Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt
Title:
  Remarkably Bright Creatures
Author:  Shelby van Pelt
Publication Information:  Ecco. 2022. 368 pages.
ISBN:  0063204150 / 978-0063204157

Rating:   ★★★★★

Book Source:  I received this book as a selection for a local book club.

Opening Sentence:  "Darkness suits me."

Favorite Quote:  "Secrets are everywhere. Some humans are crammed full of them. How do they not explode? It seems to be a hallmark of the human species:  abysmal communication skills. Not that any other species are much better, mind you, but even a hearing can tell which way the school it belongs to is turning and follow accordingly. Why can humans not use their millions of words to simply tell one another what they desire?"

Occasionally, a book comes along that touches me in a memorable way. Even though I can't identify exactly why but it leaves the lasting impression, Remarkably Bright Creatures is such a book.

One of the most interesting things about this book is the answer to the question who are the remarkably bright creatures named in the title of the book. The cover of the book and then the book itself clearly identifies the reference:
  • In the humans' opinion and in the octopus's own opinion: "The plaque states other facts: my size, preferred diet, and where I might live were I not a prisoner here. It mentions my intellectual prowess and penchant for cleverness, which, for some reason seems surprised to humans octopuses are remarkably bright creatures it says."
  • In the octopus's opinion: "Humans. For the most part, you are dull and blundering. But occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures."
This book has a small cast of characters – an elderly, lonely woman; a young man who is lost; a small caring community; and a giant octopus. There are many things that our mysteries for the woman and the young man. What happened to the woman's son all those years ago? Who is this young man's mother and why did she abandon him? Who is his family? These mysteries are not a mystery for the reader, and yet the point of ultimate discovery is a sweet one.

I have to say, I was a little apprehensive about this book. After all, it's about an octopus. Could an octopus be a meaningful character in a book? Could it be a character in a way to be engaging? Would I respond the same way as I might to a human character? Remarkably, the answer to all of those questions is a resounding yes. The octopus is actually my favorite character in the book. Because sections of the book are told from his perspective, Marcellus the octopus becomes very real. Because he, along with the reader knows the secrets that are coming, that reality is accentuated. Because, as a reader, I know the end that is coming for him and because I know that he knows, that reality is accentuated.

The other two main characters of the book - the elderly woman and the young man - resonate in their own way. Tova is relatable as a woman grieving the loss of her son and facing a complete change in her life as she is alone and aging. Cameron is a young woman, loved by his aunt but bearing the childhood scars of having been abandoned by his mother and having no knowledge of who his father is.

All three characters are relatable (even the octopus!) and elicit empathy. I want things to turn out well for them. Perhaps, that, most of all, is why the book stays with me.

Book Club Discussions:  The reactions were varied, ranging from okay to loved it. The discussion centered into whether the book had enough "substance" for a literary read.


Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Monday, December 30, 2024

How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi

How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi
Title:
  How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi: Collected Quirks of Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math from Nerd Nite
Author:  Dr. Chris Balakrishnan & Matt Wasowski
Publication Information:  St. Martin's Press. 2024. 320 pages.
ISBN:  1250288347 / 978-1250288349

Rating:   ★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "For 21 years, Nerd Nite has delivered to live audiences the most interesting, fun, and informative presentations about science, history, the arts, pop, culture, you name it - we're modest, too - as there hasn't been a rabbit hold that our army of presenters hasn't been afraid to explore."

Favorite Quote:  "... Nerd Nite has always prided itself on being a launching pad for emerging folks:  About 98 percent of our presenters were either grad students or young professionals in their twenties and thirties when they first presented."

Chris Balakrishan started Nerd Nite in Boston in 2003. Matt Wasowski joined in New York City in 2006 with the goal of expanding Nerd Nite globally. Currently, Nerd Nite has been held in over 100 cities around the world.

So, what exactly is Nerd Nite? The project tag line reads, "Be there or Be square." It is a monthly event where individuals give 20 minutes presentations designed to inform and entertain. There may or may not be audience eating and drinking, music, and other things along the way. Anyone wanting to present can reach out via a Nerd Nite city's website. No idea how presenters are selected.

So, what exactly is this book? The title is inspired by, of course, Dale Carnegie and one of the presentations - How to Win Friends and Influence Bacteria - in the book. This presentation is given by Dr. Sarah Richardson, "the CEO of MicroByre, a company dedicated to the domestication of bacteria!"

From its description, the book is a collection of 71 stem-centered presentations from different presenters and cities along the way. From the authors' note, the book came about because "It's much more difficult to find in-depth, quirky content about multiple scientific subjects in one spot. Therefore, we think this book will fill that void of underservedness. With plenty of quirkiness and silliness along the way."

The book is organized into the following sections:  Creature features, Mmmm... brains, Bodily fluids, Doing it, Health & (Un)Wellness, Pathogens & Parasites, Death & Taxes (But Really, just death), Space (the big and the beautiful), Tech (high & low), Math is fun, and Careers. The text of each presentation is only a few pages in length. The book is easy to pick up and easy to put down.

Each section also includes a brief paragraph about the presenter and their credentials. The book does not include an index or references to other sources verifying the scientific information. Clearly, while the book presents a lot of information, it is not intended to be a serious scientific tome. This one is definitely for those with a casual interest in "science, tech, engineering, and math."

The book does not have to be read in its entirety. Skip the sections that do not interest you. It is a quick read, entertaining, and definitely does not take itself too seriously. If it educates and attracts people to learn more, I am all for it!


Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Sunday, December 29, 2024

The Madwomen of Paris

The Madwomen of Paris
Title:
  The Madwomen of Paris
Author:  Jennifer Cody Epstein
Publication Information:  Ballantine Books. 2023. 336 pages.
ISBN:  0593158008 / 978-0593158005

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Rating:   ★★

Opening Sentence:  "I didn't see her the day she came to the asylum"

Favorite Quote:  "What I do know - what I will go to my grave averring - is that with very few exceptions, the symptoms I witnessed there were real... the illness underlying them all was the same some strange, alchemical interaction between our tortured psyches and our abused bodies, between the intolerable experiences we struggled to banish from our thoughts and the fragile physiques that fell victim to that struggle."

