Good Reads / Community Library Notes
The Friend
Sigrid Nunez
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Friend
Sigrid Nunez
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez is told by a friend to her friend, a former writer and writing teacher, who has just committed suicide. She talks to him as if he is with her, asks him questions, gets no answers. As a professor, he seduced students, and others seduced him. He thought that was good for their writing. The friend, who remains nameless, goes to his memorial and meets his ex-wives, number one, number two, and three. Wife number three begs the friend to take the dead man’s dog, a great Dane.
The narrator’s friend felt writers were ashamed to be writers. He always said he wrote better after a long walk, so he’d walk many miles. This friend, the narrator, speaks kindly of him, can’t understand why he took his life. They were not lovers, though some thought they were.
The writer says no one puts technology in their stories now, even though students spend hours on their devices. What is real about that? She names the dog Apollo, and people stop and stare when she walks him in New York’s Central Park. She takes a plastic bucket and a shovel with her to pick up his “poop.” Because dogs are not permitted in her apartment, she receives eviction notices from the management office, throws them away.
Good writers know they should read their work aloud. This is really a textbook on writing. The author reads aloud and, Apollo, relaxes at her feet. Later, after their dinner and a walk, Apollo brings her a book from the coffee table and lays it at her side on the couch. She reads to read to him often, and doesn’t tell her friends. They will think she’s crazy.
The author discusses suicide with her therapist. Did her friend feel trapped like Houdini , upside down in a water tank?. Or was he tired of trying, was he weak and in pain? The protagonist is suffering from loneliness and depression. Will her new friend, Apollo, help her recover? Does having a pet give her a reason, a good one, for living? Dogs are not critical or judgmental. Did her friend really die in the final chapter? Did he really have a great Dane? Or is this story a fictional one?
Find out on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
The narrator’s friend felt writers were ashamed to be writers. He always said he wrote better after a long walk, so he’d walk many miles. This friend, the narrator, speaks kindly of him, can’t understand why he took his life. They were not lovers, though some thought they were.
The writer says no one puts technology in their stories now, even though students spend hours on their devices. What is real about that? She names the dog Apollo, and people stop and stare when she walks him in New York’s Central Park. She takes a plastic bucket and a shovel with her to pick up his “poop.” Because dogs are not permitted in her apartment, she receives eviction notices from the management office, throws them away.
Good writers know they should read their work aloud. This is really a textbook on writing. The author reads aloud and, Apollo, relaxes at her feet. Later, after their dinner and a walk, Apollo brings her a book from the coffee table and lays it at her side on the couch. She reads to read to him often, and doesn’t tell her friends. They will think she’s crazy.
The author discusses suicide with her therapist. Did her friend feel trapped like Houdini , upside down in a water tank?. Or was he tired of trying, was he weak and in pain? The protagonist is suffering from loneliness and depression. Will her new friend, Apollo, help her recover? Does having a pet give her a reason, a good one, for living? Dogs are not critical or judgmental. Did her friend really die in the final chapter? Did he really have a great Dane? Or is this story a fictional one?
Find out on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.