i recently tore through the book 'the imperfectionists' by tom rachman. and, i rarely say this... but. stunning. my dear friend cole lent it to me, saying i needed to read it. and, him being the one who hooked me on chuck palahniuk, i knew i could trust his judgement.
at the most basic level, it's a book of short stories surrounding an english language newspaper in rome - each story written about the personalities of the members of the newspaper staff. the stories are brief, and yet the depth of each character provides such a strong basis for the reason you find your heart being pulled as the book comes to its final pages - along with the newspapers decline.
the characters are tragic and real. human and wonderful. you love and despise them, and yet, you only are allowed 1 chapter each with them. i wanted more. but perhaps that was what held me so tightly. you get to know each character, and then alternatingly, you learn about their piece of the newspaper puzzle, and the thing that ties them all together. i found similarities to 'haunted' by chuck - perhaps only in that short stories were brought together with narrative between chapters - but i liked it.
i read this book in 2 days. i couldn't stop - i was engaged entirely. the ideas embodied by the characters he imagines are stunning - and true. the insecurities, and manipulations of humans are so apparent. he manages somehow to reflect both sides of the personality coin in most of the interactions and scenarios as well - a woman being cheated on, and a woman cheating. and yet, each character manages to hold onto a sympathetic nerve that we all have.
longlisted for the 2010 scotiabank giller prize, this book was the product of rachman sitting down in front of a computer after having a moment of panic when turning 30, and finally telling himself he had to do it. admiration, i have. he is a gem, and this book is the product of hard work, and quite clearly honed journalism, and a love for narration and fiction. i loved it. i'd read it again - many times. i fell in love.
my favourite quotes from the book:
read. this. book. i swear to you, you will not be disappointed.
the characters are tragic and real. human and wonderful. you love and despise them, and yet, you only are allowed 1 chapter each with them. i wanted more. but perhaps that was what held me so tightly. you get to know each character, and then alternatingly, you learn about their piece of the newspaper puzzle, and the thing that ties them all together. i found similarities to 'haunted' by chuck - perhaps only in that short stories were brought together with narrative between chapters - but i liked it.
i read this book in 2 days. i couldn't stop - i was engaged entirely. the ideas embodied by the characters he imagines are stunning - and true. the insecurities, and manipulations of humans are so apparent. he manages somehow to reflect both sides of the personality coin in most of the interactions and scenarios as well - a woman being cheated on, and a woman cheating. and yet, each character manages to hold onto a sympathetic nerve that we all have.
longlisted for the 2010 scotiabank giller prize, this book was the product of rachman sitting down in front of a computer after having a moment of panic when turning 30, and finally telling himself he had to do it. admiration, i have. he is a gem, and this book is the product of hard work, and quite clearly honed journalism, and a love for narration and fiction. i loved it. i'd read it again - many times. i fell in love.
“You can’t dread what you can’t experience. The only death we experience is that of other people. That’s as bad as it gets. And that’s bad enough, surely.”
"You know, there's that silly saying 'We're born alone and we die alone' -it's nonsense. We're surrounded at birth and surrounded at death. It is in between that we're alone.”
“What's remarkable about fiction is that it places you in the unusual position of having no trajectory. You stand aside, motives abandoned for the duration. The characters have the trajectories now, while you just observe. And this stirs compassion that, in real life, is so often obscured by our own motives.”
“We enjoy this illusion of continuity, and we call it memory. Which explains, perhaps, why our worst fear isn’t the end of life but the end of memories.”
read. this. book. i swear to you, you will not be disappointed.
photos from: fucinemute // scotiabank giller prize