Bodies in Motion and at Rest: On Metaphor and Mortality
2 journalers for this copy...
I got this hardcover from an online seller for another release copy.
I loved Lynch's book The Undertaking, and this one's very good too. It's another collection of essays, most touching on Lynch's own family - sometimes with painful openness, especially in the essay about one son's struggles with alcoholism, and sometimes wonderfully touching and funny. Lynch discusses funerals, too, here and there - one essay takes on Jessica Mitford and her "American Way of Death," which - Lynch suggests - may have focused too much on what funerals cost and not enough on what people need funerals for.
Lynch's style is dry, sometimes warm, sometimes sarcastic, often with a kind of old-world courtliness. From the introduction, in which he attempts to answer the question "why do you write," all the way to the end, I found him fascinating - and annoying, moving, and frequently hilarious. The one about the poem to his ex-wife, the one about teaching a son to fish, the one about hating the cat that a son loves... good reading all. Here's one little bit from an essay about the changing face of the funeral industry [this subject has been addressed to good effect in the HBO series "Six Feet Under," though this book came out first]. He's discussing the problems of an industry where there's no easy way to increase demand:
The essays are punctuated with excerpts from poems, and with photos and illustrations [check the credits - some of these are by, or of, members of Lynch's family]. One of the quotes I liked was from Michael Heffernan's "A Sign from Heaven" (I'd just finished Elizabeth Knox's "The Vintner's Luck," and the quote sounded to me very much like something that the angel Xas would say):
And then there's one of Lynch's own poems - about that hated cat:
The way Lynch tries to deal with the dilemma of the cat is darkly funny - but touching, too.
I loved Lynch's book The Undertaking, and this one's very good too. It's another collection of essays, most touching on Lynch's own family - sometimes with painful openness, especially in the essay about one son's struggles with alcoholism, and sometimes wonderfully touching and funny. Lynch discusses funerals, too, here and there - one essay takes on Jessica Mitford and her "American Way of Death," which - Lynch suggests - may have focused too much on what funerals cost and not enough on what people need funerals for.
Lynch's style is dry, sometimes warm, sometimes sarcastic, often with a kind of old-world courtliness. From the introduction, in which he attempts to answer the question "why do you write," all the way to the end, I found him fascinating - and annoying, moving, and frequently hilarious. The one about the poem to his ex-wife, the one about teaching a son to fish, the one about hating the cat that a son loves... good reading all. Here's one little bit from an essay about the changing face of the funeral industry [this subject has been addressed to good effect in the HBO series "Six Feet Under," though this book came out first]. He's discussing the problems of an industry where there's no easy way to increase demand:
Every effort to get folks to die more than once, however convenient we might make it, however good a deal we might offer, however many frequent flyer miles we might promise, has met with fairly general resistance.
The essays are punctuated with excerpts from poems, and with photos and illustrations [check the credits - some of these are by, or of, members of Lynch's family]. One of the quotes I liked was from Michael Heffernan's "A Sign from Heaven" (I'd just finished Elizabeth Knox's "The Vintner's Luck," and the quote sounded to me very much like something that the angel Xas would say):
Sometimes I need love's answer to the question
about the breathing creatures and their pain.
I shouldn't be comfortable with the easy one
that claims the very daylight is a sign
of transubstantial warmth among the stars -
though there was brightness over town and countryside.
And then there's one of Lynch's own poems - about that hated cat:
For twelve long years I've suffered this damn cat.
While Mike, my darling middle son, himself
twelve years this coming May, has grown into
the tender, if quick-tempered manchild
his breeding blessed and cursed him to become.
And only his affection keeps the cat alive....
The way Lynch tries to deal with the dilemma of the cat is darkly funny - but touching, too.
I'm sending this to BCer HI77 in Florida for the US/Canada wishlist-tag game. Enjoy!
*** Released for the 2020 Head Shoulders Knees Toes release challenge. ***
*** Released for the 2020 Head Shoulders Knees Toes release challenge. ***
A moment when the sun sets
and the shadows twilight,
before winking out one by one.
and the shadows twilight,
before winking out one by one.
