrors real and imagined. There is no one else to lean on, Gerard has always been her pillar. He cannot abandon her like this! He must Breathe! “Breathe, Darling!” If she could, she would let him take the oxygen from her own lungs.
Maybe she doesn’t know him, after all these years, which should in and of itself allow for more time. She is afraid for him, sometimes of him when he becomes confused, uncertain. The doctor’s words alarm her, everything feels like a curse, payback for all the happiness and love they’ve shared. Disease, illness, it is a threat to the world they share, and how could she possible continue to exist the world in which he is no more? Who is she without him? No one. Nothing. She cannot process this frightful reality, its hit them too fast, leaving her reeling, shocked!
A story about a loved one dying has never felt so sinister. Her childish petitions to what, who- God, universe- leave us feeling as helpless as Michaela. This is what it means to exist, to be in the bed or beside it, either way no one is winning and death is not a romance. Our failing bodies are a horror show, nature���s cruel trick. Michaela is fading from her life as much as Gerard, unable to deal with the practical details that never stop demanding our attention, to hell with what we’re dealing with, what crisis is haunting our soul. She is sleepless, vulnerable, on the verge of madness and no one is there to bear witness, to comfort her, that is Gerard’s role. Her universe is shrinking! She is guilty, ashamed of the life inside of her while Gerard’s light grows fainter. Who wants the remains of this life? She’d rather be dead.
Widow or widower, it’s a bleak future for the spouse left behind. Oates doesn’t tread lightly when it comes to these ‘common’ subjects. It’s scary because it’s not really fiction, is it? Love costs us, it’s dreadful to have a heart. We all come to the end, and there is no bigger abandonment than death, no greater nightmare than watching the deterioration of our beloved. Some of us have already been there and if we’re lucky, have recovered, been spared more time. Her writing is heavy no matter the subject. I’ve long been a fan-I don’t think there is another writer that can take life events and unearth every emotion quite like her. In her stories, as in life, there is no such thing as ‘one size fits all’ for how we react when our lives are upended. Those of us familiar with loss, illness (if you aren’t yet, you will be) can understand Michaela’s decline. There is no escape, not for any of us.
Publication Date: August 3, 2021 Available Today
Ecco
𝐈𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫.
Joyce Carol Oates is one of the best authors to read if you want characters whose emotions are unfiltered, bloody and raw. With Oates, the guts are on full display- every single one of their fears, flaws, strengths, desires, shame, regrets, hopes, delusions, illnesses both physical and mental- are magnified. I don’t think there is a surface left unscratched nor depths remaining to be explored. It’s not always pretty but it makes for magnificent writing. The horror of this novel is in the diagnosis and the crashing terror of pending doom, because what is loss if not doom?
Death is an ever present threat, a stark reality that nothing can stop-certainly not Michaela’s loyal, bottomless love for her husband, Gerard (nine years her senior). Gerard McManus has taken an eight-month residency at the Institute for Advanced Research in New Mexico. Having left behind their comfortable life in Cambridge, Massachusetts they have taken on the challenge of living in a desert terrain, with all it’s exotic surroundings and where they don’t know a single soul. Michaela discovers, in their new home, artifacts that horrify her with their ugliness, particularly an awful female figurine. In time, those native pieces feel like a curse. She means to make the best of it, this ‘time-out-of-time’ in an unfamiliar place. She must adjust her expectations and not weigh Gerard down with her fears nor disappointments. Neither expected what would come next, that Gerard would succumb to a mysterious illness, before they’ve barely settled into this new life.
Michaela is accustomed to her role as Gerard’s happy wife. He has always been her protector, like a father figure in numerous ways. She has lived the past twelve years of their life together being defined by his love, his presence. As his condition worsens, she must face what could be a future without him. With childish faith, hope, she believes her love will save him, chase death out of the room. She remains by his side, faithful as a dog. Gerard faces the terror of failing health, chasing diagnosis and treatments while Michaela wants to believe that by offering herself (her hope, her goodness) that he will be saved, that soon they will put this catastrophe behind them. She uses her teaching as an escape, working as an adjunct in the English Department at a University, nothing so prestigious as her beloved husband’s career. If only she could focus on the students, but living what feels like a tragedy makes her feel like a fraud and yet it is a chance to pretend everything is fine in her life, this stolen time away from her suffering husband. She is ill too, sickened by sorrow, plagued by terrors real and imagined. There is no one else to lean on, Gerard has always been her pillar. He cannot abandon her like this! He must Breathe! “Breathe, Darling!” If she could, she would let him take the oxygen from her own lungs.
