This month’s read is a memoir telling how Amy leaves her isolated life on an Orkney island to move to Berlin in search of new experiences, work, and love. Through a year there, she explores its nightlife, wildlife, and online dating, eventually becoming consumed by an intense love affair while reflecting on nature, technology, and human connection. So what did we think of it?
Most of the attendees at this month’s group had read this month’s book. We agreed the style was interesting – more like a meandering and scatter-brained stream of consciousness than a traditional memoir. One of our group suggested that the idea for the title ‘The Instant’ could have come from the way the author was living in the moment.
Set in Berlin, a couple of our readers saw the book as a travelogue, enjoying the vivid descriptions of the city as well as the nature that fascinated the writer. Her focus on the natural world (the moon, goshawks, raccoons) seemed as though she was searching for a substitute for her addiction.
We felt she was unsettled, both physically and mentally – having left the wilds of Orkney to move to the cosmopolitan jigsaw of Berlin. While she has a digital home (her online presence), her physical self seemed elusive, almost uninvolved in her own life. This was highlighted by the odd way she referred to other people – she called herself ‘A’, and designated everyone else ‘B. This caused some confusion among our readers, and also felt sad as well as slightly self-indulgent.
The writing felt rather like it was a mindfulness journal, and it seemed odd that it had been published (and was her second book). One reader said that they felt that they were being given an insight into her personal journey.
We felt that the romance side of the story, her great love, didn’t feel realistic. It was difficult to visualise her lover, which lead several of the group to wonder if the relationship had been unrequited, even imaginary, rather than the great romance she meant to portray.
One reader described the author as a lost girl, which felt like a rather accurate summary,
We gave The Instant 2/5.
Our next meeting is on Wednesday 27th May at 1pm when we will be discussing In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune.
In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees live an unsual family – Victor Lawson, a human, and three robots – a gentle inventor android, a mischievous nurse machine, and a lonely vacuum craving love and attention.
Their quiet life is shattered when Vic salvages and repairs a mysterious android labelled ‘HAP’, and learns of a dark past between Hap and Gio as former hunters of humans. When Hap accidentally alerts Gio’s old associates to their location, Gio is captured and taken back to the City of Electric Dreams.
Together Vic and the remaining robots journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio before he is destroyed or worse – reprogrammed.
Copies are available to borrow from the Education Centre Library at Warwick Hospital and, as always, you are more than welcome to borrow a copy even if you can’t make the meeting – we appreciate thoughts shared by email and in person
Previous book reviews are now up on the Library Blog