Needy and self indulgent. ( )

Almost DNF’ed but some parts (the realist ones) were too strong not to follow through to the conclusion. ( )

“It wasn’t enough for Terzo that their mother had not died. It wasn’t enough that she lived in her sea of waking dreams. In Terzo’s view, she had to live like us, rationally, in a rational universe. And as there was to be no death, nor could there be any other life.”

Eighty-seven-year-old Francie is in a Tasmanian hospital. Her health is declining. Her three adult children, Anna, Terzo, and Tommy, decide to keep her alive as long as possible, requiring ever-increasing efforts. Anna, the primary character, experiences vanishing body parts, as if she is being erased, and no one notices. The story is set against a backdrop of the recent Australian wildfires.

This book portrays how guilt can negatively influence actions. The kids love their mother, so shouldn’t they do everything possible to keep her alive? Isn’t life better than death? Even when Francie begs to be “let go” they willfully misunderstand her. It raises the issue of quality of life. [Obviously, people currently dealing with these situations may want to avoid this book for now.]

The author comments on how social media distracts people from addressing important matters: “The more things changed the harder people stared into their screens, living elsewhere, the real worlds now no more than a simulacrum of the screen world, their real lives the shadow of their online lives. The more people vanished the more they asserted themselves online as if in some grotesque equation or transfer.”

It also provides commentary on the decline of the natural world and the importance of engaging in it. The writing is powerful. It is a sad story, and at times deeply disturbing, but definitely thought-provoking.
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Profound, beautiful read about the tragic path caused by our ignorance on climate change. ( )

This weird novel revolves around erasure and loss. This included loss of body parts, habitat and animal species, personal items and centrally the three main character's mother who is wasting away in the hospital. The closer to death she is the more crazed the siblings are to keep her alive. The irony here is as time passes she actually wants to die. The book is well written and the author is at the top of his game. But, I am not sure about the vanishing fingers, hands, kneecaps etc. ( )