The Salpetriere started as a gun powder factory. In the 1600s, it became a hospital for women who could not afford other care. It became a home for the learning disabled and mentally ill. Women with other disorders, such as epilepsy, were often part of this group. With available subjects, the hospital became a place of study of neurological and psychiatric cases especially under the leadership of Jean-Martin Charcot. At the time such illnesses were labeled as hysteria. In the 1800s, Sigmand Freud studied here. His translation of Charcot's work became the basis of his field of psychoanalysis.

Inspired by this history, The Madwomen of Paris presents a fictional account of the days of this asylum under Charcot. The book presents the story, of scientific discovery, but, even more so, of women used and abandoned for the purposes of others, and of a dream of escape.

The story is told from the perspective of Laure, who ends up at Salpetriere because of the death of her father and the destitute state that leaves her in. She is brought in as a patient but ends up working as an attendant because she has nowhere else to go. She becomes virtually the sole attendant to one particular patient - the one who is the centerpiece of Dr. Charcot's demonstrations of his discoveries.

The book presents the horrifying and tragic narrative of the treatments tried on these women. It simultaneously presents the story of the relationship between these two women. At times, the book seems iterative, with cycles upon cycles of experimentations and descriptions that are at times difficult to get through. 

The broader image of this book is that of the abhorrent treatment of women in the time and place of this history. Josephine is a hysteric and subjected to increasing experimentation, not necessarily aimed at her cure. Laure is sent to the asylum as grief from her circumstances overwhelms her, and she has literally nowhere else to go. Her younger sister Amelie is taken from her and put in foster care; the system then loses track of her.

However, since the focus of the book is on the asylum and the scientific experimentation, there is a distance created from this broader theme and the emotion that surrounds this aspect of the story. That distance creates an emotional detachment to the book, despite its compelling topic. I find the premise of the book - the history and the science - fascinating. However, the telling of story unfortunately does not work for me.


Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Friday, December 27, 2024

A Wild and Heavenly Place

A Wild and Heavenly Place by Robin Oliveira
Title:
  A Wild and Heavenly Place
Author:  Robin Oliveira
Publication Information:  G. P. Putnam's Sons. 2024. 416 pages.
ISBN:  0593543858 / 978-0593543856

Rating:   ★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Sometimes at night, Samuel Fiddes resurrected his fading memories of being wanted."

Favorite Quote:  "He was beginning to understand that America was nothing like Scotland. It was a place that believed in itself, a country that harbored wild optimism. Anyone with determination in his soul and grit in his heart could prosper. That feeling - true or false - was infectious."

I have read other Robin Oliveira books and loved them. Winter Sisters is a story of a family, a city, the devastation of a storm, and the lumber industry. It is about dreams, parents and children, disappearances, abuse, corruption, justice, and love. What draws the entire book together is the women - young and old - and their ability or inability to survive and thrive in a male-dominated world.

I Always Loved You is the story of the relationship between Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt - a relationship that lasted over 40 years and ended with his death in 1917. It is a beautifully written story of what the history of this time was and what the relationship between the two might have been.

As such, I approach this book with some high expectations. This story begins in Glasgow, Scotland and travels to the San Juan Island, Washington in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The title of book features both literally in the places in the book and figuratively as when "home" may symbolize a person:
  • "Let's go, let's build a shipyard. A place for us. All of us. A wild and heavenly place."
  • "You are my wild and heavenly place, Hailey. You. You always have been."
This dichotomy covers the dueling focal points of the book as well. As with Robin Oliveira's other books, the time and the place of the Pacific Northwest and the shipping industry feature in the book. However, more than the time and place, it is the romance that is the heart of this book. 

Unfortunately, for me, that makes this book less successful. The focus ends up primarily on the romance between Samuel Fiddes and Hailey MacIntyre. Without spoilers, I will say that some of the actions of the primary characters leading to the eventual conclusion of the book are not likable. 

That aside, the romance pushes to the side the history and the actual "wild and heavenly place" where this book is set. The place does not come to life in the same way as it does in Robin Oliveira's other books. In fact, at times, it seems that this romance could have been set in any time period and in any location and still have told the same romantic tale. The book description cites the chase for the "American Dream". However, the telling of the story, this dream because more about the chase for the romance with the "American Dream" being a conduit to earn the romance.

The book is still an enjoyable tale but, for me, not in keeping with prior works.


Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

The Rachel Incident

The Rachel Incident
Title:
  The Rachel Incident
Author:  Caroline O'Donoghue
Publication Information:  Knopf. 2023. 304 pages.
ISBN:  0593535707 / 978-0593535707

Rating:   ★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "I only ever really talk about Dr. Byrne with James Devlin, and so I always assumed that, were he ever to come back into my life, it would be through him."

Favorite Quote:  "When you love someone, you sign up for the whole thing. Even if they're grumpy or weird or sick or... It doesn't matter how many things you have on already. You love the whole person."

The book description states that the book is "shot through with delicious sparkling humor." Unfortunately, I found the book more sad than humorous. My reaction to the book is likely impacted by that fact.

Ireland. Rachel. James. Rachel and James. Fred. Rachel and Fred. James and Fred. James and Rachel. Fred and his wife. And so on and so forth.

Rachel is a college student. Dr. Fred Beans is her very married professor. James is first Rachel's acquaintance, then her flat-mate, then her friend, and then a presence always in her life.

Rachel is an adult with a career. She is pregnant. There is James.

The book encompasses these two timelines. The book jumps between the two timelines often with no warning. It is challenging at times to determine which characters occur in which timeline and what the change in those characters is. It is challenging at times even to see changing Rachel from college to an adult.

Rachel's commentary on the past is as follows. "The year in Shannon Street did a lot for me, but it did this most of all. It detached me from any kind of inherited moral system. I stopped sizing others up in accordance with the values I had been taught: who was a loser, who was closed, who was cheating on their wife. I learned the value of context, and of people."

