I've come to the end and I can't say I didn't call it. In spite of what the protagonist felt about love, monogamy, polyamory etc When he was ready to grow up, he was ready. That's all I'll say😅
Ingrid strokes my head reassuringly and says, “I feel like I caught a beautiful bird in the wild and put it in a cage, just for me to look at.”
I listen. She knows. She understands me.
“The cage is near the window, and the bird keeps looking outside and thinking about life out there. And I need to open the cage and let it go, because it belongs in the wild.”
“That meek old man with the blank stare was probably beaten senseless by his father; the sad-looking obese guy in an undersized T-shirt may have grown up with a mom who expressed love only through her cooking; the uptight businessman was likely raised by strict parents who never allowed him to be imperfect. Suddenly there seem to be very few adults in the world, just suffering children and overcompensating adolescents.”
“I used to think that intelligence came from books and knowledge and rational thought. But that‘s not intelligence: It‘s just information and interpretation. Real intelligence is when your mind and your heart connect. That‘s when you see the truth so clearly... that you don‘t have to think about it. In fact, all thinking will do is lead you away from the truth and soon you‘ll be back in your head, groping with a penlight in the dark again.”
I shouldn't have to leave the house for the rest of the day and it's entirely possible I may "accidentally" spend the next 11 hours reading ??
Seemed like a big ol' gimmick. But it was a book club pick so...
The level of transparency Neil wrote with in this book is flooring. Brace yourself for the grit, prepare to be challenged, disturbed, and brought to face yourself in the mirror of one mans quest for love through all its manifestations. You'll recognize yourself, you may not love what you see.