The Air We Breathe by Andrea Barrett is a book that came recommended, but I simply cannot remember who/what made the recommendation.
Started: 9/2/2019
Completed: 9/6/2019
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recomended By: Nobody
Review:
In many ways this reminds me of books from the turn of the century (Anthony Trollope comes to mind). The nature of entertainment and the richness of formal human interaction. It seems like a Victorian ideal. In a consumptive ward.
The book, however, does not resolve the way that a turn of the century novel did and many things are left unanswered as the book closes. In this case, it is not a problem that things are not tied up. The book did not have a mounting sense of an impending big end, it seemed like a character study from the start. The characters do evolve and, in some ways, seems almost like a modern romantic comedy (or, looking the other way, Shakespearean comedy) with the misunderstood feelings that swoop across the novel. The book also seems to have a societal understanding as the characters are largely reduced to their own society due to illness (vaguely reminiscent of the United States before the first World War and its isolationist policies) and the small society turns on itself in much the same way as the nation did upon entering the war.
This book also quietly examines the love-hate relationship that Americans have with scientists, doctors, and nurses.
I enjoyed this little book while I read it, but I do not expect it to make a lasting impression on me.
In many ways this reminds me of books from the turn of the century (Anthony Trollope comes to mind). The nature of entertainment and the richness of formal human interaction. It seems like a Victorian ideal. In a consumptive ward.
The book, however, does not resolve the way that a turn of the century novel did and many things are left unanswered as the book closes. In this case, it is not a problem that things are not tied up. The book did not have a mounting sense of an impending big end, it seemed like a character study from the start. The characters do evolve and, in some ways, seems almost like a modern romantic comedy (or, looking the other way, Shakespearean comedy) with the misunderstood feelings that swoop across the novel. The book also seems to have a societal understanding as the characters are largely reduced to their own society due to illness (vaguely reminiscent of the United States before the first World War and its isolationist policies) and the small society turns on itself in much the same way as the nation did upon entering the war.
This book also quietly examines the love-hate relationship that Americans have with scientists, doctors, and nurses.
I enjoyed this little book while I read it, but I do not expect it to make a lasting impression on me.
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