Il Nostro Tragico Universo (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
Some bits, I loved; some bits, not so much. The thing I liked about the novel was that it felt like I was part of the main characters life. There was a conversational element to the book that felt like one big long chat with Meg. The book was written how the protagonist wanted to write her book, which I thought was clever. A lot of observations and experiences, and nowhere near wrapped up neatly at the end; however, this wasn't a big problem as there was no cliff hanger of sorts. Some bits felt like they took forever for me to read and others enveloped me within the lines, impossible to put down. An okay book. A comfort book - something to read when there's nothing else to take your fancy, you know you can just slide into Megs life for a while Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas is a quirky narrative about a woman who is trying to figure out her life. Meg has always had plans to write the next great novel that might change the world, but has been writing her novel for over seven years and deleting most of the novel as she goes. In the mean time Meg has been living with the same man, Christopher and their dog B. They are so poor that some days Meg just isn't sure what's going to happen. Christopher doesn't have a job and isn't going to get one any time soon. Meg to earn some money does book reviews on science books and writes genre novels and is on the board of a publishing company while working on her novel. The problem is that Meg is trying to imitate her life in her novel but is so unhappy with her life that she doesn't know what to do with her novel. Then one day one of her review books gets mixed up with this novel by an American who is writing a book about how the universe is in two parts and everyone will live forever. This books sets off a chain reaction that makes Meg consider her life and what she needs to make herself happy. Full of philosophy and theory this book makes the reader question what our place in the universe really is and how find our place in this world. Also full of failed romances and relationships that don't always have an easy answer. Meg leads the way for the reader to also wonder what is that really makes humans happy and that maybe its the small things.
What do You think about Il Nostro Tragico Universo (2010)?
At one point I thought this book was getting somewhere but never got there...
—Karen
Love this author. And the knitting was a very nice touch.
—hamidwardak
Couldn't finish, depressing, boring, moving on.
—khoobear
