Part 1

[Melanie]

The first part seems to be the longest, thoughts?

[Keriann]

Not sure what I though if part one, I didn't like the format, some of the notes were meant to be touching but I felt very detached from all emotions because of the format, think part two will be better because it's actual stories from people.

[Milena]

There was so much to think about in this first section. I don't usually like such fragmented text but thought this was a really clever way of immersing the reader in the situation the author finds herself in. I was looking through her eyes, experiencing her snippets of observations, thoughts and emotional responses. Not everything made sense to me but I think the point is that different snippets will speak to our different experiences of death.

From my personal perspective, there were several moments which spoke deeply to me. I lost both my grandparents last year and the loss is still very much in my every day consciousness. Marques writes of an old woman, ‘She knows she is living the end of an era’ and I know this is very much how my Omi felt at the end of her life and now that my grandparents are no longer, I too feel like I have lost that connection to that part of family history. There is no one left to tell the stories. Marques writes of the old man who takes much more notice of the birds in the garden as his days are much smaller and he is more aware of the beauty he can see. My Opi would sit out on his balcony and watch the birds in the luscious, tall trees for hours and feel joy despite his illness. The description of Parkinson’s, the fear of falling and all that entails was also spot on in my experience.

I thought the contrast of thoughts on death were striking, from the idea of a warm, strong hearted doctor conveying a ‘good death’ to the idea that nothing lasts and all is futile. I really liked the survival tips that Marques notes in order to help herself cope with her observations.

There are just so many responses to death and dying in such a short space that I think it will take time to process it all; from fear to denial, to guilt, to class, to the role of God…

And throughout all this I think Marques is successful in portraying the aging Portuguese landscape, where the old are fading and the young are few and far between. Where there is much physical beauty such as the Marias in bell jars, the cherry blossom and the deepest purple horizons.

[Anja]

While I had to get used to the style of part 1 at first, I did end up enjoying it. I was impressed how many emotions she could express in one chapter and how many different experiences with death she was able to portrait.
It's off to a good start....looking forward to the next chapter and to see how her writing style turns out while she stays with one character for a longer while.

[Melanie]

This was rather different to what I thought it would be. I expected more straight forward non-fiction, but alas this was more attempted literary stream of conciousness. Interesting, but ultimately, despite liking some parts of it, it left me cold and rather detached from it.

[Tanya]

I liked this section and how it spanned, even though it was broken and disjointed here and there.

It was like reading a journal with a myriad of sparse to detailed reports on these dying persons and those they were leaving behind, or going after. I tended to like the short and sweetness (can't think of another way to put it!) of the notes - gave me just enough that I needed, and wanted, to know about these people dying. I liked how a few prayers were added between texts - as if the interviewer was processing everything she saw and heard and needed some grace from above to go further in her note taking.

The way the Hunter treated his wife was awful. My favorite vignette was about the man who sang to his younger wife after she got gravely ill. Then she got better - and he even recorded his voice for her.

Then the entry where she mentioned the nurses and the social workers - citing that they are dedicated and even showed their work's dedication.

This section gave life to the subject and put a pulse on the fragility of each situation.

[Tanya]

Keriann wrote: "Not sure what I though if part one, I didn't like the format, some of the notes were meant to be touching but I felt very detached from all emotions because of the format, think part two will be be..."

For the most part, this was not a teary section for me (and I'm super emotional!) - more of a here's the facts about these people interspersed with notes from the interviewer's personal reflections. I wouldn't say they were cold IMO but more like a who/what/when outline for reference.

[Tanya]

Milena wrote: "There was so much to think about in this first section. I don't usually like such fragmented text but thought this was a really clever way of immersing the reader in the situation the author finds ..."

That part about the end of an era ... yes! so many elements of finality all round with that passage. My grandmother is 91 and all her closest friends are already gone - those who she shared her experiences with all those years ago are no more and it's never to come again. It is very sad.

[Milena]

Tanya wrote: "I liked this section and how it spanned, even though it was broken and disjointed here and there.

It was like reading a journal with a myriad of sparse to detailed reports on these dying persons ..."

Tanya, I think we have had a very similar reading experience with this book :)