Title: Someone Author: Alice McDermott
Published: September 10, 2013
Genre(s): Literary Fiction
Page Count: 232
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:An ordinary life - its sharp pains and unexpected joys, its bursts of clarity and moments of confusion - lived by an ordinary woman: This is a novel that speaks of life as it is daily lived, a crowning achievement by one of the finest American writers at work today.
An ordinary life - its sharp pains and unexpected joys, its bursts of clarity and moments of confusion - lived by an ordinary woman: this is the subject of Someone, Alice McDermott's extraordinary return, seven years after the publication of After This. Scattered recollections - of childhood, adolescence, motherhood, old age - come together in this transformative narrative, stitched into a vibrant whole by McDermott's deft, lyrical voice.
Our first glimpse of Marie is as a child: a girl in glasses waiting on a Brooklyn stoop for her beloved father to come home from work. A seemingly innocuous encounter with a young woman named Pegeen sets the bittersweet tone of this remarkable novel. Pegeen describes herself as an "amadan," a fool; indeed, soon after her chat with Marie, Pegeen tumbles down her own basement stairs. The magic of McDermott's novel lies in how it reveals us all as fools for this or that, in one way or another.
Marie's first heartbreak and her eventual marriage; her brother's brief stint as a Catholic priest, subsequent loss of faith, and eventual breakdown; the Second World War; her parents' deaths; the births and lives of Marie's children; the changing world of her Irish-American enclave in Brooklyn - McDermott sketches all of it with sympathy and insight. This is a novel that speaks of life as it is daily lived; a crowning achievement by one of the finest American writers at work today.
This was a very different—but good—sort of novel. It’s a sort of reflection on a life, narrated in first person by its protagonist, Marie. Alice McDermott’s prose is skillful and moves with a good amount of strength. Someone is a brief novel, but it doesn’t feel too short—Goldilocks would pronounce it “just right”, and I’m in agreement with her. This slim book does have a story to tell: the story of life.
I couldn’t exactly say that there’s plot present, per se, but in the end it doesn’t matter. Someone is written something like a memoir, but one told in snapshots and headlines. Marie details some of the important events of her life, but she doesn’t fill in the space between. Some of the scenes relayed aren’t “important” at all in the larger scale of things, but they add to the vivid picture of Marie’s life. Growing up pre-WWII, marrying a WWII vet, raising four children, caring for her older brother. These are all aspect of Marie’s life, and McDermott reveals them skillfully, honestly.
There is just something so enchanting in this book’s simplicity. Marie’s life isn’t special or anything out of the ordinary at all, but it has a quality of truthfulness to it, and that’s what makes it stand out, in my opinion. I can describe what happens in this book until I’m blue in the face, and Someone will never sound like anything more than a boring, storyless bunch of pages. I found that this is more that it seems, though.
The characters we meet, the places they go, the things they do. As illustrated in Someone, everything is real, authentic, and is made memorable because of those qualities. The author leaves some blanks in the story, but it only adds to the overall affect. How could you possibly choose the most important moments in your own life? How could you include everything that makes you you? You can’t, of course. And neither can Marie.
Someone is an impacting, memorable piece of literary fiction from an obviously talented author. I’ve not experience Alice McDermott’s prose before, but if what I’ve just read is any indication, she’s deserving of her recognition. This is truly an excellent book.
