How Much of Us There Was

by Michael Kimball

An intense, heartbreaking, new novel from one of the brightest, and most unusual voices in American fiction. 'Fine, precise and shocking, but how will Kimball follow this incredible debut?' asked THE TIMES in 2001. How Much of Us There Was is Michael Kimball's bold reply. It is a small masterpiece.

A husband wakes up to find that his wife has had a seizure during the night. An ambulance is called and she is rushed to the Intensive Care Unit at a nearby hospital, where she lies in a coma. By day he sits anxiously beside her. He tries to think of ways to wake her up. He brings familiar objects to her bedside -- her books, her hairbrush, flowers from their garden. He talks to her. He exercises her limbs. At night he sleeps in the chair at her bedside, dreaming that she will wake up, so that they can go back home.

Years later the story of this same slow death is re-told by their grandson. He wants to understand his grandmother's life and death, what it meant to his grandfather, and what it means to him. He wants to understand the long and deeply loving marriage between his grandparents, and -- in his own words -- "how love can accumulate between two people over and through two lifetimes." How Much of Us There Was is a poignant, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful novel, from an extraordinary voice in American fiction.

Genres: Fiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2005

About the author

Michael Kimball's third novel, DEAR EVERYBODY, will be published in the UK, US, and Canada this year. His first two novels, THE WAY THE FAMILY GOT AWAY (2000) and HOW MUCH OF US THERE WAS (2005), have both been translated into many languages.

He is also responsible for the art project Michael Kimball Writes Your Life Story (on a postcard) and the documentary film, I Will Smash You.

Reviews

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartbreaking yet lovely story about the dying and death of a spouse.

[Hester · Rating 4 out of 5]

A devastatingly tender portrait of dying and grief as experienced in the context of a devoted couple . The weight of the emotion is carried in the space left by the deliberately stripped back and mechanical prose , as a husband witnesses his life partners incremental passage to death .

The enormous sense of bewilderment and loss is increased as his account includes nothing of their family , their life together , friends and neighbours . He is completely alone in his compassion and his suffering .

[Mario Gómez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Por una parte, un libro interesante alrededor de un tema que cualquiera podría pasar en su vida. Una gran reflexión sobre el tema contada de una forma sencilla, dura y justificada. Un libro que, si te ves con la fuerza de leerlo, podrás darle una vuelta al tema planteado, aprender y ponerte en las botas del protagonista.
Por otra parte, la consistencia podría ser mejor, tanto entre la distintas narraciones como dentro de una misa narrativa. A veces se peca de una redundancia excesiva y una lectura pesada.
En definitiva, una reflexión que tarde o temprano podríamos hacernos cualquier persona. Siendo un libro que cuenta con una lectura más o menos pulida, aunque no brillante (bajo mi punto de vista), si estas preparado/a, te podría preparar un poco más para afrontar momentos como los planteados.

[Amy Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book out for its content. A man witnesses his wife dying. I had to order from the UK. Then, I had to "learn" how to read this book. The form is revolutionary and after a few paragraphs, addictive. It is a straightforward style, so much so that I had a hard time reconciling it with anything else I have read recently. At the risk of sounding alarmist or defeatist or cliche, Michael Kimball is a wave in literature that harkens back to what Joyce and Woolf did to a genre about a century ago. This may be a tsunami.

[Ángela · Rating 5 out of 5]

No puedo hablar de este libro sin que se me escapen un par de lagrimillas. Lo he leído en varias ocasiones en las que me sentía perdida y aunque es un libro que alberga mucho dolor, bien es cierto que también contiene grandes dosis de realidad, lo que nos hace pensar cuando terminamos de leerlo en que a veces nos quejamos por nada, nos ponemos tristes por tonterías y dejamos de reír cuando tenemos motivos más que suficientes para encontrarnos bien y dar gracias de que seguimos vivos, que es algo que a veces parecemos olvidar.

[Jessica Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This small book was mini but mighty. It had such an impactful and simple power in its truth and my heart aches for the simplicity and strength of love between two people lasting a lifetime. It was an emotional read of epic proportions in only so many pages. It’s funny how so much can be said in so little words, in so little time.

[Rosa Margarita · Rating 3 out of 5]

La historia común para los que hemos tenido a alguien enfermo y que posteriormente fallece. Un clásico reflejo del luto y de las reacciones que puede tener una persona ante el miedo de perder a alguien y enfrentarse a la ausencia.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got so engrossed in this beautifully written book, read the whole thing in a couple of hours.

[Lenin Lomeli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leído tres veces y en cada ocasión lloro como la primera, excelente

[Gabriela García · Rating 3 out of 5]

:'(

[Diarmuid Hester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply affecting portrait of death and decrepitude, of the attachment that accretes through everyday life and of our powerlessness to stay the inexorable march of death. In contrast to Nicholas Royle's Quilt - a work which similarly treats of grief and mourning - no attempt is made by this work's prevalent voice to seek solace and support in the endless lexicon of the English language; here words reveal a bathetic want of significance and, from the outset, are shown to never accurately convey the intricacies of a conjoined life and the devastation of subtraction. Yet through this frailty, these failures, this inadequacy of language emerges an oblique and powerful imagining of life and love and loss.

Published as Us in the United States.

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about Michael Kimball in the same way that The Things They Carried is about time O'Brien. The story is about what it means to love, truly love. The story is also about what loss really is. The emotions behind the book are beautiful. Honestly, the book made me worry a bit about Kimball, but after reading the P.S. I realize that the book really is a grieving process and he simply wrote that process exactly as it is.

[David Shepard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The language in this book is deceptively simple, but with an economy of language Kimball is able to communicate a great deal about what it means to love and care for another person. The end of the book in particular is incredibly touching. I recommend the book both for the poignant observations that fill it and as a good read for people with a moderate to high level of Spanish-language proficiency.

[Julie Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

While reading this book I found myself wondering what I would feel like if I was one the verge of or to loose someone very close to me- my spouse, my children, my parents.

I did not mind the POV writing or anonynity of the characters. This style of writing however, made the story more generic. It could apply to any age group or situation.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book that had me close to tears a couple of times. The subject matter could easily come across as too sentimental, but Kimball doesn't let the sap get too heavy. I also really love the brevity of the chapters and the sweetness of many of the images.

[Shelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can not review this book until after the next book club meeting!

[Michelle Gibbons · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful tender story. I read it in one sitting.

[M. Sarki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was the best of Michael Kimball. Hard to beat this effort. It touched me deeply.

[Roland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad. Depressing. But very good. I like the way he wrote it. I enjoyed the 2 stories.