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?

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.

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

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 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.

great book about two brothers dealing with the grief of their father’s death and how it impacts them and their relationships.

a middle aged man deals with his grief over losing his father at 9 while raising his own son and dealing with his aging mother. He keeps trying to make things mean something more, but ends up finding meaning in the more mundane, everyday things.

How to be a father when he is still a son and didn’t really know his father?

a novella about an author looking to write a biography about a little known author/painter. What starts off as a normal story starts to get weird once she interviews her subject. Time loops and who is who?

Novella about a man’s experience in hell, an almost infinite library. Instead of torture, hell is monotony. Endless sameness. Touches on religion and morality.

thousands of years of human history as witnessed by a strong wind in northern England. Took me a while to get into this book as it started slowly. Really enjoyed the end though. The individual stories wrapped up interestingly and with some poignant observation about humans.

A dead woman’s job in the afterlife is to bring dying people comfort as they transition. However her latest case proves to be a difficult one to deal with. Oil tycoon who doesn’t see what he has to repent for even though his ruthless business practices have contributed to climate change. He is very proud of himself and all he has accomplished and doesn’t suffer fools. Who is fit to judge the sum of a life? Her story is more interesting than his. Quick read, not as good as Lincoln in the Bardo.

quick read. Interesting. Not really sure what to make of it. Felt like it dragged a little in the middle, but I did like the ending. A lot is open to interpretation, and who knows what was real and what was made up from this unreliable narrator.

A short but emotionally impactful book. A father wrestles with guilt, grief, and self-doubt while on a solo road trip to pick up his sick son from college in time for the holidays.

I normally find short story collections hit or miss, and this was no exception. A few really good ones. Others that were just eh.

I don’t see what all the hype is about. It was a quick, easy read. Good enough story, but I didn’t think it was as great as I’ve heard. A character study basically. Again, a good read, but I wasn’t blown away by it.

starts as a quiet and reflective book, but takes an interesting turn midway through that I did not see coming. Wonderful book about the lives we lead, sometimes out of necessity, and following our hearts.

Didn't know what to expect with this book going in, and wasn't overly impressed. I normally enjoy the Booker winner, but this wasn't as good as the last few years. More of a character study of a man who just goes through life letting it happen to him. He rarely takes any control. Just goes with the flow until it changes. Often finds himself in relationships with women he doesn't really find attractive, but it is something to do.

4 tangentially connected stories that examine a crime and its impact on various people. Deals with enabling, healing, redemption, etc.

Thought the first 2 stories, Water and Earth, were the best.

Just never really connected with the main character. Enjoyed some of the discussions about photography, but overall the story never really grabbed me.

How is a story about the only person alive on some planet manage to be enjoyable, and almost even uplifting? Complete opposite of The Road. Difference is in the narrator and her observations. Very enjoyable book even though it only leaves you with more questions. Definitely a candidate for a reread.

Quick read saved by the last 20 pages. Just wasn't doing it for me, but the end brought it together and was touching. Admittedly I don't have a lot of experience with grief so maybe a fair amount of it was lost on me.

Indictment of our current internet/influencer culture. Of always trying to live up to some aesthetic only to realize the pictures only tell a small part of the whole story and make things look more glamorous than they really are.

What seems like an innocent tale of young love at a performing arts high school is slowly revealed to be much darker, and less straightforward. By the end you aren't quite sure who is who and what exactly happened, but it wasn't good whatever it was. An enjoyable read that kept pulling the rug out, never letting you get too comfortable.

Well written book about communication, rupture, repair, connection. Conway helps repair the cables that carry the messages that tear us apart. The descriptions of his free diving were beautiful. Really captured my attention at times, but sometimes the writing got in the way or tried too hard. Overall enjoyed it and will probably think about it often.

Interesting book about an affair and the effects the woman's turning to religion has on the affair. She turns to religion because she thinks her lover is dead and she makes a promise to God to bring him back. But was he dead? Her struggle to keep her promise leads to her downfall. Very well written in the beginning. Felt like the sentences were constructed.