Maybe she doesn’t know him, after all these years, which should in and of itself allow for more time. She is afraid for him, sometimes of him when he becomes confused, uncertain. The doctor’s words alarm her, everything feels like a curse, payback for all the happiness and love they’ve shared. Disease, illness, it is a threat to the world they share, and how could she possible continue to exist the world in which he is no more? Who is she without him? No one. Nothing. She cannot process this frightful reality, its hit them too fast, leaving her reeling, shocked!
A story about a loved one dying has never felt so sinister. Her childish petitions to what, who- God, universe- leave us feeling as helpless as Michaela. This is what it means to exist, to be in the bed or beside it, either way no one is winning and death is not a romance. Our failing bodies are a horror show, nature���s cruel trick. Michaela is fading from her life as much as Gerard, unable to deal with the practical details that never stop demanding our attention, to hell with what we’re dealing with, what crisis is haunting our soul. She is sleepless, vulnerable, on the verge of madness and no one is there to bear witness, to comfort her, that is Gerard’s role. Her universe is shrinking! She is guilty, ashamed of the life inside of her while Gerard’s light grows fainter. Who wants the remains of this life? She’d rather be dead.
Widow or widower, it’s a bleak future for the spouse left behind. Oates doesn’t tread lightly when it comes to these ‘common’ subjects. It’s scary because it’s not really fiction, is it? Love costs us, it’s dreadful to have a heart. We all come to the end, and there is no bigger abandonment than death, no greater nightmare than watching the deterioration of our beloved. Some of us have already been there and if we’re lucky, have recovered, been spared more time. Her writing is heavy no matter the subject. I’ve long been a fan-I don’t think there is another writer that can take life events and unearth every emotion quite like her. In her stories, as in life, there is no such thing as ‘one size fits all’ for how we react when our lives are upended. Those of us familiar with loss, illness (if you aren’t yet, you will be) can understand Michaela’s decline. There is no escape, not for any of us.
Publication Date: August 3, 2021 Available Today
Ecco
September 14, 2021
It's been years since I read a Joyce Carol Oates book. I'm not sure why really. Maybe I was intimidated by the last one I read. She can be an intimidating writer. But when I read about her newest one, I was intrigued and knew I had to read it. Breathe is about grief and about how it can disorient a person and upend their life.
Forty-eight-year-old Gerard McManus and his second wife 37-year-old Michaela have come to New Mexico to the Santa Tierra Institute for Advanced Research from their home in Cambridge, Massachusetts where Gerard had been a professor of the history of science at Harvard. He was invited to spend an eight-month residency at the Santa Tierra Institute and his wife found employment teaching a weekly memoir workshop at the University of New Mexico. It was to be an adventure for them, but it was an adventure that quickly went wrong when Gerard became ill. At first, it was thought to be nothing too serious but that diagnosis quickly changed and by the time we meet him at the Santa Tierra Cancer Center, he is already on his way out. Soon he is transferred to hospice care and Michaela's vigil begins.
The book is divided into two parts, "The Vigil" and "Post-Mortem." Gerard is the dominant presence in each of them as Michaela sees her own life as inconsequential in comparison to her husband's. After her husband's death and cremation, a representative of the institute suggests to her that she should go home to Cambridge but she refuses. She can't bring herself to leave the place where Gerard was last present. She feels him everywhere and she begins to see him everywhere.
Perhaps it isn't unusual for a grieving spouse to continue to feel her partner's presence but soon Michaela's distress leads to outright hallucinations. She imagines that she had tried to give bone marrow to save Gerard's life but the procedure was botched and she ends up paralyzed. She gets a voice mail message saying that it was all a terrible mistake; her husband hasn't really died even though at this point his body has already been cremated. She looks for him everywhere and frequently catches glimpses of him in a crowd. Meanwhile, she herself seems to be disappearing. When she looks in the mirror, parts of her face are missing and a section of her left arm begins to fade.
And what about Michaela in her grief? Does she have no friends or relatives who can comfort her? Clearly not. We learned at the beginning of the book that her parents had been dead for decades, although later on, it appears that they may not be dead at all, merely out of touch. Perhaps that is the same thing as far as Michaela is concerned. Apparently, she has no siblings or if she does, they are out of touch also. Gerard, though, did have adult children from his previous marriage and did not want them informed so that they could visit him as he lay dying. Michaela acceded to his wishes and even after his death, she delays in informing them. Obviously, this was not a close-knit, supportive family.
