Hotel Quito

Too hungry and tired to talk about today's affairs but wanted to let you all know that I am in Quito, Ecuador.

Read:

"The world exists apart from him. He's rehearsed this often enough in theory; he's just never known it with certainty. It follows that his body is an object in space and that someday he will die."

Recently (within the last 2ish years I've been with Savanna) I've started to read more for pleasure that didn't consist of the newspaper, The Economist, CNN, etc.

Margaret Atwood has held a special place in my heart after my Junior hear in high school having read Cat's Eye - and at the time writing the longest (15 pages) and most exquisite paper.

Life Before Man is my second novel that I have read written by Atwood and it was spectacular. I ended the book feeling a so sad that these three main characters (Nate, Elizabeth, and Lesje) were out of my life.

It's actually quite a depressing book. It ends on an ambiguous note that leans more towards happy than sad. Themes of parent/child miscommunications & failures, relationship complexities betwixt lovers are written from the narrative of all three main characters in a sort of journal entry style.

The characters are all both unlikable and likable. They cheat on their former lovers. They're indecisive or power hungry. But they are all so tragic and shaped by their pasts that it's actually impossible to hate any of them.