The Opposite of Loneliness
Ratings24
Average rating3.4
15
Ratings24
Average rating3.4
The instant New York Times bestseller and publishing phenomenon: Marina Keegan’s posthumous collection of award-winning essays and stories “sparkles with talent, humanity, and youth” (O, The Oprah Magazine). Marina Keegan’s star was on the rise when she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at The New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash. Marina left behind a rich, deeply expansive trove of writing that, like her title essay, captures the hope, uncertainty, and possibility of her generation. Her short story “Cold Pastoral” was published on NewYorker.com. Her essay “Even Artichokes Have Doubts” was excerpted in the Financial Times, and her book was the focus of a Nicholas Kristof column in The New York Times. Millions of her contemporaries have responded to her work on social media. As Marina wrote: “We can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over…We’re so young. We can’t, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have.” The Opposite of Loneliness is an unforgettable collection of Marina’s essays and stories that articulates the universal struggle all of us face as we figure out what we aspire to be and how we can harness our talents to impact the world. “How do you mourn the loss of a fiery talent that was barely a tendril before it was snuffed out? Answer: Read this book. A clear-eyed observer of human nature, Keegan could take a clever idea...and make it something beautiful” (People).
Reviews with the most likes.
Some of the most memorable essays from this book include the one about the whale, the piece on consultants, and the very last one in the book. Some of theses I wish I had read years ago—especially as a student. There's a great comfort in having someone else use words to describe what you're feeling. The fictional stories are beautiful, emotional, and messy with many memorable moments and lines.
While the writing was fantastic for a 22-year-old, and certainly better than my college creative writing, I felt the essays and stories couldn't escape that college perspective. I think I would have enjoyed and related to this much more had I read it senior year of college vs. 2 years after. Still some powerful moments and lovely sentiments, but would probably only recommend to college students. Still, it's wonderful her parents were able to publish this collection post-humous for her memory and talent to live on.
“We are so young. We are so young.”
I've had this on my TBR list for years, years. Of course, as it went viral, I hyped it up in my mind. And then I deflated all that hype before I read it because I've grown more cynical in the past years. I assumed it was just a bestseller because the author died. I don't mean to be cold, really. Her death was a true tragedy, so horrifying, and I cried years ago when I read about. I also cried when I read the beautiful introduction and again when I read The Opposite of Loneliness, the essay. And to that point, I was wrong. I was wrong to judge preemptively.
Marina would have been a great writer of our time. That doesn't mean she would have gotten published or had success, but she was an incredible writer. In the fiction section, I was drawn into every single story. I didn't want to put it down until I found out what happened. Her characters were real people that I could see. And that's a feat with short stories, it's difficult to write a character that real, with a backstory, in a few pages while also telling the story. But she did it.
And in the nonfiction section, Marina somehow managed to make Yale sound interesting enough to hold my attention. Not sorry, Universities are not the place for me. Her musings about life are young and unfinished, but insightful. I wish she had more time, she deserves more time. Of course she does.
Would I recommend this?
Yes, if you enjoy short stories, essays, and realism.
While I enjoyed this book, I would disagree with the book's description of the stories and essays as “hope-filled”. Several of her essays are definitely inspiring and she intelligently articulates what so many university aged students feel and struggle with. However, the fiction stories, in my opinion, are not “hope-filled”. They are sad, challenging, thought-provoking, and at times hauntingly beautiful. This was my first delve into short stories and I must say that even with their brevity, Keegan was able to develop the story with such detail, description, and emotion, that I felt I knew the characters as if from a full length novel and was always left wishing they were longer.
