The Friend, book review
The Friend By Sigrid Nunez Riverhead Books, 2018 Let me start this review on a completely random note: I’ve been thinking a lot lately about lament. Lament is such a brilliant expression for the times we live in. It beats giving up. Yet there are so many who have done just that—giving up. Giving up also takes many different forms. Such as turning off your Smartphone and living in a cabin off the grid. I know people who are doing just that: isolating. I can no longer reach them and when I do they do not want to engage. It feels like a death. Then there are those who have chosen death. Every day we hear of someone who has taken their life. News media tells us it is an epidemic. A current of hopelessness permeates the air, to the point that sometimes I have to escape. Disengage. What a vicious cycle. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. One way I choose to escape is through long-distance cycling trips. In fact, I’m planning one right now. Even just the planning...