It is interesting that this statement speaks to an inherited moral system. To me, that would imply that Rachel eventually determines her own moral compass, not an inherited one. However, it is unclear if that happens, and if it does, what exactly are the conclusions Rachel reaches regarding a moral compass? Trigger warning: The incident and Rachel's subsequent decisions in this book may be counter to certain readers' moral beliefs.

Even without that growth that I expect to see, Rachel story of the past could be a coming of age story for Rachel and for her friends. The college days portray, a set of individuals seemingly drifting through life.  Unfortunately, none of the characters are particularly likable. I want to invest in the friendship between Rachel and James.  However, some of it unfortunately follows stereotypes, and the rest gets lost in the complications of the "incident." Other than the "incident" nothing much really happens for much of the book.

By the time it does, it is too late for me to invest in the story. 


Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Sunday, December 22, 2024

When The Waters Came

When the Waters Came by Candice Sue Patterson
Title:
  When the Waters Came
Author:  Candice Sue Patterson
Publication Information:  Barbour Fiction. 2024. 256 pages.
ISBN:  1636097588 / 978-1636097589

Rating:   ★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Fog suspended from hemlock and spruce in a ghostly blanket that whispered along the peaks of decorated headstones, and the mourners gathered round."

Favorite Quote:  "I realized that the actions of man will frustrate me the rest of my life if I allow them to. I won't stop praying and doing my part to see a positive difference made, but I also won't let the outcome rule my life anymore."

When the Waters Came is the first in a series of six fictional accounts of American disasters - both natural and manmade that transformed the communities they impacted.

On Friday, May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River 14 miles upstream of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, failed after days of strong rainstorms. The ensuing flood destroyed Johnstown, killing over 2,200 people. The damage, in today's, dollars would total billions of dollars. The loss of lives is immeasurable.

The dam was part of the privately owned, secret membership South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. The dam supported the club lake to provide sport and fishing for the club members. Most sources say that changes to the dam for club purposes likely led to the deterioration of the dam and its eventual failure. However, "what stuck with me the most and has never let go is that not one charge was ever brought against the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club nor any of its members. Despite proof of negligence, no one was ever held accountable."

This book tells the story of this flood through two main fictional characters - Pastor Montgomery Childs of Johnstown and Annamae Worthington, a nurse who comes after the flood as part of the Red Cross relief efforts led by Clara Barton. My issue with the book is that the story becomes much more about these characters than the flood and the town. The history becomes a background and not the story itself.

Given that the main character is a pastor, the telling of the story takes a decided religious bent, which is unexpected. Pastor Monty, as he is called, suffers a crisis of faith given the horror and destruction he witnesses. In addition, he has a back story which relates to the history of the dam and is slowly revealed through the book. As the author's note explains, the book creates a fictional relationship to bring in a historical figures and bring this plot line to a conclusion.

Annamae also has a back story and her own reasons for coming to Johnstown beyond her work with the Red Cross. The Red Cross aspect would be interesting but for the characterization of some of the historical figures.

Finally, a story purported to be about a disaster and its community impact ends up a romance between these two characters. That is completely unexpected based on my expectations of the book and, for me, completely unnecessary.

As always, I am glad for the history this historical fiction taught me. I was just not the reader for the fictional part of the story.


Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library
Title:
  The Last Heir to Blackwood Library
Author:  Hester Fox
Publication Information:  Graydon House. 2023. 320 pages.
ISBN:  1525819569 / 978-1525819568

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "The bricked her up on Saint George's Day."

Favorite Quote:  "I've come to realized that my memories are precious, even the bad ones."

The listing for this book has the subtext "haunting historical fantasy romance". The Yorkshire moors are the atmospheric setting for this book. Blackwood Abbey is home to a magnificent library. For reasons unknown, Ivy Radcliffe finds herself its heir and owner. There are many who feel she should not be. There are some who reserve judgement. However, are any of them who they say?

The "haunting" comes from the stories people tell of the estate, its previous owners, and its history. The "historical" comes in through the background of the area as told through the evolution of this estate. The "fantasy" comes in through the manuscripts of the library and through the strange happenings therein. The fantasy element grows through the characteristics associated with the inheritors of the library. The "romance" comes in through those who call the estate home while Ivy is new to the manor and in need of friends.

I have read several books by Hester Fox. This one draws me in with "library" in its title and as a main feature of the book. "Ivy had always cherished books for the stillness they allowed in a world that values fast, unforgiving progress regardless of the human expense; there was a magical link between words on the page and the vivid images that simultaneously unfolded in her mind." The idea of the power and magic of books appeals to me. The idea of the knowledge of eras gone by brought forward through its writers appeals to me.

That being said, the practicality in me protests at the main character's approach to her inheritance. Ivy is at a crossroads in life and financially. She finds that she has inherited an estate. Although the estate is in disrepair, it is nevertheless an estate. The inheritance comes with stipulations. Yet, Ivy, upon her arrival at the estate seems caught up in trivialities. She appears to have no interest in and makes no attempt to investigate the extent of the estate, its financial status, its potential, or her ability to use this as a substantive way to change her life.

Why is the main character shown as not capable of such independent thought or action? The romances - both real and not - seem to take over the story. In that way, this book is much more the romance than historical fiction, fantasy, or even the story of a strong female character. 

Don't get me wrong, it's a fun story. However, the story of a strong woman dealing with an unexpected inheritance - material and psychic - can be just that without reliance on romance to see it through.


Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Monday, December 16, 2024

Democracy Awakening

Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson
Title:
  Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America
Author:  Heather Cox Richardson
Publication Information:  Viking. 2023. 304 pages.
ISBN:  0593652967 / 978-0593652961

Rating:   ★★★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "America is at a crossroads."

Favorite Quote:  "Democracies die more often through the ballot box than at gunpoint."

In 2019, Heather Cox Richardson, a professor of history at Boston College started a daily newsletter titled  Letters from an American, "a newsletter about the history behind today's politics." The newsletter speaks on current events of the day/week through the lens of American history. Currently, the newsletter has over 1.4 million subscribers.

