Title: Ordinary Human Failings: A Novel
Author: Megan Nolan
Pairs Well With: introspection and a cup of Earl Grey tea
Who did you judge today? What standards did you apply to them or yourself? How did you come to understand those standards as being appropriate or better than what was happening in reality? What did you observe? What did you hear? How did you feel? This brilliant novel inspires a curiosity into the separation we try to create between ourselves (however that group or individual may be defined) and others (however that group or individual may be defined). Additionally, the characters in the novel struggle with the separation we are forced to create between our authentic selves and the self that we perform in relationship with others. The characters in this novel cycle through both revelation and dissociation all while coping with the everyday effort of being human.
As I was reading, I found myself considering such wider themes such as the relationship between choice and agency. How do we balance desire with responsibility in the making of choices? How often do we delay a choice only to find that the opportunity is lost? How often do we delay making a choice not because we don’t know what we want, but because we are ashamed of revealing what we want? Longing and wanting are a kind of vulnerability. Or, a bruise of sorts.
Is it an uplifting story? No, it really isn’t. Rather than ask if people can change, the story puts a magnifying lens on the process of change. Although we live in only one direction, change is not linear. Contrary to the self-help movement, change isn’t necessarily about being better. This novel shows us change as change. We find ourselves moving through judgments until we are forced to just see the character as they are. In this way, something breaks. We break. And, we are better for it.
The writing is fluid and economical. The novel is tight, yet our reader experience is expansive. Read this and let me know what you think.
