Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Fiction Tuesday

 

No one dies in Office Girl. Nobody talks about the international political situation. There is no mention of any economic collapse. Nothing takes place during a World War.

Instead, this novel is about young people doing interesting things in the final moments of the last century. Odile is a lovely twenty-three-year-old art-school dropout, a minor vandal, and a hopeless dreamer. Jack is a twenty-five-year-old shirker who's most happy capturing the endless noises of the city on his out-of-date tape recorder. Together they decide to start their own art movement in defiance of a contemporary culture made dull by both the tedious and the obvious. Set in February 1999—just before the end of one world and the beginning of another—Office Girl is the story of two people caught between the uncertainty of their futures and the all-too-brief moments of modern life.

Oh, it's still near the top of my favorites on my favorite book list. Although, it wasn't all that long ago I found out from a close friend how much hated Meno's book. She found it quite depressing. Yet, I loved the urban feel of this. How two people met at a job. Both are rather flawed. How they were not all that happy to be there. Although, it felt very real. Riding bikes in the city. Bookstores and such. Yeah, only I'm afraid I was the only one to enjoy it. Actually, it inspired me to write a short story that did not make the mentor in the writer's group all that happy.

I'll post the short story tomorrow.

5 comments:

  1. Ah sim, quem ler muito também escreve muito bem.
    Vem aí mais um conto!

    Ane :-*
    De Outro Mundo

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  2. This sounds nice! Looking forward to reading your story!!

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  3. Gracias por la reseña, Lo tendré en cuenta siempre es genial cuando un libro te inspira. https://enamoradadelasletras.blogspot.com/

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  4. This sounds like a great book! I love stories that are character driven, so it wouldn't bother me that it doesn't feature current events or even any big plot points. Also, I love that it's set at the very end of 1999.

    Speaking of books, to answer your question, although I very much enjoyed and recommend Adult Assembly Required, it's not as good as The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. Maybe that's because Nina was a more deeply developed character. Or because I identified with her more than Laura. Or, because, you know, sequels. 😁

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Hi, I love hearing from people.