This book is a curated collection of both the news and the history that has led our nation to this point in history. Through history, the book presents a definitive political point of view. My guess is that if that does not agree to your world view, you are not likely to read to this book. If you do read it, you may not agree with much that is presented.

I read the Dr. Richardson's newsletters and this book as a student, looking to be educated. The newsletters and the book present a lot of information compacted into a small space. A lot! Both the newsletters and the book come with copious notes as to the research sources used. About 20% of this book in fact is the "Notes" or bibliography for those wishing to take an even deeper dive into the history.

That being said, this is not an academic tome. Rather it is for the public lay person interested in history and politics. The book looks and feels like and reads very much like the daily newsletters. It is likely a compendium of the information presented in the newsletter. Different method of presentation, perhaps reaching a different audience. The book is in fact dedicated "to the people who have joined me in exploring the complex relationship between history, humanity, and modern politics - this book is yours as much as it is mine."

The book is set up in three main sections:  Undermining Democracy, The Authoritarian Experiment, and Reclaiming America. Within each section are ten chapters presenting history and connecting the dots to the current day politics. This book is her explanation of how the nation got here not necessarily where the nation goes from here. That should be and hopefully will be decided at the ballot box.

Based on the references and notes presented in the newsletters and the book, I am reminded daily of how much of the history of our nation I do not know. At times, I wish I had the knowledge to analyze what I am reading to determine if I too would reach the same conclusion. To me, a healthy skepticism is necessary to any view on history and politics. That being said, I am grateful for the knowledge Dr. Richardson shares in this book and on a daily basis.


Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Friday, December 13, 2024

Terrace Story

Terrace Story
Title:
  Terrace Story
Author:  Hilary Leichter
Publication Information:  Ecco. 2023. 208 pages.
ISBN:  0063265818 / 978-0063265813

Rating:   ★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "The old window gave a grant view of Yellow Tree, trunk to branch.

Favorite Quote:  "Grief is not the door that tucks you in; it's the door that shuts you out."

The book description reads as follows. "Based on the National Magazine Award–winning story, Hilary Leichter’s profound second novel asks how we nurture love when death looms over every moment. From one of our most innovative and daring writers, Terrace Story is an astounding meditation on loss, a reverie about extinction, and a map for where to go next."

As a reader, I am not sure I understand what this book is about or how to capture the promise of this description.

The premise is as follows. An individual somehow has the ability to expand the physical space they are in. How or why? Controlled or uncontrolled? Privilege or curse? This is either never truly explained, or again, I just don't understand.

The book reads like interlinked short stories or novellas. If you keep the names straight, you see the characters connect from one to the other. Maybe.

The book description poses questions. "How far can the mind travel when it’s looking for something that is gone? Where do we put our loneliness, longing, and desire? What do we do with the emotions that seem to stretch beyond the body, beyond the boundaries of life and death?" Having read it, I am not sure the book provided the answer, or again, perhaps I just don't understand.

Based on the idea of being able to expand time and space, the book could be a science fiction story. However, it is not. The premise is never really explained, or maybe I just don't understand. Regardless, the exploration of the science is clearly not the focal point. I somewhat wish that it was for that thread might have tied the whole book together.

Based on the same idea, the book could be a fantasy for the worlds that life in that expansion. However, this book does not go in that direction either. The expanded space is just that - a terrace beyond an apartment, a ceiling that seems higher, etc. No fanciful worlds or adventures exist beyond. Perhaps, this thread may have tied the book together for me, but that was not the point.

I do persevere to the end of the book, hoping the ending will bring all the different threads together. Sadly, for me, it does not. At the end, I walk away frustrated and completely not understanding. It seems a book that tries too hard to make a philosophical point that unfortunately is lost on this reader.


Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Monday, December 9, 2024

Under the Tamarind Tree

Under the Tamarind Tree
Title:
  Under the Tamarind Tree
Author:  Nigar Alam
Publication Information:  GP Putnam's Sons. 2023. 320 pages.
ISBN:  0593544072 / 978-0593544075
Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Rating:   ★★★★

Opening Sentence:  "Nine-year-old Rozeena stared ahead, squinting in the dark at the hordes of shouting people racing towards her family."

Favorite Quote:  "Like the powerful waves that must reach the shore and crash onto the beach, the past too must bubble up from within us, up and out through our lips. We must speak of it instead of allowing the pressure to build inside."

The author's note provides the historical context for this book. "Like Rozeena's family, both my parents' families crossed the border into Pakistan at the time of Partition. After celebrating independence, they joined the millions of people who migrated, who were displaced, who ran and became refugees. But historical facts and numbers, however horrific the scale, don't convey the true human impact, the life-altering consequences, and the trauma that ripples through generations. It's the personal stories that speak to us." In the five weeks prior to the departure of the British from the area, one individual was given the task of dividing the region into nations. Without knowledge of the areas and settlements, the Radcliffe Line came to be. This led to violence, devastation, and mass migrations as the families left India for Pakistan and vice versa.

Even with its dual timelines, this story is not of Partition itself, but the roots of it begin with that time and the refugees who came to Karachi and settled there as neighbors. The bonds and secrets of that time carry forward through the generations to impact the present. "Sometimes, many times, it is the unexpected, the tragic, that determines the direction of our lives."

This book is truly Rozeena's story. She is a nine-year-old at the time of partition. She is a young woman in the 1960s, as she struggles to define her responsibility to her family and her own role as a physician and an independent woman. "Shouldn't it matter which people are doing the talking? If it's people I don't care for, then why should I worry? I have to do what's right ... I can't only do what's expected. There got to be some balance, you know." In the present, she is retired, a mother, a mentor, and still the fiercely independent woman she has always been.

Surrounding Rozeena are family and friends. The childhood loss is of home, city, and especially the death of her brother due to the violence surrounding Partition. The story of the 1960s is of economic divides, friendship, responsibility, love, and a reckoning of all she believes of her life. The story of the present is a chance to reframe that past. Perhaps the chain of trauma and secrets can be set right for the next generations. "In her youth she hadn't known that excess could be a problem too. Just as a plant can drown in too much water, people can lose themselves in too much comfort, too much ease."

