Play Book Tag discussion

This book was a revelation.

I don't normally read this type of book, and I was skeptical as to how much I would enjoy it - and while I didn't enjoy it the same way I would with a book that has a fast-moving plot and tons of worldbuilding, I did love this book in a very different way. It asks so many questions about what humanity and being human means and the need to make meaning of life, even when there is nothing with and no one to make meaning for. I came out of this book very thoughtful about some of these questions and issues that it brought up.

We are dropped into this book with really no context. The main character doesn't have a name, and we don't know what is happening in the world at large. I thought all of this would bother me, but the focus on the inner self and the continued striving towards being human by all of the characters ended up being what mattered more. Not too much ultimately ends up happening in the book, and we are left with more questions than answers, but isn't that just what life is? It all amounts to a series of unanswered questions about how we came to be and what it all means. This book simply puts the relentless search for meaning in a world without true meaning front and center.

Another theme that features in this book is the idea of hope vs. hopelessness and freedom vs. captivity. Is freedom simply being out of a cage, or is that another form of captivity? When does hope become hopelessness? Again, like making meaning of life, how much of hope vs. hopelessness is a personal choice?

Although we don't know much about the main character, I really enjoyed her as the narrator. She has no past experiences to compare her current experiences to, so she is unable to understand many concepts that the other women take for granted - but that allows her to transcend and think differently than them. It allows her to be innovative in a way that their cultural experiences constrict, which is something that applies in the real world as well; all of us are constrained by our upbringing and what we accept as "normal." The writing throughout was achingly beautiful, and I could read this author's writing forever, but also, this book was the perfect length.

I don't think I will ever read another book like this one.

"I was forced to acknowledge too late, much too late, that I too had loved, that I was capable of suffering, and that I was human after all."

Excellent review, Flo. I agree it is unique.