The book surrounds a terrific character study of Sophie Hegel who attends Yale Law School, which many would be proud of and brag, however she does not. She meets her boyfriend while in law school, and he hopes to help her cope with this lack of confidence about her. The novel takes place during the booming early 2001 with the Twin Towers still part of the classic New York Skyline.
The books title comes from a lump in Hegels throat. Ironically the same night her boyfriend asks her to marry him is the same night she is stricken with the horror that she can barely breath. After this night, we find out that Hegel suffers from a psychosomatic illness Globus Sensate; a condition that makes it difficult to represent her already unconfident self in a sea of trouble.
I really felt connected to the characters feeling of being an outsider, not being able to control one says or does to appease anyone else. I have never lived in New York City, but I can get the feeling from this novel of what it might feel like. The writing style fits the outsider in a bustling New York well, and I was able to move through the prose with ease. The book read fast until I started to disconnect myself with the main character, I just wanted her to take control, but she did not. However, I believed this matched the condition that the main character was suffering from, I wanted her to do more but somehow, beyond my understanding, she did not. Ironically, the character became tough to swallow .I thought that was the most brilliant point of this novel, that the structure of the novel was creating a feeling in me as the reader that helped to bring me closer to the main character.
The book starts to explore a new area of the American experience, one that began at the highpoint of our economic bliss and ended in the rubble of post 9/11 America. I think that this book can be seen as a brilliant take of what happened to New York on a mental level post 9/11.
The books title comes from a lump in Hegels throat. Ironically the same night her boyfriend asks her to marry him is the same night she is stricken with the horror that she can barely breath. After this night, we find out that Hegel suffers from a psychosomatic illness Globus Sensate; a condition that makes it difficult to represent her already unconfident self in a sea of trouble.
I really felt connected to the characters feeling of being an outsider, not being able to control one says or does to appease anyone else. I have never lived in New York City, but I can get the feeling from this novel of what it might feel like. The writing style fits the outsider in a bustling New York well, and I was able to move through the prose with ease. The book read fast until I started to disconnect myself with the main character, I just wanted her to take control, but she did not. However, I believed this matched the condition that the main character was suffering from, I wanted her to do more but somehow, beyond my understanding, she did not. Ironically, the character became tough to swallow .I thought that was the most brilliant point of this novel, that the structure of the novel was creating a feeling in me as the reader that helped to bring me closer to the main character.
The book starts to explore a new area of the American experience, one that began at the highpoint of our economic bliss and ended in the rubble of post 9/11 America. I think that this book can be seen as a brilliant take of what happened to New York on a mental level post 9/11.