The story is narrated through "then" and "now." The history of Partition is brought out in the reliving of memories and the loss of her brother that has determined the direction of Rozeena's life. The "then" is the story of Rozeena and her friends as life altering decisions change the dreams of what might have been. The "now " is the reuniting of the friends that remain. "Some things happen because events align in  such a way to make them happen ... Sometimes there was a clear guilty party, but ... Sometimes, some things just happen. That's all. What you can control now is how you react to that awful, dreadful, tragic thing that happened."

I did guess most of the conclusion of this book. A couple of things about the events during Partition and the fate of one character seemed to come out of nowhere and seem unnecessary. The pace of the book is also slow and melodious but seems to pick up all of a sudden to the conclusion. Nevertheless, the characters of Rozeena and young Zara and the story unfolding keep me engaged. Given that this is a debut novel, I look forward to what Nigar Alam writes next. 


Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Sunday, December 8, 2024

Apartment Women

Apartment Women by Gu Byeong-mo
Title:
  Apartment Women
Author:  Gu Byeong-mo (author). Chi-Young Kim (translator)
Publication Information:  Hanover Square Press. 2024. 224 pages.
ISBN:  1335050078 / 978-1335050076

Rating:   ★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley and a publisher's blog tour free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "The backyard table was big enough to seat approximately sixteen adults, assuming you didn't mind brushing elbows with you neighbors each time you reached over to grab a napkin or a cup, big enough to squeeze in an additional half dozen kids if you packed in tight enough and didn't mind someone else breathing on you."

Favorite Quote:  "Trivial things weren't so trivial when they piled up, not a corn on the sole of a foot or dust heaped on a forgotten shelf."

***** BLOG TOUR *****


Review

Research documents that South Korea as a nation has the lowest fertility rate in the world. 2024 is the first year in over a decade that the fertility rate is expected to increase in South Korea. This means an aging and declining population over time. The South Korean government has attempted and is attempting different programs to stem this decline.

This book speaks to one possible program. "The Dream Future Pilot Communal Apartments was a small, twelve-unit building way out in the tranquil mountains ... it was brand-new and had been built with care by the government. it was clean and the decently sized units had a good floor plan, and most crucially, it was public rental house. But the conditions of residency were strict..."

"Among all those documents, the handwritten pledge was the icing on the cake - you were asked to promise to do your best to have at least three children, given that the purpose of these pilot communal apartments was to reverse the plummeting birth rate."

This translated story is the depiction of this fictional program, beginning when the fourth family moves into one of the units in this complex. Four couples. Four sets of parents. Four sets of children. Through each of the families, we see different possibilities - a stay at home father, a wife who is the primary wage earner but also expected to retain the traditional image of a subservient wife, a mother who tries to balance a young child and a work-at-home career, and more. Through the four families together, we see the differing visions of communal life ranging from the one who initially views this as merely living in the same building to the one who sees this as a commune with shared resources and shared responsibilities. The differing viewpoints give rise to the conflicts of this book.

The book is a quiet story, anchored in the day to day life of commutes, children, housekeeping, jobs, childcare, schooling, and all the sometimes mundane things that make up everyday life. Many of the daily tasks talked about are relatable. The conversations and monologues about work-life balance especially for women are universal.

The challenge of the book is to stay engaged in those details for the entirety of the book. Another challenge, perhaps of the original or the translation, is that the book shifts viewpoints with no warning. I see no chapter markings; it just jumps.

At the end, the book is an interesting look at the South Korean culture through this lens. Beyond that, I am  not sure of the lesson, idea, or understanding I am supposed to walk away with.

About the Book

From the New York Times Notable author of The Old Woman with the Knife, comes a bracingly original story of family, marriage, the cultural expectations of motherhood, about four women whose lives intersect in dramatic and unexpected ways at a government-run apartment complex outside Seoul

When Yojin moves with her husband and daughter into the Dream Future Pilot Communal Apartments, she’s ready for a fresh start. Located on the outskirts of Seoul, the experimental community is a government initiative designed to boost the national birth rate. Like her neighbors, Yojin has agreed to have at least two more children over the next ten years.

Yet, from the day she arrives, Yojin feels uneasy about the community spirit thrust upon her. Her concerns grow as communal child care begins and the other parents begin to show their true colors. Apartment Women traces the lives of four women in the apartments, all with different aspirations and beliefs. Will they find a way to live peacefully? Or are the cultural expectations around parenthood stacked against them from the start?

A trenchant social novel from an award-winning author, Apartment Women incisively illuminates the unspoken imbalance of women’s parenting labor, challenging the age-old assumption that “it takes a village” to raise a child.

About the Author

Gu Byeong-mo is an award-winning author. Born in Seoul, South Korea, she now resides in Jinju, South Korea with her family. The Old Woman with the Knife, her first book to be translated into English, was a New York Times Notable Book and an NPR Best Book of the Year.Chi-Young Kim is an award-winning literary translator and editor who has translated works by You-jeong Jeong, Sun-mi Hwang, Young-ha Kim, Kyung Ran Jo, J.M. Lee, and Kyung-sook Shin, among others.

Excerpt

Excerpted from APARTMENT WOMEN by Gu Byeong-mo. Copyright © 2018 by Gu Byeong-mo. English translation © 2024 by Chi-Young Kim. Published by Hanover Square Press, an imprint of HarperCollins.

The recycling truck kicked up pieces of cardboard and dust as it drove off. Soda cans and bottle caps that had fallen off the back tumbled along the ground. Danhui’s hands became sticky as she picked up the trash and put it in the sack.

After she cleaned up the recycling, she broomed the dust into a metal dustpan, dumped it into a trash bag, and headed up to the third floor. She could hear the baby’s cries from the bottom of the stairs.

“Hyonae-ssi, are you there? Hyonae-ssi? Sounds like Darim’s crying?”

She heard rustling as the crying settled, then the front door swung open. Exhausted, her eyes bloodshot, Jo Hyonae came outside holding Darim. She looked as desperate as a trembling drop of water clinging to the faucet. “Yes, what is it?” Hyonae’s voice was hoarse.

