Started on 3.31.25, finished on 4.4.25

So according to the cover, this is a classic, and I apologize for not having heard of it before a few weeks ago (even though there is apparently a 2022 movie adaptation starring Adam Driver, who I believe is one of the hottest men alive). I’m going to ignore most of the main themes (death, etc.) to talk specifically about what I liked most.

The family dynamics and dialogue in this book are my favorite parts. The dialogue throughout is very snappy and not how people talk in real life (which of course reminds me of Gilmore Girls), and it’s very pleasing to read. The family has really interesting dynamics, but it’s also made clear throughout how much they care about each other. There’s a scene toward the end of the book where the family is eating fast food in the car and they’re silently passing each other the parts of the food that the other people like better, which I think illustrates this well.

The narrator, who is the husband, has been married a bunch of times, and there’s a recurring theme where he says what he expects from his wife—things like “that’s not what Babette is there for” or “that’s not why I married Babette,” sometimes to Babette herself. I thought that motif was interesting in the context of a man who can’t seem to stay married—your expectations not matching reality, placing too much of a burden on your partner to be everything you want from them, etc.

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My favorite quotes:

“We seem to believe it is possible to ward off death by following rules of good grooming.”

“This is why California is so important. We not only enjoy seeing them punished for their relaxed life-style and progressive social ideas but we know we’re not missing anything. The cameras are right there. They’re standing by. Nothing terrible escapes their scrutiny.”

“The family is the cradle of the world’s misinformation. There must be something in family life that generates factual error. Overcloseness, the noise and heat of being.”

“I’m the head of a department. I don’t see myself fleeing an airborne toxic event. That’s for people who live in mobile homes out in the scrubby parts of the county, where the fish hatcheries are.”

“The greater the scientific advance, the more primitive the fear.”

“And remember you’re not here to scream or thrash about. We like a low-profile victim. This isn’t New York or L.A. Soft moans will suffice.”

“Isn’t death the boundary we need? Doesn’t it give a precious texture to life, a sense of definition?”