Reading In Isolation

by Tara Bell

Over isolation, I have found all the extra time quite daunting. With the prospect of ‘you have so much time to take up a new skill’, conflicting with ‘you will never have this much time to relax again’, I am often left unsure of how to spend my time. One of the main ways I have been spending it is reading; here are a few of the books I have read so far.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini 

In a coming-of-age style, this novel follows the character of Amir - a Muslim boy living in Kabul in Afghanistan. Following a series of traumatic childhood events inducing the loss of his closest friend under the pressure of his cold, hard to please father, he struggles to find his place in the world. This is occurring amidst the Afghanistan war in the 1970s, in which the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops into Afghanistan to assume complete military and political control of Kabul and large portions of the country. Amir’s struggle to find his strength of character resides throughout the novel, haunted by his inner turmoil surrounding his cultural and personal identity. Housseini explores themes of “guilt, friendship, forgiveness, loss, and desire for atonement, and desire to be better than who you think you are… very human experiences" as the author himself puts it. I found this book heartbreaking, and it opened my eyes to the hardships prevalent in Afghanistan.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

Atwood has always been one of my favourite authors, a view that was strengthened by this book. The sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, it follows the strict religious regime, Gilead, which overthrew the United States Government. In this strict patriarchal society, women are objectified solely to reproduce and restore society to a sufficient population. The sequel followed the same environment, in which the stories of three women, all affected by the regime in different ways, were recorded in the form of confessions. I enjoyed this writing style, as the use of different perspectives gave a clear picture of the regime and the extent to its malice; whilst the prequel only displayed the perspective of one group in society. As the women struggled with their individuality to varying extents, they flirted with the idea of rebellion against gender suppression. This theme was sustained to let Atwood form a commentary on the dangers of strong Puritan religious beliefs; she said it was based on real-life events. 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I had conflicting preconceptions before beginning this book. Controversially, I disliked the film; I found it quite cringy and, although aesthetically pleasing, unrealistic. I put that down not to the storyline, but to the assumption that it was unsuitable for the screen - I liked the overall plot and so decided to give the book a try, especially as it is one of the most classic American novels.

Narrated by Nick Carraway, he describes the life of his neighbor Jay Gatsby; an incredibly wealthy but mysterious man living in a Gothic mansion, in which he throws lavish parties without a known reason or motive. It is unveiled that the purpose is to fulfil his one desire: to be reunited with the woman he loves, Daisy. While his quest led him from poverty to wealth and momentarily to his love, it eventually led to his death, in which he was ultimately void of the love he desired. 

I found this book to be a tragic and realistic portrayal of the fallacy of the American dream; Gatsby’s one desire was not achieved. It also exposed the shallowness of the people in America and their desire for decadence and social stratification, and in that sense, I can see why it’s a Classic American novel.

However, I also found that the characters in the novel lacked psychological complexity; they were not explored in enough depth to be particularly likeable or dislikeable. The female characters were passive throughout the novel, seen to follow the motives of whichever rich male character was in their company at the time, and so they lacked morality. In this sense, I didn’t like the novel as much as I expected to, but I still enjoyed it and I’m glad I read it.