“Were you sleeping all this time? You don’t look like you got any rest!” “What’s going on so early in the morning?”

“Oh, Hyonae-ssi! You sent Sangnak-ssi down by himself the other day when we were all meeting the new family, and you haven’t shown your face since. It’s not early, everyone’s gone off to work and it’s already nine! I thought I told you the recycling truck comes at eight on Mondays.”

Hyonae shifted Darim to her other arm and scratched her tousled head. “I had to pull an allnighter again. I’m happy to take it on next time.”

This woman was the complete opposite of the new tenant Euno, who had come out to see if he could help when he heard the truck. Even though his family was still unpacking and settling in, Euno had come anyway and hovered about, asking if there was anything he could do, while Danhui and Gyowon waved him off, declining any assistance. What Danhui did want, although she refrained from asking, was for him to go pound on Hyonae’s door and wake her up. All this time Danhui had nodded and smiled sympathetically when Hyonae claimed to be too worn out from work to offer a hand; though she knew it wasn’t that big of a deal, Danhui had been waiting for a chance to have a serious talk with that self-centered Hyonae to make sure her neighbor knew she couldn’t walk all over her.

“Now you’re making me feel like I’m in the wrong here,” Danhui protested. “I’m not trying to imply that the work is hard. The workers collecting the recyclables are the ones doing the heavy lifting, and all we need to do is gather everything in one place so things don’t go flying around everywhere.”

“Right, that’s why I’m saying I can be the one to handle it next time.”

Danhui wanted to believe that Hyonae wasn’t purposely shirking her duties, but irresponsibility and laziness seemed something of a second nature to Hyonae. Even if Hyonae herself didn’t care, it was exhausting for the rest of them to have to deal with her.

“You know that’s not the issue. Doing communal work together is what makes it meaningful. Like I said before, if someone does it on their own this week and someone else handles it on their own the next week, it gets tricky and the system falls apart. Even if we made a schedule of whose turn it is to do what, there are always going to be times when we can’t follow it. That’s why everyone needs to come out and do this together. We can be flexible when someone has an unavoidable conflict. But if you can’t do the bare minimum, how will we be able to live together in harmony?”

This was when Darim, whose lips had been trembling during Danhui’s speech, burst into tears again, and Hyonae took that opportunity to cut her neighbor off. “Well, I need to nurse her right now.”

Danhui let out a sigh as she glanced over Hyonae’s slender shoulders into her apartment—the rumpled baby blankets, an open bag of sliced bread, toys strewn across the floor, clothes thrown every which way. “Sure. Text me later once Darim’s asleep. I’ll stop by for a second and we can finish talking.”

Danhui headed back downstairs, telling herself she shouldn’t be irritated by Hyonae, who, as always, had merely given a curt nod to put an end to their conversation.

It wasn’t a shock that Hyonae was exhausted—Danhui herself had experienced this fatigue when her two boys were younger, and she wouldn’t have been able to survive those years if the people around her hadn’t been unconditionally accommodating and considerate. You could try your best but not make it out of the apartment on time. Sometimes, no matter how hard you tried to wake up, it felt truly impossible to pry a single eye open, even with a wailing child beside you. Raising children was all about dragging yourself forward. Despite all your maternal love and inner strength, you’d still find yourself marooned from time to time, and you had no choice but to continue on until your last breath.

Those feelings were normal, but she couldn’t help but be annoyed. Whenever childcare obligations kept Danhui from upholding her side of the communal bargain (like the time she missed a general meeting at her boys’ day care center), she would apologize in a manner appropriate to the magnitude of her act. She would personally deliver a handwritten note—I’m sorry I missed the meeting, my son was sick again—with a fruit basket or a cake box. Then she would bow in apology at the next opportunity and work twice as hard whenever a small task came her way. Even if the others were put out before, they would end up doing her a favor when she needed something; they might push her turn back or let her go first.

Long before they moved here, back when Jeongmok was a baby, Jaegang had been away on a business trip and the recycling had piled up for three weeks in the utility room of their tiny twenty-four-pyeong apartment. Of course it did; since the baby’s arrival, they had started buying and using more and more personal hygiene products, and all of them had come packaged in plastic. Recycling days were once a week like at most apartment buildings in Seoul, and the residents were supposed to bring their recyclables out between six in the evening on Thursday and five thirty the following morning when the recycling truck arrived. But Jaegang had come home late after work the first week, then returned drunk off his feet from a work dinner the following week, and then had gone overseas for business the third week.

She had opened the door to the utility room to discover Styrofoam dishes and plastic recyclables piled around the large overflowing polypropylene tote bag in which they carried recycling downstairs; the plastic refuse blocked the path to the washing machine, barring her from entry. If someone were to see the utility room, they would assume she was a hoarder, the kind you saw on the news, or an alcoholic who neglected her child, and she was made miserable by this thought; it felt as though everything she had done earlier in her marriage to live a more environmentally friendly life, which of course had taken attention and effort, had gone down the drain.

Deciding to handle this problem herself instead of waiting for Jaegang to get home, she carefully slipped sleeping Jeongmok in his baby carrier. She should have done this from the get-go, but she had been trying not to expose Jeongmok to the freezing winter wind, which they’d confront on the seven-minute walk down the long corridor to the elevator and out the front doors to the trash and recycling area. Danhui went out with the bag filled with cardboard boxes and plastic. As she made the second trip with the baby on her back—after all, she only had two hands—other residents and the security guard spotted her and rushed over to help. She gratefully accepted their kindness, though she hadn’t brought Jeongmok to evoke sympathy, but rather because of all the tragedies she heard about on the news, stories of a child falling or suffocating to death during the brief moments their mom washed the dishes or ran to the supermarket just across the street. By her third trip, the security guard and the residents who had been breaking down her boxes and stacking them offered to come up to her apartment to help bring the rest down.

She had, of course, bowed in gratitude, and later, once she had her wits about her, she found out which units the kind neighbors lived in and brought gifts of tteok and fruit for them and the security guard. After that, her neighbors were naturally happy to help out. This was just one of the many ways a young mother could pay back the inevitable debt she racked up among her neighbors; you just had to show your gratitude.

