In August, I blogged about a blog called "One Year, 150 Books". The author, Kristin Dodge, is aiming to read 150 books in one year, and is up to 102. 48 to go. Her reviews are great, and I have gotten some good reading ideas from her blog.
Yesterday, she blogged about a book called The Inhabited World, by David Long. Here’s what she had to say about it:
The Inhabited World tops my personal list for 2006 novels. Evan Molloy and Maureen Keniston are stuck in the same house in Washington. Evan, however, is dead, a "lost soul" wandering after his suicide. Maureen, while alive, mimics his purgatory by sleepwalking through her days, just barely on the cusp of figuring out how to change.
Beautifully detailed and described, Long sets scenes with the master strokes of Monet. Each sentence invokes meaning as we learn what led Evan to raise the gun to his head that fateful day. Every word is carefully chosen to glean the highest emotional response. And it did. I wept. It is the first anniversary of a family member’s suicide, which may tint my response. But I also wept at the sheer brilliance of the imagery, of Maureen’s flaws, of Evan’s family history.
Here is a review from The Boston Globe, which says, "What Long masterfully achieves is the precise interior focus of a man whose life is circling the drain, and he does this without either high drama or sentimentality." The Seattle Times writes, "Long has a keen and sympathetic eye for observing the daily business of living. He mentions the twitches and the quirks tenderly, and he doesn’t fail to note the small kindnesses."
The New York Times (subscription required) calls The Inhabited World "luminous," and concludes: "This is a terrific novel, and you can’t help thinking, from time to time, that in a better world David Long would be a famous writer. But, as the book makes pretty clear, there is no better world; just this one. And when the words are right, even this world is sweet enough."
If you’re interested, here’s an interview with David Long about the writing of this book from his website. Also, if you’re a list person, here’s David Long’s top 100 books.
Has anyone read this book yet?