Humanity of it All
I haven’t read a good book in quite some time. Wait, no, scratch that. I haven’t read a book that has resonated with me and made me come back for more in quite some time. Yeah, that’s it.
This book I’m now reading, This Is Where I Leave You, is exactly that kind of book. The main character, the protagonist, if you will, is this radio producer who comes back home to grieve the death of his father, and apparently, the Jewish thing to do in this case, is to sit shiva.
Sitting shiva is probably not a healthy way to grieve, but it sure is funny. They have to sit for seven days, locked up in the house (not really), and welcome guests and visitors and fellow grievers. It’s not as funny when your family isn’t as fucked up as Judd Foxman’s.
Anyway, on top of the fact that he has to worry about his eccentric family, his recently ex-wife gives him the bombshell that she’s pregnant, that the baby has to be his because the guy she cheated on him with is sterile, and that they have to deal with this together. Of course, the guy is still figuring out how to fall out of love with her, and so her presence in his life isn’t going to help. This part is the part that really resonated with me.
The fact is, and I’m starting to get the feeling this is true of all relationships, there is no such thing as a clean break. None whatsoever. It’s human nature to fuck that premise up, and when you put that task to two people, forget about it. Shit is bound to occur.
Where am I going with this? I don’t know. I just felt like writing this fact, maybe help me get it straight. But even though it’s there, in front of me, on the screen, I know I’m going to fuck it up.
I’m only human.