Anyone who has ever lost someone they love can empathize with Michaela's situation up to a point. I reached my point about two-thirds of the way through the novel and then I began to lose patience with her. Everyone grieves differently obviously, but most people in the real world have to learn to deal with that and get on with their lives. Michaela, for whatever reason, is incapable of that. She is disoriented in regard to time. Her days pass with excruciating slowness, but at the same time, everything seems to happen very quickly. Her grief controls every aspect of her life. At some point, she begins to feel that Gerard is not the one who died; rather, she is.
Oates' meditation on grief reveals hidden meanings that will probably appear different to each reader based on their own experience of grief. It is an emotionally complicated novel about a woman who has lost her anchor in the real world and now exists only as a shadow in her new hallucinatory existence. Strong stuff. Typical of Oates.
Forty-eight-year-old Gerard McManus and his second wife 37-year-old Michaela have come to New Mexico to the Santa Tierra Institute for Advanced Research from their home in Cambridge, Massachusetts where Gerard had been a professor of the history of science at Harvard. He was invited to spend an eight-month residency at the Santa Tierra Institute and his wife found employment teaching a weekly memoir workshop at the University of New Mexico. It was to be an adventure for them, but it was an adventure that quickly went wrong when Gerard became ill. At first, it was thought to be nothing too serious but that diagnosis quickly changed and by the time we meet him at the Santa Tierra Cancer Center, he is already on his way out. Soon he is transferred to hospice care and Michaela's vigil begins.
The book is divided into two parts, "The Vigil" and "Post-Mortem." Gerard is the dominant presence in each of them as Michaela sees her own life as inconsequential in comparison to her husband's. After her husband's death and cremation, a representative of the institute suggests to her that she should go home to Cambridge but she refuses. She can't bring herself to leave the place where Gerard was last present. She feels him everywhere and she begins to see him everywhere.
Perhaps it isn't unusual for a grieving spouse to continue to feel her partner's presence but soon Michaela's distress leads to outright hallucinations. She imagines that she had tried to give bone marrow to save Gerard's life but the procedure was botched and she ends up paralyzed. She gets a voice mail message saying that it was all a terrible mistake; her husband hasn't really died even though at this point his body has already been cremated. She looks for him everywhere and frequently catches glimpses of him in a crowd. Meanwhile, she herself seems to be disappearing. When she looks in the mirror, parts of her face are missing and a section of her left arm begins to fade.
And what about Michaela in her grief? Does she have no friends or relatives who can comfort her? Clearly not. We learned at the beginning of the book that her parents had been dead for decades, although later on, it appears that they may not be dead at all, merely out of touch. Perhaps that is the same thing as far as Michaela is concerned. Apparently, she has no siblings or if she does, they are out of touch also. Gerard, though, did have adult children from his previous marriage and did not want them informed so that they could visit him as he lay dying. Michaela acceded to his wishes and even after his death, she delays in informing them. Obviously, this was not a close-knit, supportive family.
Anyone who has ever lost someone they love can empathize with Michaela's situation up to a point. I reached my point about two-thirds of the way through the novel and then I began to lose patience with her. Everyone grieves differently obviously, but most people in the real world have to learn to deal with that and get on with their lives. Michaela, for whatever reason, is incapable of that. She is disoriented in regard to time. Her days pass with excruciating slowness, but at the same time, everything seems to happen very quickly. Her grief controls every aspect of her life. At some point, she begins to feel that Gerard is not the one who died; rather, she is.
Oates' meditation on grief reveals hidden meanings that will probably appear different to each reader based on their own experience of grief. It is an emotionally complicated novel about a woman who has lost her anchor in the real world and now exists only as a shadow in her new hallucinatory existence. Strong stuff. Typical of Oates.
October 28, 2021
Hated this book
Story of grieving wife over her husbands demise from cancer. I hated the run on sentences. I was so bored that I skimmed the last 200 pages. It never improves. I understand the book won lots of awards but I still hated it.
Story of grieving wife over her husbands demise from cancer. I hated the run on sentences. I was so bored that I skimmed the last 200 pages. It never improves. I understand the book won lots of awards but I still hated it.
October 30, 2021
DNF. Writing was so repetitive that I couldn’t keep track of when things were happening. It was too much like a journal of her experience which I would not have chosen to read. Just found myself not caring about any of it, which is really sad to say when talking about someone’s grief.
