. . . book! Just finished reading On Beauty by Zadie Smith. It is completely worth your time to read! I'm still thinking about it. It has such an abrupt ending, which is completely apropos for the theme of the book, that I want more. I want to know that Howard is okay, that Kiki gets what she needs, that Levi stops being so Levi, that Carl is doing better things, that Zora gets to take a moment to dismount that high horse of hers. I feel okay about Jerome though. He'll make it.
I think one of the things I so loved about this book was how incredibly close you can get as a reader, so involved in these small/big issues that they are dealing with - and yet you are forced to stop and see each of these characters from the perspective of another character, which lends so much insight into what it really means to be human. Everyone's flaws are there to be judged, and there is never resolution to what it means to get at the truth of who a person is. People are so complex! This is something I try to convey in class, but I'm not sure it ever gets across. It is easy to write stock - it is hard to write original.
So I am onto another book as of this morning: The Epicure's Lament by Kate Christensen. So far, so good. She's whipping around language like scrambled eggs. Reading these two women writers makes me wonder why on earth anyone needs me on the scene. Some seriously beautiful stuff going on here. I'm in awe.
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