I’m not a huge fan of short-story-form fiction. Therefore with some reluctance, I came to read Table for Two by Amor Towles for my book club. I had so loved his first two novels and thus already appreciated his intelligent and sophisticated, almost delicate, writing-style. And happily, the short stories did not disappoint. Of course I liked some more than others, but he did not do that irritating short-story gambit and leave one hanging. And to be honest, to tell a complete and satisfying story in such limited space, leaves the novelist in me humbled. In fact when I got to the end story in his collection, a novella of added length, I was clamoring internally for ‘less is more.’
This is why every booklover should be in a book club. You discover things you might not otherwise.
And the other important reason for book discoveries or revisits, however they come to you, is because some day you might need the comfort of a good book, be it familiar or a wildly new departure.
That is where I am right now. In need of comfort as well as new adventure. My husband of over thirty-three and a half years died in August and the ups and downs continue in unexpected ways at unexpected times. And yet I rediscover, there’s few better ways to travel out of self than a well-written book, fiction or non, familiar or not (although streaming might be a better way to cut the silence when necessary!)