September 21, 2021
I’ve read many of her books and enjoyed them very much. This one was disappointing. It’s so much like The Widow, and there is so much repetition. Basically, it is so overwrought.
September 23, 2021
Joyce Carol Oates has impressed me with other books and I see that she dedicated this new novel, “Breathe,” to her husband, Charles Gross, who died in 2019. She had written another book "A Widow's Story" after the death of her first husband. The similarities between the novel and her reality are past coincidence. Like Oates, the lead character of “Breathe", Michaela, is a successful writer and teacher. She’s mourning the death of her husband Gerard who, like her real husband, was a neuroscientist. However one hopes that this is where the real life similarities end. While the first half of the book is an emotional study of grief and the lies we tell ourselves when we can't cope with the truth, it descends in the second half into Michaela's total irrationality and paranoia. Comparisons must be made with Joan Didion's wonderful non-fiction book "The Year of Magical Thinking", written after losing her husband suddenly. But reading Didion's I always felt sympathy and understanding for her, while towards the end of this one I was just thinking 'mental hospital'.
December 10, 2021
I'm borrowing this book from my local library, and.......having SO much trouble trying to get into it. At most times, the author's sentencing, doesn't make any sense. I put aside my new Stephen King book "Billy Summers" to start "Breathe"......I don't think I made the right decision...Any one else out there having problems getting "into" this book? TIA
September 19, 2021
This is a redundant, boring, disjointed read featuring an over-the-top widow. The only appeal this story had for me was that the setting was New Mexico. I have read other books by the author that were much better than this novel.
August 4, 2023
Hoe een boek te beoordelen dat je enerzijds geweldig doorleefd en aangrijpend vindt, en anderzijds afstotend. Daarom dus een nietszeggende 3-sterrenbeoordeling.
Het gegeven: de man van Michaela heeft een snel vorderende longkanker (met uitzaaiingen) en zijn situatie wordt snel erger. Ademen is moeilijk, zij maant hem constant aan te ademen. "Breathe, Breathe!"
Wat we hier krijgen is het rauwe relaas van iemand die lijdt, die afglijdt naar de dood en van de ander die dat lijden wanhopig aanziet, meeleeft en tegen beter weten in, het einde dat er aankomt ontkent. Machteloosheid.
Je leert ook één en ander over de relatie, hoe zij, ondanks het feit dat ze een docente is, blijkbaar alleen maar zin kan geven aan haar leven omdat hij er is, omdat hij haar leven erkent. "If there is no one to hear the narrative of our existence do we in fact exist?"
Na zijn overlijden komen we in een heel ander deel terecht. De logische ontkenning, het niet willen inzien dat de geliefde overleden is, maar daarnaast ook de nachtmerries, de waanbeelden, de paniekaanvallen, de schijnbaar gedroomde gebeurtenissen, haar voornemen om hem aan gene zijde te gaan vervoegen. Dat is allemaal heel verwarrend voor de lezer. Die stukken zijn echt angstaanjagend.
Dus uiteindelijk zal ik moeten zeggen dat dit boek zeer goed geschreven is, maar dat het tweede deel er, voor mij, maar ik ben een oude ziel, er los over is.
Het gegeven: de man van Michaela heeft een snel vorderende longkanker (met uitzaaiingen) en zijn situatie wordt snel erger. Ademen is moeilijk, zij maant hem constant aan te ademen. "Breathe, Breathe!"
Wat we hier krijgen is het rauwe relaas van iemand die lijdt, die afglijdt naar de dood en van de ander die dat lijden wanhopig aanziet, meeleeft en tegen beter weten in, het einde dat er aankomt ontkent. Machteloosheid.
Je leert ook één en ander over de relatie, hoe zij, ondanks het feit dat ze een docente is, blijkbaar alleen maar zin kan geven aan haar leven omdat hij er is, omdat hij haar leven erkent. "If there is no one to hear the narrative of our existence do we in fact exist?"
Na zijn overlijden komen we in een heel ander deel terecht. De logische ontkenning, het niet willen inzien dat de geliefde overleden is, maar daarnaast ook de nachtmerries, de waanbeelden, de paniekaanvallen, de schijnbaar gedroomde gebeurtenissen, haar voornemen om hem aan gene zijde te gaan vervoegen. Dat is allemaal heel verwarrend voor de lezer. Die stukken zijn echt angstaanjagend.
