Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Review: The Illusion of Separateness

The Illusion of Separateness
By Simon Van Booy
Harper Collins June 2013
208 pages
From the library

The Illusion of Separateness

Thank you, Simon Van Booy for restoring my faith in literary criticism. Several times this year, I have picked up a book that was "written by the greatest writer since sliced bread" or "the long awaited new story from the greatest writer of our age" and was terribly unimpressed. I was starting to think that either I was missing something or the literary vanguards and I were reading very different books. But then I read your newest book, The Illusion of Separateness, which has been heralded as "masterful" and "poetic." And they are so very right.

The Illusion of Separateness is a slim, quiet novel that reminds us that our decisions can have far-reaching consequences and that none of us are quite as alone as we might imagine. In this book, we meet a man who works at a retirement home while wondering about his past, a young soldier about to go to war, and a blind woman who has a special bond with her grandfather. Each of them come to a moment when their decision will change the course of their lives forever. Some of them are aware of the importance and others are not. Their choices reverberate through their lives, the lives of the people they love, and people they will never meet. 

Van Booy's writing is sparse, but it manages to convey so much. He beautifully captures the glories of love and the depths of fear and grief. It is evident that he views writing not as a job or a hobby, but as a craft. He finds the nuance and grace in each word and sentence to create a book that is so heartfelt and striking that you find yourself reading the same passages over and over again.

For example:

"He must die and come back to life. He would recite the Bible, the Koran, the Talmud by simply declaring the name of someone he loved. He would trap the contents of his life in the safety of a single word, like a bubble in the sea."

"He stood over the small boy and touched his hair. But the boy did not move - could not feel that he was being remembered.
Danny sat on the bed and traced the outline of cartoon shapes on the duvet. He stared at the plain sleeping face and felt the churn of dreams within.
And then Danny felt a sensation he had never before known, an intense pity that relieved him of an incredible weight. And the boy he reached for in the half dark, the head he touched was not his - but the soft, wispy hair of his sleeping father, as a child, alone, suffering, desperate, and afraid."

"I went to sleep thinking about it. I wondered who would live in our house now if I hadn't been born? I wondered who would have my seat on the bus every day into the city, who would sit next to Philip in his truck on long drives?
One day Philip and I will be old - and this flight home to New York will be a silent flickering, something half imagined. Grandpa John will have been dead for many years.
After Philip and I die, there will be no one left to remember Grandpa John and then no one left to remember us. None of this will have happened, except that it's happening right now.
There will be no Amelia, yet here I am.
I wonder how our bodies will change as we get old. I wonder how we'll feel about things that haven't happened to us yet."

In a lesser writer's hands, this idea would feel stale and overdone. We have all read many books where people have hidden connections, spanning generations and continents. But The Illusion of Separateness reminds us of these connections with gorgeous prose and unforgettable characters.

This is the sort of book that you want to gently slip into the hands of everyone you know and love so that they too can see this beautiful and painful life we all share through a new lens. The Illusion of Separateness is a novel that will be finding a home on my bookshelves and I look forward to reading the backlist of this truly talented writer. 

14 comments:

  1. Beautiful review, Lindsey! I think your review is as beautiful as Simon Van Booy's prose :) I love the way Van Booy crafts and sculpts each sentence beautifully in his works and I liked very much the way you have described it. I loved all the passages you have quoted. My favourite sentence was this - "He would trap the contents of his life in the safety of a single word". So beautiful! Your thoughts on literary criticism made me smile :) It is sad that every book today is hailed as the greatest. Thanks for this beautiful review. Hope you enjoy reading other Van Booy books.

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    1. Thank you so much, Vishy. You are so kind. This was one of those books where I really wanted to do it justice with my review.

      I'm really looking forward to reading his other books. Which ones have you read?

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    2. I have read his collection of short stories 'The Secret Lives of People in Love' and liked it very much. If you get to read it, I will look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. I want to read 'The Illusion of Separateness' now :)

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    3. I will definitely be reading it! It's just a question of which I will read first - the stories or his other novel.

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  2. Lindsey, just wanted to thank you for your book suggestion "Reading Lolita in Tehran", and now i just read your review on Simon Van Booy's book. i haven't read any of his books yet, but this sounds both beautiful and thoughtful. have a lovely reading week!

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    1. You are very welcome. I hope you enjoy it! I am a newbie to Simon Van Booy myself, but I am so very impressed.

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  3. I've not heard of this one before, however your review has now put it on my radar and I'll add it to my wishlist. Thank you :)

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    1. I'm so glad! This is one of those authors you want to make sure everyone knows. :)

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  4. I've seen a few reviews on this one, it sure sounds interesting. The cover is so pretty in it's simplicity. I'm glad you enjoyed the read.

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    1. I think the cover is well matched to the book. It's simple, but so powerful.

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  5. Thank you so much! I have this on my TBR list, but I've had very little enthusiasm to begin reading. You made my day.

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    1. This book is so good and it's quick read too! Enjoy! :)

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  6. The Illusion of Separateness sounds like a beautiful read. I am adding it to my To Read list now after your lovely review! I don't know how I have missed hearing about this one although the best books are generally the ones that don't receive a lot of hype. Thanks for introducing me to this one!
    Happy Reading,
    Rebecca @ The Key to the Gate

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    1. Yes, I get the feeling that he is the sort of author who flies under the radar. I'm so happy I found his work and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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