It’s all so sickeningly, dizzyingly, tightly circular, at the very edges of existence, I mean. And those universal edges—birth, death—they’re hard to take in completely, when they’re happening. It’s all going too fast, blood rushing to the head. Even the middling, middle bits—stable-enough marriage, healthy kids, good income—like the middle of a roundabout, you can think it’s all going quite manageably no matter how wildly the edges are quivering. I did; I thought I had it all under control… Three perfect children. Above all, even if I’d screwed up every other thing, I’d still have three perfect children. And now I see, that too had been an illusion.
Selected as one of the Best Books of 2024 (so far) by NY Times Book Review. Review by David Sheff: “A Mother’s Devastating Memoir of Losing Her Adult Son. In “Fi,” Alexandra Fuller describes the sudden death of her 21-year-old.”
This is the 2nd ‚thumb up‘ of this book I‘ve read in a few days. It does concern me because of the recent death of a 23yr old relative…. I‘m hopefully that it helps the parents to write it all down but I also have ppl in my vicinity who wouldn‘t read about such themes because it could amplify their experiences of loss and pain.
I just finished the book last night. Not an easy read but I think the book is a positive affirmation of life. She’s an excellent writer (and she narrated the book on Audible and she’s an excellent narrator as well).
Such rawness here. Will read, just need to be in the right frame of mind.
I highly recommend it, despite tough subject…
Your enjoying this book.
I am!
I can relate it to it so much . It feels like it’s talking about my mother . I lost my brother when he was 21 and I was 11 ,my parents only son . I grew up seeing my mother dying in grief everyday . I don’t want to sound morbid but she could never come out of it . It was 40 yrs back ,different times and different culture .No help like grief support groups or counseling.And I can vouch to that there are no lessons or teachings for “ How to cope with the grief of your only son and live with that “.I call it” Life happens “ . Sometimes so much life happens to some people that we mortals aren’t able to take it. Some people or more strong than others but there are no rights or wrongs or shoulds and shouldn’t s
But it made me a person which I would never have even if I had not seen my mom going through it . So all my love ,compassion and kindness for every being comes from my mother’s grief and pain .
Thank you for sharing and recommending .
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing your insights. Might have been a brutally difficult time for all. I loved the book and her writing.
When I selected my new book last night, I thought about choosing this one. Couldn’t bring myself to do it. Enjoyed the snippets you shared with us, but the weight and brevity of it … wasn’t something I wanted to tackle.
I will read it soon
Hope you enjoy it…