I finished
Living with a Wild God by Barbara Ehrenreich a day or two ago.
At first, I was a bit disappointed in the book since it did not seem to be leading up to what the blurbs indicated. It was not the writing itself which disappointed me so I hope no one will think I am suggesting it isn't well written. It just seemed to be about something entirely different than I expected.
http://www.amazon.com/Living-Wild-Go...pr_product_top
But Ehrenreich packs more meaning into each sentence than most writers pack into their entire books. My toes
curled with the sheer pleasure of reading a sentence by her.
Then around page 100, it became clear that the book was indeed about what I thought the book would be about - it was just circular and not in a direction I expected, which again speaks to the very unique way Ehrenreich's mind works.
This is the memoir of a scientist and a seeker on a quest to understand everything. And I think this is a book that people will either love or hate. I don't think there will be any in betweens.
For some reason, jtur, I think this book might appeal to you. Anyone looking for a read that doesn't require the reader to put in some work probably shouldn't bother because this just isn't that kind of book.
Anyway, I have been floating through the days since I finished it and couldn't start another book immediately, because Ehrenreich's book was so intense that nothing would measure up. It rattled my bones. Tartt's writing struck me the same way when I finished her book - not in terms of the style or subject of the book, but in feeling a little lost, not knowing what other book to start to read.
I'll quote a bit from the book - so many lines to choose from, it's hard to know where to start.
"...And if communism meant a life totally managed by government and ruled by petty apparatchiks, what was the difference between communism and the life of a graduate student at Rockefeller University? The war (this is in reference to the Vietnam war, the beginning of Ehrenreich's awareness of the world)
made no sense, and it was possible that the president hadn't been fully briefed..."
HAHAHA! Snort. She writes a letter to the president because she is an odd duck of a person who
really believes that the president hadn't been fully briefed on why it wasn't a good idea to go to war in Vietnam.
In other place, describing someone: "
He was just an odd bird; he even smelled odd, like ozone, as if he were accompanied everywhere by his own personal cloud of ions..."
HAHAHA! Pot, meet kettle. Because I
had that funny ozone smell in my nose when I read this book. Not that that is a bad thing, but is was a
true thing. Ehrenreich is very odd and a very beautiful writer.
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