Here One Moment

Here One Moment ~ Liane Moriarty

On a crowded flight from Tasmania to Sydney in Australia, a mysterious woman stands up and starts walking down the aisle. As she does so, she points at each passenger and states how and at what age they will die. The passengers are pretty shaken by this, especially those whose deaths are seemingly imminent. When, a few months later, the first prediction comes true, followed by two others, the world begins to take notice.

The book is written in chapters that skip from person to person, including one of the crew members, the mysterious sooth sayer, and several of the passengers who were told they were going to die soon.

I really liked this book. I liked the themes it brought up, like if you knew when you were going to die, and if it were soon, would you live your life differently? Would you try to change your fate? The author discussed the idea of ‘The vertigo of possibility’, that intrusive thought that we have about jumping from a high place, or driving into oncoming traffic. It’s not something that we would do, most of us, but the knowledge that we are free to do it gives us anxiety.

The idea of parallel universes, where every decision you make (or thought you have) might split off into another world is always kind of terrifying to me, specifically because if that were true, there would be worlds where I did drive into traffic or jump off of a high building, or whatever weird thought crossed my mind for an instant. Also, it’s somehow exhausting to think that there might be a world that is exactly like the one we are in, where the only difference is that someone is having a turkey sandwich instead of tuna salad. I mean, the two worlds are not aware of each other, so there’s no reason for the concept to make me tired, but it does.

Unrelated to that, there was a sentence that struck me, as a person of a certain age, and also as someone with Rheumatoid Arthritis (thankfully in remission, but I’ve had my moments). One of the characters (prognosis is suicide, age 28) has injured her back. She’s better now, and is out for a lovely walk with someone she cares for on a beautiful day. She is feeling great. “She had always taken absence of pain as a right, not a privilege. It feels like a privilege now.” She’s living in the moment, and enjoying it.

I’ve read quite a few books by Moriarty, and I’ve liked them all. This one is no exception. Highly recommended.

What’s with all the book reviews? I’m participating in NaBloPoMo this month, writing a post a day. I decided that I would write about the books that I have read this year. For more NaBloPoMo participants, check out San’s list.