Sharyl reviewed How to Save Your Own Life by Erica Jong
Review of 'How to Save Your Own Life' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this novel--I wasn't expecting it to be so timeless and relevant. Sure, it is dated, but not in ways that are important. Jong uses some wonderful quotes and provides plenty of insight and food for thought.
This is a novel about how she finally gets out of a hideous relationship, and about her other friendships and romances, as well. She writes a lot about the various forms of jealousy which had been so much on her mind.
"Jealousy is all the fun you think they had..." Jealousy requires an imagination, sometimes a very productive one, and it can be dangerous and destructive. SO true. The novel contains plenty of professional jealousy, as well as the romantic type.
Most of all, though, Jong is communicating the idea that no matter how much it hurts, real love--not a relationship born out of …
I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this novel--I wasn't expecting it to be so timeless and relevant. Sure, it is dated, but not in ways that are important. Jong uses some wonderful quotes and provides plenty of insight and food for thought.
This is a novel about how she finally gets out of a hideous relationship, and about her other friendships and romances, as well. She writes a lot about the various forms of jealousy which had been so much on her mind.
"Jealousy is all the fun you think they had..." Jealousy requires an imagination, sometimes a very productive one, and it can be dangerous and destructive. SO true. The novel contains plenty of professional jealousy, as well as the romantic type.
Most of all, though, Jong is communicating the idea that no matter how much it hurts, real love--not a relationship born out of seeking mere security, but unconditional, substantial love--is worth the risk of pain. It takes courage to reject cynicism and remain open-hearted.
Oh, and then there's a paragraph on p. 195 that shows Jong to be a true Bookcrosser!
"...Books go out into the world, travel mysteriously from hand to hand, and somehow find their way to the people who need them at the times when they need them. Josh had read my poems two years before because his parents and I had a friend in common and the books had been passed along. Cosmic forces guide such passings-along...The book propels itself from hand to hand by the tranmitted energy of the author's long-distance wishing. When you find a book in a rented beach house or the library of an old ocean liner, it is hardly by chance. The book is waiting there, waiting summer after salty summer, perhaps, to change your life...."