But Hyonae didn’t bother doing any of that. It wasn’t that she was incapable; she just didn’t care. As an example, a salesperson hawking red ginseng or health supplements might offer a regular customer a bottle of vitamins for free, and, if that customer had any sense, they would kindly refuse after the first time, appreciating the thought behind the gesture. But Hyonae never even gave out copies of the picture books she illustrated. She claimed to be embarrassed because they weren’t published by a well-known company, and said they were sold as a box set and therefore hard for her to give out only the one she illustrated; still, if she handed out a few books to the neighbors, whose children were all around the same age, she could easily generate some goodwill by showing everyone what kind of work she did and help them understand why she couldn’t fully participate in their day-to-day schedule, but she didn’t put in any effort. Relationships were like joints that creaked without fluid between them, and Danhui’s biggest complaint was that the same people always felt the resulting pain and discomfort. She wasn’t annoyed by the fact that she wasn’t on the receiving end of niceties; she sincerely believed that these small acts were the bare minimum when you lived in an apartment building.

Even if you weren’t a people person, all you had to do was merely say the right things at the right time. Reflecting on her experience raising two kids, Danhui felt that a mother had to constantly say “sorry” and “thank you” even if she had done nothing wrong. All Hyonae had to do was add just one more sentence; just now, after saying, “I had to pull an allnighter again,” she could have easily added, I’m so sorry. Again, it wasn’t that Danhui wanted Hyonae to prostrate herself, it was just that these were the skills— or rather, the basic courtesy—of maintaining relationships. Intellectually she knew she should forgive Hyonae’s disorganized disposition and not judge her based on her line of work, but her lack of social skills was obvious, sitting as she did in her room, working on projects alone.

Two days ago, Sangnak had emphasized that Hyonae had fallen asleep after meeting a deadline, which was why she couldn’t come to the welcome party for the new family. He had even brought Darim to the backyard on his own to allow Hyonae to rest. But here she was, up all night again despite her husband’s support. Was she drawing all the pictures in the world, all by herself? Danhui had gone upstairs merely to tell her that they should try to work more effectively together, and Hyonae had cut her off, saying she’d just handle the recycling by herself the next time. Not only was it incredibly unclear when exactly this next time would be, but this disorganized approach would also render a turn-taking system useless and confusing. Maybe someone might think Hyonae was being ostracized over the trivial issue of recycling…

But it wasn’t trivial.

Trivial things weren’t so trivial when they piled up, not a corn on the sole of a foot or dust heaped on a forgotten shelf. Danhui just wanted Hyonae to understand this.

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Saturday, December 7, 2024

The Greatest Lie of All

The Greatest Lie of All by Jillian Cantor
Title:
  The Greatest Lie of All
Author:  Jillian Cantor
Publication Information:  Park Row. 2024. 320 pages.
ISBN:  0778387313 / 978-0778387312

Rating:   ★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley and a publisher's blog tour free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Sometimes the end of everything sneaks up on you when you least expect it."

Favorite Quote:  "In real life maybe a happy ending isn't always being with a person you love, but instead, becoming the person you always wanted to be yourself."

***** BLOG TOUR *****


Review

"But he was the reason why she told the greatest lie of all." Who tells the lie? For whom? Turns out many tell lies in this book for many reasons. Some are small - a stage name for a real name. Some are monumental and life altering. Some are never told but believed and acted upon,  leading to life altering decisions. Some are lies of omission.

In making its story "real," the book speaks of the lie of fiction. "To be a fiction writer was to be a liar. But in small doses, in her imagination, in words on a page. Those lies didn't really exist when no one else read them but her."

This is a story of two timelines. Mare, George, Bess, and Max meet in college. Rather, Mare meets Max and introduces him to Bess. Bess introduces Mare to George. Years later, Mare is now a world famous romance writer Gloria Diamond. George died years ago when their son Will was a child. The story of the past is from college to the time of George's death.

Annie grew up with a single mother. Her parents separated when she was a child. Years later, Annie is now an actress Amelia Grant. Her mother has just died. Her father has another life with his second wife and children.

A movie is to be made of Gloria Diamond's life as depicted in one of her books -  a story of romance and true love or so they say. Amelia is to play Gloria. To enable her do that, Amelia comes to spend a few days with Gloria. The story of the present is the story of those days.

The chapters go back and forth between the two timelines and the perspectives of these two women. Layer by layer, the past is revealed and the connection between the past and the present comes to light.

Mare / Georgia is not a particularly likable character. The intensity of her relationships in the past is presented as a given. The story of the past does not really explain how it comes to be. As such, it is challenging to understand the decisions she makes. At the same time, it make the character and the story a sad one as one moment alters the trajectory of a life.

Nevertheless, the mystery of the connection between the past and present is an intriguing one to follow. I read through it quickly; the story kept the pages turning. However, my biggest challenge with the book is the connection revealed towards the end. I will attempt to explain without a spoiler. The joy of reading a mystery is getting to ending and being able to say that I did not see that coming but I should have. In this case, I may have seen that coming but I could not care as I could not invest in the character involved. So, I enjoyed the read but would have preferred a different ending more focused on who the rest of the story is about and how it's told.

About the Book

A young actress receives the role of a lifetime—playing a famous romance writer in a major biopic. But when she discovers a shocking secret about the author’s past, she realizes her own participation in the biopic is no coincidence. Perfect for fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

Fledgling actress Amelia Grant is at rock bottom when offered the opportunity of a lifetime: to play world-renowned romance author, Gloria Diamond, in a biopic. To prepare for the role, she'll spend a week with Gloria at her secluded Washington estate. It's a chance to get out of L.A., away from her cheating ex-boyfriend, and to make her recently deceased mother proud, who was Gloria's biggest fan.

Amelia's excitement is short-lived, however, once she arrives at the estate. Gloria is cold, verging on rude, and so different than her public persona – a widow-turned-romance writer who used her own whirlwind love story as inspiration for her books. But when Amelia stumbles upon a secret from Gloria's past, she realizes Gloria's life story is more fiction than fact, and Amelia’s own participation in the biopic is no coincidence.

