"It was a trap. I'd seen the type in the entertainment world of LA, people who get so far and no farther, seething resentfully on the margins at people who direct real Hollywood movies or act in real Broadway plays. These near misses often get just enough reward here and there that they won't give up, but their occasional small successes are in some ways worse than nothing.
Failure affords release."
"Lastly, the well and truly fat. I think we long ago put to rest their reputation for jollity. Misery, more like it. Melancholy, perhaps. Helplessness. Self-indulgence and self-deceit. Defensiveness. Resignation to the present; fatalism about the future. Self-hatred and self-reproach. Shyness. Self-pity, albeit richly deserved; a persecution complex, although ought it be called a "complex" when you're genuinely persecuted? A self-deprecating sense of humour. Humility. As a consequence of having all too often been on the pointy end of malice, kindness. An enfolding warmth. Generosity. Born of self-evident frailty, cheerful acceptance of whatever might also be wrong with you. A longing to be left in peace, and a preference for staying home. Gentleness. Harmlessness. Langour. Frankness. Ribaldry. A down-to-earth nature and a lack of pretension."
-Big Brother, Lionel Shriver
She nailed it. As always. Loved her new novel to bits. When I read the ending, I was like WTF?!?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I hated it, I wanted it so badly to turn out what I thought to be. And then i grew to love it. Because it is SO GOD DAMN TRUE. That deep down as much as we would all love the cliche happily ever after ending, the reality is far from that. That relationships aren't that simple as it is. That the whole "blood is thicker than water" can only go so far.
Damn i can't wait for her next novel.
