Douglas Kennedy – Leaving the World - Review

 

Having read most of Kennedy's work over many years, this particular novel certainly gave me pause.

Why?

Most of us that have experienced the cruelty of others, (as the philosopher, J.P. Sartre once wrote: "Hell is other people.") should have a little empathy for the central protagonist. This reader certainly did after turning the last page. The tragic nature of life is evident and is keenly explored by Kennedy and how some of us cope with what life throws at us.

Someone said that we are really the sum total of our experiences but also the choices we make in life determine our present circumstances. Really it comes down to how we "respond" to life's vagaries that make us who we are...

"Leaving the World" is about the protagonist's responses to a litany of disappointments and circumstances in her life.

After a tragedy we can leave the world in many ways: suicide, drugs, isolationism...on the other hand, we can simply forge ahead, "hoping." that, "this too will pass." However, there are times, too, when life keeps coming, testing our every move or response and, sometimes, we get through, then again, sometimes, not.

I enjoyed the many musical and literary references in the novel, including the references to quantum theory. As Einstein said, "God does not play dice with the universe." though, with the advent of quantum theory, randomness is a factor in our physical existence... our reality.

What I found it interesting is that the protagonist, after a terrible tragedy, cannot stand to look at beauty. It is as if her atheist view somehow translates to aesthetics, the beauty of the world. After a terrible experience, losing someone, for example, I have known people to turn away from God; this woman turns away from the beauty of the world...and are they so different?

As in all of Kennedy's novels, his characters come alive, and for this, the reader is the author's central writing gift. Critics talk about "plot-driven" or "character-driven" stories, "Leaving the World" is both.

For me, Douglas Kennedy never-ever disappoints, and he certainly does not in this excellent novel

A pleasure.