Told in alternating points of view—Amelia in the present day and Gloria in the past—the novel examines what it means to be a woman and an artist, and what lengths a woman will ultimately go to protect herself and her passions.

About the Author

Jillian Cantor is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of eleven novels for teens and adults, which have been chosen for LibraryReads, Indie Next, Amazon Best of the Month, and have been translated into 13 languages. She has a BA in English from Penn State University and an MFA from the University of Arizona. Born and raised in a suburb of Philadelphia, Cantor currently lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons.

Excerpt

Excerpted from THE GREATESE LIE OF ALL by Jillian Cantor, Copyright © 2024 by Jillian Cantor. Published by Park Row Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Prologue

Amelia

Sometimes the end of everything sneaks up on you when you least expect it.

I read that once, in a Gloria Diamond novel. Only she was referring to an asteroid. For me, the end came as a 32 DD red lace bra.

It happened on a rare rainy day in LA, two months after my thirty-third birthday. Two days after my mother had died.

She had collapsed quite suddenly in her garden, my mother. And forty-eight hours later, I found myself numb and standing in the open doorway of my walk-in closet in my underwear. I knew I needed something to wear to the funeral home to discuss arrangements, but I couldn’t figure out how to step inside the closet and choose what that should be. Young woman with newly dead mother. It was a role I didn’t yet understand and didn’t want. I stared at all my clothes blindly, as if I’d never seen any of them before.

“How about this?” Jase stepped around me, walked into the closet and pulled out a hanger with a simple black shift dress. Was it mine? I had no memory of buying it. The tags were still on.

“She hated black,” I reminded him. My mother had been in love with color, from the pink azaleas in her garden to the color-splattered abstract art she made in her studio to the bright orange plates she’d serve us brunch on each Sunday.

Jase raised his eyebrows, and I took the dress from him, ripped off the tags and quickly slipped into it. I glanced at myself in the floor-length mirror. The dress was shapeless, and I looked pale and powerless.

Jase walked up behind me and hugged me, whispering one more apology over not being able to accompany me this morning. His shooting schedule was intense. The director would get mad if he called out last minute.

“It’s fine,” I told him, again. Work was work. And he had fought so hard to get this far. It wasn’t like I could be mad he hadn’t planned ahead. No one could’ve expected my healthy fifty-eight-year-old mother to collapse in her azaleas when shooting schedules had been made. I’d just wrapped shooting on a supporting role in an indie film, so luckily my schedule this week was clear. My mother always had impeccable timing.

“Are you sure?” Jase released the words slowly, tickling my ear with his breath. When I nodded, he spun me around, planted a gentle kiss on my forehead. He took a step back, nodded approvingly as he glanced over the blah black dress, then flashed what I knew by then was his TV-doctor sexy grin. The smile was an apology, or a promise, or maybe by then it was more like a tic. Since he’d taken on the role of heart surgeon/ heartthrob on the überpopular Seattle Med last year, my boyfriend’s face had become familiar to every woman in America. But it had come to feel strangely unfamiliar to me.

“I’ll be okay,” I heard myself saying. And in spite of everything, I was still a good actress. I sold it.

“I know,” he said easily. Then he shouted after me as I walked out: “Call me if you need anything, though.”

“I won’t,” I yelled back.

But it turned out, I did need something.

Halfway to Pasadena on the 10, I realized I hadn’t grabbed my wallet, and I called Jase to see if he had time before the shoot to drop it off, or if he could at least text me a picture of my credit card so I had the number to pay. But Jase didn’t pick up, and if he’d already left for his shoot, he’d be no help.

I sighed and got off the next exit on the freeway to circle back. I knew I would be late for the appointment now; my mother had abhorred lateness and, more, she had never understood what she termed my spaciness—a lifetime of forgotten wallets and missing socks. But then it hit me, she would never know about this. A dead woman couldn’t get angry. And suddenly I had to pull off to the side of the on-ramp because I couldn’t see the road through my tears.

By the time I made it back to our apartment again, my face was puffy from crying, and I clutched a crumpled tissue in my hand as I unlocked the door. I was blowing my nose as I walked inside, so I almost didn’t notice that random red bra strewn across the floor until my foot caught on it in my path to the bedroom.

And even then, I disentangled it from my foot, picked it up and tossed it aside. I couldn’t process what it was, why it was there. I kept on walking like an idiot to my bedroom; all I knew in that moment was that my wallet was still sitting on my dresser. I opened my bedroom door and suddenly everything—and nothing—made sense. Jase was lying on our bed completely naked, a blonde woman with too-bronze skin, also completely naked, straddling on top of him.

“Jase?” I ran toward the bed and said his name like I was in some stupid movie of the week, and I was too naive to understand what was happening. What had been happening, right in front of me.

The naked woman turned at the sound of my voice and then I recognized her: Celeste Templeton, Jase’s gorgeous twenty-two-year-old Seattle Med costar.

I had this weird moment after she turned where I was nearly eye level with her breasts, and I found myself wondering if they were real. They couldn’t be. No one had authentic breasts that large and that perfectly symmetrical. Did they?

“Shit, Melly. It’s not what you think,” Jase said. But he didn’t move right away, and neither did she. Until she finally shifted off him to grab a blanket and I noticed her breasts barely moved. Definitely fake. I was trapped inside some awful cliché, and all I wanted to do was run. I had to get out.

“I forgot my wallet,” I finally heard myself saying, my voice coming from somewhere far away, above me, apart from me, the way it did when I auditioned for a role. I grabbed my wallet from the dresser and tore out of the room, then out of our apartment.

Just as I stepped outside, it started to rain. It had been raining on and off all week, and rain had been forecasted for today too. But I stood there, letting the water wash over me because, of course, I’d forgotten my umbrella too. And there was no way I was going back inside for it now.

Water flattened my curls and ran down my face, pelted my arms and soaked my ugly dress. My skin felt both numb and raw at once. But I stood there, in the rain, as the understanding hit me, that everything I was and everything I thought I knew, suddenly it was gone, just like that.

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