The Journey to Getting Back to Where You Started
For scene-setting, let's start with the promotional blurb touting this novel: "From the acclaimed Man Booker Prize-short-listed author of All That Man Is, a stunning, virtuosic novel about twelve people, mostly strangers, and the surprising ripple effect each one has on the life of the next as they cross paths while in transit around the world."
At just 160 pages, our choice of book-club reads was a suitable pick, especially for those of us suffering from COVID-19 cognitive and emotional fatigue. We also stuck with the transportation theme, piling into car-pooling clusters and then driving back and forth randomly until we were able to find Lois' house. After touring her beautiful garden, loading our plates, and loosely discussing the topic of "who is meaner -- writers or academics?" we got down to the business at hand.
Insights and Opinions
+ Core to this novel is its structure. Each chapter opens with the letter codes of the departure and arrival airports relevant to the character in the chapter. And each character is linked with a character in the next chapter. The reader is invited into the mind of each character along the journey and, as Lois noted, becomes privy to the internal assumptions they make about each other.
+ Szalay writes with profound empathy for his characters. Jocey was struck by how these interior conversations reveal their hardships and heartaches, which aren't visible to their fellow passengers. Szalay's hand at writing the human condition is deft. For example, Steve noted that, when seen from his wife's point of view, Shamgar is clearly an angry, abusive spouse. Yet Shamgar's chapter shows us a softer side and gives the reader a window into his pain. In many ways, he is a reprehensible character who also has a softer side -- not entirely rare in the world.
+ We were all struck by the way the stories circle the world. Some, like Linda, felt it was a fun game -- like being on a train platform and catching snippets of conversation. Linda expressed a note of personal pride at having figured out the system. Liz, on the other hand, felt that this structure was merely a gimmick. She had been drawn into and was fully engaged with each set of characters and felt cheated when the set-up amounted to nothing in particular. Margy, on the other hand, disagreed, stating that "it was so skillful, it took you by surprise in a delightful way."
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| Margy explains the geography of the novel to Liz. |
+ In Margy's opinion, this line, which appears in the chapter about a baby being born blind, is the theme that holds the book together: "...was one of those events that makes us what we are, for ourselves and for other people. They just seem to happen, and then forever, and slowly we understand that we're stuck with them, that nothing will ever be the same again."
+ Shirley pointed out this Kennedy quote from the last chapter as her take on the true meaning of the book: "For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal."
+ Ultimately, Steve was mesmerized and entertained by not fully satisfied. "I enjoyed it as an exercise, but don't we expect more of a center to a book?" As Linda pointed out, "everybody is traveling and no one is really home."
Back to Where We Were Before
+ Maybe it was because Turbulence is so short or maybe it was because the group is still so in love with last months' book, but at least half of our time was spent talking about After Francesco by Brian Malloy -- last months' read. Everyone committed to recommending this book to friends. And the big question: why hasn't it been reviewed?
+ Other things people have been reading and recommend we do the same include Deacon King Kong, The Great Circle, and The Good Lord Bird.
Next Months' Read
Our next session will be at Liz's house and we will read Sharks In the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn.
