A Separation

Audio recordings of books have such power to influence our reading. The narrator of this novel took such a flat and almost affectless tone in the narration–one I might not have been able to conjure up on my own as the narrator's voice. But I think that the audio version makes very clear the emotional limbo of the narrator (whose name, I don't think we ever even learn) and how the story of her separation and then trip to Greece to find her husband is something that happens to her, rather than something she actively participates in.
Some of the more literary moments in the text are quite beautiful; the thread about professional mourners vs. those who are too close to their grief is particularly poignant; and thoughts on death and what it means for those left behind permeate the book. It is a slow tale but kind of lovely. I am not sorry I read it, even though, as I told one of the book club members, it certainly gives the reader ample opportunity to exercise their “judgment muscles” in terms of judging the characters on their motives and actions.