Patrick O'Neill

character study of a middle-aged man who has a near-death experience and then finds out a secret that could/should upend his entire life. He begins to question the nature of his relationships and is struck that we know so little about the people we interact with because people so rarely say anything “real” and to be alive is a “private thing”. If that is the case how can we impact others?

propulsive read thanks to its run on sentence structure. Really highlights the horrors of war and man’s capacity for violence.

This may warrant a reread in the future

I don’t see what all the hype is about. Quick read at least. Examination of our relationship to technology and how it impacts our relationships and our memories.

will they/won’t they love story set in the college music scene of early 2000s. He becomes a famous musician, she is his muse and uncredited cowriter.

I don’t think this book has aged well and i don’t get the hype around it. I understand the absurd aspect of focusing on his behavior and what it says about societal expectations, but the fact is he did kill a man unprovoked and should go to jail. The man is never given a name, and it’s almost suggested if he had acted how society thought he should act he would have gotten off for killing the Arab. Also, his friend never faced any consequences for beating his girlfriend. Mersault says that nothing has meaning because we are all going to die, but his actions did have consequences because the Arab could still be alive and so could Mersault if he had acted differently. The book just seemed out of touch with today’s reality.