@2024 Book Chatter | Book Chatter

Here One Moment
By Liane Moriarty
Crown, 9780593798607, September 2024, 512pp.

The Short of It:

If someone told you the age you die along with the cause of death, would you want to know?

The Rest of It:

Their flight is delayed and the plane is packed with anxious. impatient people. Delay, after delay. All of them needing to be somewhere by a certain time. What is the hold up?

They bide their time talking to the people around them and certainly observing and noticing how everyone else is dealing with this delay. I mean, people watching can be quite entertaining. Especially when you have absolutely nowhere to go and you have people packed like sardines all around you.

Cue the baby crying. What a mess!

In the midst of all of this, a woman slowly rises and walks down the aisle stopping at each row to provide each passenger with the following information: their cause of death, age of death. The passengers don’t immediately get what she is doing but after talking amongst themselves they suddenly realize that she is predicting their deaths.

Some of the passengers are disturbed by it. Especially when she tells a young boy’s mother that her son will die from drowning at seven years of age. Others find it amusing, oh, I am going to pass from old age at the ripe age of 90? Great! Another, a workplace accident? As this strange woman makes her way down the aisle, everyone on board begins to get very anxious. Even the flight attendant is told that she will die from self harm. Self harm? Her?

The opening of the book is pretty intense as we spend hours with these folks on their delayed flight. I really enjoyed the lead-up. Once they arrive at their destination, all of these people return back to their daily lives, but with the knowledge of those predictions. They can’t help but be different.

The woman with the young son immediately signs him up for three different swimming lessons a week. He can’t drown if he is an excellent swimmer. Another explores her mental health and whether or not she is truly depressed, self harm? Seems unlikely. As you can imagine, all of these folks, even if the initially blew these prediction off, can’t help but think of what the lady said so those thoughts bleed into how they live their lives.

Then, there’s the woman herself. We learn that her name is Cherry. We learn that her mother was a famous psychic. We learn of her background, her marriages and the like. This part is very interesting because it’s not immediately clear why she chose to deliver this info to anyone.

Once these people left the plane, I lost interest in the story because there are many characters and they all kind of spiraled out. Through alternating chapters you learn about them, and the woman. But then as things begin to happen, I was riveted again. I really wasn’t sure how the story would end. I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

Audio note, I read this in print but also listened to it on audio here and there. It’s fun to listen to. Made my morning commute quite pleasant.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

It’s Friday and the end of Week 3! Of Human Bondage has surprised me in many ways.

By now, you should have read the following but many of you have expressed some challenges in keeping up with the reading. No worries! I set a schedule because some readers like that, but you read what you can and I won’t spoil the story for you.

This week we are discussing this section:

Chapters XL-LI / 40-51 (82 pp.)
Chapters LII-LIII / 52-53 (13 pp.)
Chapters LIV-LV / 54-55 (12 pp.)
Chapters LVI-LXII / 56-62 (38 pp.)
Chapters LXIII-LXVIII / 63-68 (29 pp.)
Discuss/Read the above by 10/18 (174 pages total)

Click here for the full schedule.

Week 3 – Where Do I Start?

I won’t provide a complete re-cap because it would give some things away but goodness!! So much has happened.

Philip heads to Paris. Aunt Louisa is rather stricken by his departure but Philip hardly bats an eye. The way he handles the goodbye seems especially cruel and harsh.

While in Paris, Philip meets all sorts of characters:

Mrs. Otter

Clutton

Fanny Price – what a piece of work she is

Cronshaw – fave quote “Sobriety disturbs conversation.”

Lawson

Miss Chalice – a slutty art model who gets around

Dunsford

Mildred – now this one really IS a piece of work

Miss Nesbit

Griffiths – a good chap

Philip’s family suffers a terrible loss but his reaction to it is mild, because he is utterly distracted by the truth. He is a mediocre artist at best and will never be more. His two years in Paris was a total waste. Surprised?

Much time is spent with Mildred. An interesting creature characterized by the green pallor of her skin. Philip is quite taken with her but although she at times shows interest, she cares for him not and makes that pretty clear. But Philip seems to have his head in the clouds. His infatuation with her takes up much of his life. It’s pitiful.

Enter Miss Nesbit. Is she the beacon of hope he needs to find his way? What about Griffiths?

Things to ponder:

Why does Philip subject himself with masochistic obstinacy to Mildred’s cruelty?

Cronshaw implies that pleasure is the only motive for human action. Would you say that Philip follows this rule for his own life?

Philip has tried many vocations and headed down several career paths, what do you think he is searching for? Even with his relationships, what is he looking for that he has not found?

What do you personally think of Philip?

Mildred is just dreadful. Why is Philip obsessed with her? Possibly because she is something that he can never have and because of his low self esteem sets himself up for punishment each and every time. Is he that lonely? Probably.

Cronshaw and his belief that pleasure is the only motive for human action is not far off the path for many, but I don’t feel it applies to Philip at all. He sets out to find peace and happiness but he is also motivated by horrible behavior and impossible relationships. He appears to be drawn to them. Perhaps knowing that they have no permanence.

With this week’s reading, I am having a hard time understanding what Philip wants in life. He is so, so lonely and desperate for interaction that he’s willing to endure horrible treatment to get it. He wants what other, better dressed, smarter boys have but at the first inkling of getting it, he quickly puts himself in reverse and backs away. I still think that the right girl could do him a world of good. But who?

Philip can be a little $hit. Honestly. He frustrates me. On one hand he is charming and delightfully awkward and likable but he gives up way too easily and talks himself out of things. BUT, big but, I am still rooting for him. I want him to find happiness and I really hope he does as we head toward the end of the book. His views on the importance of reading put me on his team.