Dus uiteindelijk zal ik moeten zeggen dat dit boek zeer goed geschreven is, maar dat het tweede deel er, voor mij, maar ik ben een oude ziel, er los over is.
September 14, 2021
Oh my lord I’m glad this thing is over! I’m sure I’m meant to feel some compassion for this unhinged woman but I don’t. And I liked the husband better before he was dead and living in her head. And he was no treat then.
Oates writes well, sentence by sentence, but this thing was full of long descriptions of events that by the next page had disappeared. And New Mexico was utterly wasted - the only references to it were creepy and not evocative of anything.
So. Didn’t like the people. Didn’t like the plot. Stars for word-selecting abilities of a long-respected author.
Oates writes well, sentence by sentence, but this thing was full of long descriptions of events that by the next page had disappeared. And New Mexico was utterly wasted - the only references to it were creepy and not evocative of anything.
So. Didn’t like the people. Didn’t like the plot. Stars for word-selecting abilities of a long-respected author.
August 14, 2021
Chilling, terrifying story of the impact of grief. There were times I truly couldn’t breathe. An apt title for a breathtaking novel. Most highly recommended.
August 3, 2021
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC! This one releases on 8/3.
My favorite author has done it again—looks like, barring an unexpected favorite, Breathe will be my favorite novel of the year.
But it took a while for me to warm up to it.
The first third or so of this novel is incredibly insular and white-hot, off-putting, and written in a sort of stream-of-conscious style. I was reminded of JCO’s Black Water. It was still good, mind you, just incredibly visceral and . . . weird? But I warmed up to the novel, and I must say this is one of Oates’s best stories about grief yet. She’s still processing the death of her husband(s) in her art, and the result is an emotionally vulnerable and honest story in Breathe.
Even more open-ended and gleefully unpredictable than JCO’s other novels, which is really saying something, this isn’t one for impatient readers or readers expecting easy, neat answers. Ends are left loose, the narrative often zigging when you expect a zag. I am so glad my favorite writer is still willing to challenge her readers with works that easily measure up to her well-loved classics.
My favorite author has done it again—looks like, barring an unexpected favorite, Breathe will be my favorite novel of the year.
But it took a while for me to warm up to it.
The first third or so of this novel is incredibly insular and white-hot, off-putting, and written in a sort of stream-of-conscious style. I was reminded of JCO’s Black Water. It was still good, mind you, just incredibly visceral and . . . weird? But I warmed up to the novel, and I must say this is one of Oates’s best stories about grief yet. She’s still processing the death of her husband(s) in her art, and the result is an emotionally vulnerable and honest story in Breathe.
Even more open-ended and gleefully unpredictable than JCO’s other novels, which is really saying something, this isn’t one for impatient readers or readers expecting easy, neat answers. Ends are left loose, the narrative often zigging when you expect a zag. I am so glad my favorite writer is still willing to challenge her readers with works that easily measure up to her well-loved classics.
September 8, 2021
My favorite living author has written a book that intrigued me in many ways. It’s the very explicit story of how a woman’s husband dies of multiple carcinomas and does so over a very short time post diagnosis. She is in deep shock and spends her days begging him to “breathe.”
They are far away from home in New Mexico where they know almost no one when he falls ill. Her failure to come to terms caused her to hallucinate in various traumatic ways and this is not that unusual based on the circumstances. She sees him from a window. She believes the hospital phones her to say is still alive, days after his death.
Something that makes me wonder is the fact that JCO wrote an amazing book called A Widow’s Tale after the sudden death of her first husband. Her second husband died not too long ago and now she’s written this book, is there a connection? She has been through so much trauma and loss. They tell us to “write what you know.” Sadly, Joyce Carol Oates knows so much about loss.
They are far away from home in New Mexico where they know almost no one when he falls ill. Her failure to come to terms caused her to hallucinate in various traumatic ways and this is not that unusual based on the circumstances. She sees him from a window. She believes the hospital phones her to say is still alive, days after his death.
Something that makes me wonder is the fact that JCO wrote an amazing book called A Widow’s Tale after the sudden death of her first husband. Her second husband died not too long ago and now she’s written this book, is there a connection? She has been through so much trauma and loss. They tell us to “write what you know.” Sadly, Joyce Carol Oates knows so much about loss.
November 4, 2021
I found myself wanting to complete the book, holding out a wee bit of hope for Michaela. Despite a couple of glimmers, I found it to have been futile. I found the book hard to read and I didn't really like the main character and liked her less as the book went on.
