A couple of
months ago, we had to convert our study into a guest room. Before its
conversion, the study was spilled with my books that I could not
stop buying and in constant need and urgency to devour them. Some of the
books have now taken residence in my daughters’ room while some unread
journals, exercise books, folders and papers are packed in boxes and tucked
away in the storage room. I had been thrown off my daily rituals and for a few
weeks, I was not able to do much reading let alone writing. I knew I could
easily settle on a new corner for my personal space yet I was on edge for days
and weeks! Despite my rational self telling me that I was acting immaturely and
that I was not practising what I
believe : One must get
out of one’s comfort zone, I was feeling out of sorts when I could
not settle into my reading and writing. I knew why I was resisting the change yet I could not
think clearly and hear what I think. Now that I have returned to my reading and
writing rituals, bright and precious days ahead.
I have the habit
of reading multiple books at one time. In that way whichever book that I can
engage in gets read faster than the others. Whenever I have my free time during the week, I try to make sure that I alternate my reading between books so as to be able to read them all eventually in whatever time it takes. There are times when there is too big an interval between the last time I read a particular book and the time I resume reading it, I usually conclude that it is just not the right time for me and it has absolutely nothing to do with the writing as I would not have bothered picking up the book otherwise. Certain books have to be read more leisurely as they require more attention and concentration . For me the
momentum of reading a particular book only picks up when I get into the rhythm
of the voice and theme of that particular book.The past
long weekend was idyllic and I managed to
read Bright, Precious Days by Jay
McInerney, the last installment of the
trilogy by the author. It must have been a decade ago when I last read Brightness Falls ( published 1992) and The Good Life ( published 2006). The story about an attractive couple, Russell
Calloway and Corrine Calloway continues in Bright, Precious Days. It is the portrait of a couple who live the dream
that first drew them to Manhattan and continue to face challenges
in their union as they enter into
their 50s. McInerney captures ordinary life with wit and apt
observation. He has an acute narration describing the glamour and life in New
York City and he is deft at capturing personality traits of the characters in
his fiction.
Here are the
opening lines of the book.
ONCE, NOT SO
VERY LONG AGO, young men and women had come to the city because they loved
books, because they wanted to write novels or short stories or even poems, or
because they wanted to be associated with the production and distribution of
those artifacts and with the people who created them. For those who haunted
suburban libraries and provincial bookstores, Manhattan was the shining island
of letters. ‘
Russell Calloway is from Michigan. He is an independent publisher who has excellent credentials as a book editor but minimal cash flow.
‘And if the
realities of urban life and the publishing business had sometimes bruised his
romantic sensibilities, he never relinquished his vision of Manhattan as the
mecca of American literature, or of himself as an acolyte, even a priest , of
the written word.
Corrine has long quitted her job as a stockbroker and devotes
herself to raising the children and help feed the hungry poor in the city. Soon they find themselves being
priced out of their loft in TriBeCa, a neighbourhood that has become newly
fashionable and too expensive to remain in. They find their marriage tested
more severely than ever with their twelve year old twins, a son and a daughter caught in the balance. As they move past each
other’s past indiscretions, the
memory of their best friend, Jeff Pierce begins to haunt them. Their life
becomes complicated when Corrine,
feeling unappreciated and discontent, faces a moral dilemma with the
reappearance of Luke McGavock, a man she met while she volunteered at Ground Zero during
the time of 9/11. When Russell’s publishing business has a tumble, his resolve
begins to erode.
‘He’d always
been an optimist, able to convince himself that the best was still ahead, that
every day held the promise of new adventure, but now he seemed increasingly
conscious of his failures and anxious about the future. It was impossible to be
optimistic at three-forty-five in the morning, at the age of fifty-one, and
there were times when he was absolutely terrified at the prospect of his own
extinction. Finally, he took half an Ambien or a Xanax and waited for the panic
to subside.’
‘How was it
that after working so hard and by many measures succeeding and even excelling
in his chosen field, he couldn’t afford to save this house that meant so much
to his family? Their neighbors seemed to manage, thousands of people no smarter
than he was – less so, most of them ---- except perhaps in their understanding
of the mechanics of acquisition. Partly, he knew, it was his lack of the
mercenary instinct. Never caring enough about getting and keeping and
compounding, he’d felt himself above such considerations and stayed true to the
ideals he’d formed in college, at the expense of his future. If he’d been savvy
and resourceful, he could have bought this house years ago, or , more
important, a place to live in the city, but as things stood, he owned nothing;
he’d missed the biggest real estate boom of his lifetime and even now that the
bubble is bursting, his own finances were more precarious than ever. It was
increasingly difficult to avoid the conclusion that he was, by the conventional
measures of familial and professional achievement, a failure. ‘
Bright,
Precious Days is set against the financial
crisis of 2008. Although the story of the Calloways is straightforward, the middle-age malaise and restlessness felt by the
main characters are well depicted and the ensemble of the interesting side
characters make the fiction a pleasurable read. Alas I did want the book to end partly due to the fact that
I was eager to get back to my pile of books despite the author's prolific prose.
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