Less

Those who know me know I love to read and would spend most of my days immersed in books if I could. Although not a literary expert by any means, I have read my fair share of books and Less is one of my absolute favorites.

I first encountered the book in London after a 7 hour flight from New York and more than an hour subway ride (I somehow thought that, with 2 large bags, a carry-on suitcase and a purse, it was a good idea to get to my accommodation using the tube). Sleep deprived, jet-lagged and without phone service, I was trying to find my way when I saw a bookstore. There is something about bookstores that makes me gravitate towards them, and if I have enough time, I always stop and take a look when I pass by one. I was browsing the store when a blue cover - an arctic blue background and Less in his famous blue suit, caught my attention.

Less's cover

Arthur Less, a minor author approaching 50, embarks on a long journey to escape an event he doesn't want to attend but can't decline. Attending would be awkward and declining would amount to accepting defeat (the event is the marriage of his ex-lover of 9 years). Less then decides to accept every invitation he has received to obscure literary events around the world. His journey starts in New York and then he is off to Mexico, Italy, Germany, France, Morocco, and Japan.

The tragicomic business of being alive

Less excels at narrating the tragicomic business of being alive. The novel doesn't take itself too seriously, and even though Less encounters a never-ending series of accidents and mishaps, the author manages to keep the tone fun and witty. Tragic things happen, but they are seen through comic lenses. Less puts it best:

"He degloves every humiliation to show its risible lining. What sport! If only one could do this with life!"

Around the world

I really enjoyed the peripatetic style of the book. I first read Less at a time in which I would have liked to do exactly what Arthur did: escape my sorrows and embark on an adventure around the world. Sadly I could not do that, but following Less's adventures (and misadventures) provided me a much-needed getaway and many laughs.

Lost in translation

As a huge language enthusiast, I found the book's depiction of Arthur's struggles with foreign languages (particularly with German) very amusing. Having studied German since he was a boy, Less swears he is fluent in the language, but his German abilities are more of a liability than an asset and his students end up calling him Peter Pan because he speaks like a child. To quote the book:

"Less's tongue is bruised with errors. Male friends tend to switch to girls in the Lessian plural, becoming Freundin instead of Freund; and by using auf den Strich instead of unterm Strich, he can lead intrigued listeners to believe he is going into prostitution."

In short, a wonderful book. Andrew Sean Greer (the author) does, in my opinion, an exceptional job at putting into words thoughts and feelings I've had but could have never expressed. He also came up, throughout the book, with reflections about love, relationships, aging and life that I found poignant. Below are some of my favorites.

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On love

"They might have done, many of them. So many people will do. But once you've actually been in love, you can't live with 'will do'."

"It was in the middle of their time together… the time when any couple has found its balance, and passion has quieted from its early scream, but gratitude is still abundant; what no one realizes are the golden years."

"What if you ever meet someone and it feels like it could never be anyone else? Not because other people are less attractive, or drink too much, or have issues in bed... it's because they aren't this person."

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On relationship endings

"From somewhere high above the earth, I began a plummeting descent. There was no air to breathe. The world was rushing in to fill the void where he had always been."

"I hadn't known I needed him there. Like a landmark, a pyramid-shaped stone or a cypress, that we assume will never move. So we can find our way home. And then, inevitably, one day - it's gone."

"And we realize that we thought we were the only changing thing, the only variable in the world; that objects and people in our lives are there for our pleasure, like the playing pieces of a game, and cannot move of their own accord; that they are held in place by our need for them, by our love. How stupid."

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On humiliation

"How has it come to this? What god has enough free time to arrange this very special humiliation?"

"…experiencing that Wonderland sensation of having been shrunk into a tiny version of himself; he could pass through the smallest door now."

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On the past

"His brain sits before its cash register again, charging him for old shames as if he has not paid before."

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On aging

"It's like the last day in a foreign country. You finally figure out where to get coffee, and drinks, and a good steak. And then you have to leave. And you won't ever be back."

"It's true things can go on till you die. And people use the same old table, even though it's falling apart and it's been repaired and repaired, just because it was their grandmother's. That's how towns become ghost towns. It's how houses become junk stores. And I think it's how people get old."

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On life

"Nothing to do but laugh about it. True for everything."

"They knew trouble would always come but expected it in degrees. Life so often arrives all of a sudden."

"An eel of panic wriggles through him as he searches the room for exits, but life has no exits."