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Agatha
147 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2017
15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 20, 2022
Incredible. I was not expecting to even like this at all. I know it’s a short book, but the fact that I read it in a day says so much. This is the first book I read that I annotated for fun and not for school. I had to. There was no way I couldn’t annotate this. It would have felt so wrong had I not. I would never have expected to relate to a 72 year old man, but nevertheless, I did. I smiled (cake), I cried a little (Agatha’s story) and I questioned myself, life and my life. The cover of this book is so so extremely beautiful; the bird, the hard cover, the apple on the back. It was wonderful to see the man ‘step out of his comfort zone’ (as said in the blurb) and do things that gives him delight (seeing his beautiful finished cake). I enjoyed every second of this book. I would read this a million times and I desperately want to own this book.
Here are some quotes:
‘I get this urge to blot out my face; I don’t deserve it.’
‘Yet each and every moment you have a chance to do something you can be proud of.’
‘Along the way I tried to convince myself I was somebody. That may sound like a bizarre project, but a man can indeed come to doubt who he is.’
‘The bread was chewy, but if I’d been eating for pleasure, the menu would have looked rather different.’
‘A person I was fond of in my own bungled way was asking for my help. If I didn’t at least try, then what was I good for?’
‘I began to wonder whether I would fight back on the day death came to take me.’
‘How do you help a stranger to a good death when you can’t even work out how to live your own life?’
‘Just think of all the art that’s been produced through suffering and sublimination.’
‘But it works by drowning out the pain, not removing it.’
‘I’m buried alive in my own existence!’
‘I’m angry because I haven’t accomplished anything. I should have been someone, and I’m nothing.’
‘I mean you feel utterly unique and completely irrelevant at the same time.’
‘One moment I don’t think I deserve to live and the next day there’s no one to match me. Silly, isn’t it?’
‘To be honest, I’m not sure how I can help you, Thomas. I’ve never loved anybody.’
‘A life without love isn’t up to much.’
‘I think the worst thing is not seeing my wife’s face again. Having to go somewhere she isn’t.’
‘The decay only gets more visible with every passing day.’
‘Banal as it may sound, I wanted deeply to be a person who meant something to someone.’
‘I’ve baked a cake.’
“‘You exist’, I wanted to say.’”
Here are some quotes:
‘I get this urge to blot out my face; I don’t deserve it.’
‘Yet each and every moment you have a chance to do something you can be proud of.’
‘Along the way I tried to convince myself I was somebody. That may sound like a bizarre project, but a man can indeed come to doubt who he is.’
‘The bread was chewy, but if I’d been eating for pleasure, the menu would have looked rather different.’
‘A person I was fond of in my own bungled way was asking for my help. If I didn’t at least try, then what was I good for?’
‘I began to wonder whether I would fight back on the day death came to take me.’
‘How do you help a stranger to a good death when you can’t even work out how to live your own life?’
‘Just think of all the art that’s been produced through suffering and sublimination.’
‘But it works by drowning out the pain, not removing it.’
‘I’m buried alive in my own existence!’
‘I’m angry because I haven’t accomplished anything. I should have been someone, and I’m nothing.’
‘I mean you feel utterly unique and completely irrelevant at the same time.’
‘One moment I don’t think I deserve to live and the next day there’s no one to match me. Silly, isn’t it?’
‘To be honest, I’m not sure how I can help you, Thomas. I’ve never loved anybody.’
‘A life without love isn’t up to much.’
‘I think the worst thing is not seeing my wife’s face again. Having to go somewhere she isn’t.’
‘The decay only gets more visible with every passing day.’
‘Banal as it may sound, I wanted deeply to be a person who meant something to someone.’
‘I’ve baked a cake.’
“‘You exist’, I wanted to say.’”
March 24, 2023
This slim novel told the story of a psychiatrist nearing retirement, whom we discover, is as much in need of therapy as any his patients. He counts down his days towards retirement, as if he has a master plan in place for such a time, as if this will be the new beginning, the opening to some euphoric life which has evaded him up to now.
The opposite is in fact true. His work, and the structures around which his work is built are his only outlet, and while he can judge and advise his patients, he has not yet turned this lens inwards.
The main thrust of the story revolves around Agatha, a young woman with a severe history of mental illness. Reluctant to take her on and increase his workload, she awakens something in him as their sessions progress. According to her medical records, she was bipolar and treated with electrotherapy and Monsieur deduced that she was reduced to her diagnosis and lacked understanding. Over time he warmed to her, found her striking on many levels and she was the one patient who turned the mirror on him , forcing him to also look at himself.
Another storyline involves his secretary, Madame Surrugue who after so many years, takes leave to look after her dying husband. She asks him to come talk with her husband, which again takes him massively out of his comfort zone and forces him to ask big questions of himself too. After their conversation, he admits he does not know love, which they speculate may make death easier but life harder.
By the end, we feel a sense of hope, a sense of clarity and in the little act of making a cake for his deaf neighbour whom he knew nothing about despite living beside for years, we see a coming out, a change in attitude and an acceptance in engaging with this thing called life.
A beautiful, understated read, and certainly one that will stay with me for a long time.
The opposite is in fact true. His work, and the structures around which his work is built are his only outlet, and while he can judge and advise his patients, he has not yet turned this lens inwards.
The main thrust of the story revolves around Agatha, a young woman with a severe history of mental illness. Reluctant to take her on and increase his workload, she awakens something in him as their sessions progress. According to her medical records, she was bipolar and treated with electrotherapy and Monsieur deduced that she was reduced to her diagnosis and lacked understanding. Over time he warmed to her, found her striking on many levels and she was the one patient who turned the mirror on him , forcing him to also look at himself.
Another storyline involves his secretary, Madame Surrugue who after so many years, takes leave to look after her dying husband. She asks him to come talk with her husband, which again takes him massively out of his comfort zone and forces him to ask big questions of himself too. After their conversation, he admits he does not know love, which they speculate may make death easier but life harder.
By the end, we feel a sense of hope, a sense of clarity and in the little act of making a cake for his deaf neighbour whom he knew nothing about despite living beside for years, we see a coming out, a change in attitude and an acceptance in engaging with this thing called life.
A beautiful, understated read, and certainly one that will stay with me for a long time.
July 29, 2023
It is a charming little book with a simple little story. Beautifully written, masterly constructed, with many memorable scenes and dialogues, in the moment I finished the book, I wanted to give it a 5, since I always appreciate the craft of storytelling when the writers know when to stop. But after a few minutes I thought about the possible storyline that has never been explained or developed, then I can't help feeling it's a forgotten loose end. Maybe there are some articles out there explaining why the writer sets the background at the postwar Paris, with a German main character, Agatha, and both her and the protagonist's war time past have never been mentioned in the book. The story would work just fine in the later period, or even in the current time . Until I know about writer's intention, which is unclear in the book itself, I find it puzzling and a wasted possibility. Therefore 4 stars
August 2, 2024
If it wasn't just 150 pages I wouldnt have finished it
June 18, 2025
I just finished this book and I must say it's really heartwarming. I wouldn't say it's the best book but it's definitely quite good. Throughout reading it's easy to get a bit attached to the characters although I didn't find it that fun until like last 50 pages and after I hit that 100th page i started to quite enjou it. I feel very uplifted and heart warmed after finishing it and I would recommend it to anyone who wants an easy Saturday night read that they will finish in a few hours. Is it worth reading? Yes, definitely! Ps.: I would most ideally rate it 3.5 three is definitely not enough but four doesn't sit right.
April 22, 2021
Loneliness and the search for a place in the world that encourages communication of the soul
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews