Talk before Sleep Elizabeth Berg
This is a work of fiction, in which a group for 4 women befriend Ruth, who is dying of advanced breast cancer. The narrative first person voice is that of Ann, a former nurse, now a married woman with a young daughter. The book is written in present tense, with flashbacks in past tense, which is never easy to pull off. Charles Baxter gave a lecture on this subject at Bread Loaf a few years ago, in which he described the lushness achieved with superimposed timelines when the transitions don't cause whiplash. In this book, Berg uses white space to signal change in tense without merging the past with the present.
Ruth, a petite woman and an artist, leaves her husband and her teenaged son Michael, to see if she prefers to live alone. She is soon diagnosed with cancer. Her initial treatment is described partially in a flashback, and we learn that Ruth has had bilateral mastectomy. Ruth discovers that living alone in an apartment can be lonely and that running laundry for three is thrice as much fun, and wants to reunite with her family. Her husband meanwhile has found himself a new true love. Ruth decompensates and calls Ann to tell her she intends to commit suicide. Ann leaves her own family at the dinner table to help get Ruth into a psychiatric facility. Ruth is discharged a few days later after she attends a couple of AA meetings.
This book explores brave territories: losing a friend to a nasty disease, making sacrifices to be an effective friend and what it means to be present. At one point in the book, Ruth raises her shirt to expose her chest and jokes that her chest is flat, like a back, which is more shocking than funny. We are not sure exactly where the novel is set. Place is mainly internal in this novel, though there is a description of a night slept under the stars in a sleeping bag, and several references to bars, diners, restaurants including McDonald's. Ruth liked her fries better when they were cooked in beef fat, and despite a terrible illness, she still manages to enjoy men, more perhaps than Ann does.
One cannot but be affected by the closeness of the women, Ruth worrying about how Ann will survive and whether will she have friends. Ann appears to neglect her own little family and moves in with Ruth. Ann and Ruth do share a couple of kisses, and I can appreciate the potential for romance had there been more time, had Ruth not had cancer, but then Ann wouldn’t have had to move in with her. Ann recognizes that Ruth is slipping away. Ruth reconnects with an old flame and throws him out only when she accepts that she will die soon. L.D., one of Ruth’s friends, is firmly in denial, and wants to channel the power of positive thought into achieving a cure. Sarah, another friend, helps Ruth find a nice spot to be buried in.
Ruth thwarts plans for a local burial when she decides to go home to her only brother Andrew in Florida so that she can die with her family around her. Her parents are long dead in a car crash, and we have seen little of Andrew in the novel, so this is unexpected. Ruth flies to Florida, escorted by her son Michael who returns to be with his father. Ruth dies off the page, in a hospital. Everybody, including Ann’s husband and daughter, and Ruth’s friends attend the funeral, Ann returns to be with her own family at the end, and we see grief as another exacting illness.
This book has moments of honesty and humor, and I can why it has done so well. Berg manages to bring ordinary people to life, and these people die just as they live, wanting, needing, giving, withholding, taking, all lonely despite their friends and intimacies.
This is a work of fiction, in which a group for 4 women befriend Ruth, who is dying of advanced breast cancer. The narrative first person voice is that of Ann, a former nurse, now a married woman with a young daughter. The book is written in present tense, with flashbacks in past tense, which is never easy to pull off. Charles Baxter gave a lecture on this subject at Bread Loaf a few years ago, in which he described the lushness achieved with superimposed timelines when the transitions don't cause whiplash. In this book, Berg uses white space to signal change in tense without merging the past with the present.
Ruth, a petite woman and an artist, leaves her husband and her teenaged son Michael, to see if she prefers to live alone. She is soon diagnosed with cancer. Her initial treatment is described partially in a flashback, and we learn that Ruth has had bilateral mastectomy. Ruth discovers that living alone in an apartment can be lonely and that running laundry for three is thrice as much fun, and wants to reunite with her family. Her husband meanwhile has found himself a new true love. Ruth decompensates and calls Ann to tell her she intends to commit suicide. Ann leaves her own family at the dinner table to help get Ruth into a psychiatric facility. Ruth is discharged a few days later after she attends a couple of AA meetings.
This book explores brave territories: losing a friend to a nasty disease, making sacrifices to be an effective friend and what it means to be present. At one point in the book, Ruth raises her shirt to expose her chest and jokes that her chest is flat, like a back, which is more shocking than funny. We are not sure exactly where the novel is set. Place is mainly internal in this novel, though there is a description of a night slept under the stars in a sleeping bag, and several references to bars, diners, restaurants including McDonald's. Ruth liked her fries better when they were cooked in beef fat, and despite a terrible illness, she still manages to enjoy men, more perhaps than Ann does.
One cannot but be affected by the closeness of the women, Ruth worrying about how Ann will survive and whether will she have friends. Ann appears to neglect her own little family and moves in with Ruth. Ann and Ruth do share a couple of kisses, and I can appreciate the potential for romance had there been more time, had Ruth not had cancer, but then Ann wouldn’t have had to move in with her. Ann recognizes that Ruth is slipping away. Ruth reconnects with an old flame and throws him out only when she accepts that she will die soon. L.D., one of Ruth’s friends, is firmly in denial, and wants to channel the power of positive thought into achieving a cure. Sarah, another friend, helps Ruth find a nice spot to be buried in.
Ruth thwarts plans for a local burial when she decides to go home to her only brother Andrew in Florida so that she can die with her family around her. Her parents are long dead in a car crash, and we have seen little of Andrew in the novel, so this is unexpected. Ruth flies to Florida, escorted by her son Michael who returns to be with his father. Ruth dies off the page, in a hospital. Everybody, including Ann’s husband and daughter, and Ruth’s friends attend the funeral, Ann returns to be with her own family at the end, and we see grief as another exacting illness.
This book has moments of honesty and humor, and I can why it has done so well. Berg manages to bring ordinary people to life, and these people die just as they live, wanting, needing, giving, withholding, taking, all lonely despite their friends and intimacies.
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