March 2014

The Invisible Circus

“’Tomorrow they’ll be so far,’ she said. ‘And we’ll just be here, isn’t that weird?’ ― always with a wistfulness that betrayed her envy of passengers traveling through the night at high speed. It was a mystery to Phoebe, her sister’s envy; why, when she and Faith were so clearly the winners, curled in warm beds, with Grandma’s rough starched sheets pulled tight across their chests? Given a choice, who wouldn’t choose home?”

The Invisible Circus, p. 206
By Jennifer Egan
Published 1995

On Birthdays

March 12th is the most appropriate day to celebrate your birthday, a roommate used to tell me. My birthday is actually on the 13th, today. She said the focus of birthdays is all wrong, because the emphasis is to celebrate what is to come rather than what has happened. How can we jump ahead to celebrate a new, empty, yet-to-prove-itself year, rather than celebrate a year just lived? We’re too impatient to reflect, to offer thank-yous and never-agains, so instead we cross our fingers and look ahead.
 
It’s a shame, because birthdays give us an excuse to fully stretch and bask in our own lives. It’s a brief window during which you don’t have to feel as guilty for thinking largely about yourself. If you don’t feel guilty about that in the first place, I love/hate you.
 
So cheers to my 25th year. You have served me incredibly well, thank you. Although I do see plenty of room for improvement… oh, forget that roommate’s advice, on to 26. Just kidding. Kind of.
 

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Currently Reading: The Interestings

The Interestings was published almost a year ago but only recently caught my attention, while I was in the car, listening to an interview with the author. Meg Wolitzer was making her media rounds to promote the book’s release in paperback. The story follows the lives of a group of talented friends who meet at an artsy, hip, pretentious summer camp called Spirit-in-the-Woods. As they all grow up, some of them find incredible success through their talents, while others find that their talents are nothing but of the past. The book explores what kind of life you lead when you have – or don’t have – any exceptional talents or you have – or haven’t – done anything exceptional.
 
I didn’t learn all of that during the radio interview. But I did hear the author talk about “thicker, finalized adult selves.” She describes how difficult it becomes to reinvent yourself as you get older. She points out that comfort and familiarity become so highly valued that those priorities in themselves prevent any kind of radical change. Going into the nth year of my quarter-life-crises, I thought the book may teach me a few things – or maybe even serve as a warning.
 
Note: I probably trust reviews more than I should, because I’m a big fan of reading one or two before committing to a book.