The Oasis, Mary McCarthy
This slim novel by Mary McCarthy surely made an enormous splash in her social circle when it was published, causing scandal and controversy. It follows a group of characters who decide to leave their lives for a commune in the middle of the woods, and each one resembles someone from McCarthy’s social circle; friends, lovers, and enemies alike. She exposes their hypocrisies and personality flaws, and how these ultimately cause the commune to fail and the members to break apart. The Oasis can be seen as a successful writing experiment showcasing McCarthy’s skillful portrayal of both fiction and reality that has lasted to the present day with this new reprinting of what could be called her most polemic novel.
Life after Life, Kate Atkinson
World War I and II literature is yet another genre I tend to avoid if I can, but this novel was so unique I did not even mind. Ursula is born in a snowstorm in 1910 and readers are immediately witness to the strings of her many lives, each one ending in her untimely death before the next one begins, and concluding with the one in which she lives the longest, in a semi-happy rather normal life. But is it her best life? That is the question the author leaves us with, as well as questions such as, best for whom? And, what makes one life better than another? In one of the versions of her life, she kills Hitler before the Holocaust takes place. Is that arguably her best life, or does it not matter because Hitler is ultimately replaceable? Or is her best life the one in which she was the most happy? Or the one in which she was the most authentic version of herself? All these different versions of her life take place in different countries, with different patterns, and even sometimes with children, and it really makes one think (or at least made me think) about how our decisions can truly lead us to have wildly different lives from the ones we are leading now, if only we are brave enough or desiring change enough. Nothing is permanent and it’s never too late.