When I got to the end, I'm not even sure what exactly happened. Maybe that was the point?
When I got to the end, I'm not even sure what exactly happened. Maybe that was the point?
September 11, 2021
Too repetitive, too melodramatic, overlong.
October 31, 2021
Lost interest at certain points and, I will admit, would skim through chunks.
June 14, 2021
Breathe is another example of Joyce Carol Oates creating a difficult yet impactful book around what many may see as too raw and too disturbing. This novel, more than possibly any of her previous work, will depend heavily on how a reader approaches such a work rather than how well Oates wrote the book.
Maybe I should explain. I will start with the phrase "I enjoyed the book." When one reads a disturbing book the enjoyment is not so much savoring every word as one might do with many novels. It is more like running a marathon, there is a lot of discomfort during the run but the enjoyment is in what that discomfort does for you and in reflecting n that experience. Some people don't run marathons specifically for that reason, they want their exercise to be enjoyable throughout even if the resulting enjoyment might be a bit less. Maybe a nice long walk taking in the scenery, less discomfort but also a smaller payoff. Some people enjoy both, and in the case of reading that would mean enjoying the book that is uncomfortable while reading as well as the ones that are light and comfortable throughout.
The details in this book are shocking at first. Not because any of us who have experienced similar grief and similar deaths of loved ones don't recognize them but because we usually don't reflect on them. We don't find the words to describe them which means we don't have to think about them in any detail. Oates makes us face these and think about them. If you've experienced similar grief, and most of us as we age have experienced more than one earth-shattering loss or trauma, will reflect on our own past as well as experience Michaela's loss and her path through, one hopes, her grief.
It is in taking her journey with her that we have a couple of options, and they reflect how the reader approaches other people's grief processes. We can feel for her, we can believe that we would not do certain things she does, but we walk with her and empathize as best we can. Or, like some will do, we can judge her, judge how she grieves, and rather than empathize we become judge and jury about how one is supposed to grieve. That is unfortunate since we all grieve differently. In fact, we grieve differently over the course of our lives when confronted with similar losses. So to prefer judging to empathizing, albeit while hoping we wouldn't do some of the same things, says a lot more about the reader than the book or even about the character of Michaela.
I would recommend this to readers who don't mind being uncomfortable while reading about a character's struggles as long as none of the pain and anguish is gratuitous, and none here is. I would also recommend to those who take difficult books to heart to look more closely at themselves and not simply judge themselves better than the character so reflection isn't needed.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
Maybe I should explain. I will start with the phrase "I enjoyed the book." When one reads a disturbing book the enjoyment is not so much savoring every word as one might do with many novels. It is more like running a marathon, there is a lot of discomfort during the run but the enjoyment is in what that discomfort does for you and in reflecting n that experience. Some people don't run marathons specifically for that reason, they want their exercise to be enjoyable throughout even if the resulting enjoyment might be a bit less. Maybe a nice long walk taking in the scenery, less discomfort but also a smaller payoff. Some people enjoy both, and in the case of reading that would mean enjoying the book that is uncomfortable while reading as well as the ones that are light and comfortable throughout.
The details in this book are shocking at first. Not because any of us who have experienced similar grief and similar deaths of loved ones don't recognize them but because we usually don't reflect on them. We don't find the words to describe them which means we don't have to think about them in any detail. Oates makes us face these and think about them. If you've experienced similar grief, and most of us as we age have experienced more than one earth-shattering loss or trauma, will reflect on our own past as well as experience Michaela's loss and her path through, one hopes, her grief.
It is in taking her journey with her that we have a couple of options, and they reflect how the reader approaches other people's grief processes. We can feel for her, we can believe that we would not do certain things she does, but we walk with her and empathize as best we can. Or, like some will do, we can judge her, judge how she grieves, and rather than empathize we become judge and jury about how one is supposed to grieve. That is unfortunate since we all grieve differently. In fact, we grieve differently over the course of our lives when confronted with similar losses. So to prefer judging to empathizing, albeit while hoping we wouldn't do some of the same things, says a lot more about the reader than the book or even about the character of Michaela.
I would recommend this to readers who don't mind being uncomfortable while reading about a character's struggles as long as none of the pain and anguish is gratuitous, and none here is. I would also recommend to those who take difficult books to heart to look more closely at themselves and not simply judge themselves better than the character so reflection isn't needed.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
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