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casparb's review against another edition
This is Denise's memoir-essay-mourning diary following the death of her son. It's all the air in the room. Broadly, the thesis (I don't want to call it that?), or a part of what she's looking to articulate is the experience of living in another time, in mourning, beyond-mourning. Time is arrested, without its flow. Throughout she's impressively practical, drawing attention to the strange gap in writing from parents about the deaths of their children, compared to the relative wealth of writing about dead parents & partners. She's above and beyond, I've not the justice for it
tlindhorst's review against another edition
5.0
A challenging yet insightful reflection on catastrophic loss and being outside time. Bookended by essays by Max Porter and the author about the intensity of grief and it’s non-pathology.
estheruchi's review against another edition
4.0
«Perhaps only through forgetting the dead could it become possible to allow them to become dead. To finally be dead. And that could only follow– once time itself had taken the initiative here – from consigning them to a time that had decided to resume its old flow. Of its own accord. When or if this may ever happen, I can’t know. And can’t want it.»
«When he is dead, everything to do with him will be in the past tense.
Or rather, the sentence “He is dead” will be in the present tense, and also questions such as “Where are they taking him?” or “Where is he now?”
But then I won’t know if the words he and him are correct, in the present tense. Is he, once he is dead, still “he”, and if so, for how long is he still “he”?» -Lydia Davis, Grammar Questions.
«ᴛɪᴍᴇ ɪꜱ ꜱᴜᴘᴘᴏꜱᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴀꜱꜱ, ꜱʜᴇ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ. ʙᴜᴛ ᴍᴀʏʙᴇ ʜᴇ ɪꜱ ʟɪᴠɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ꜱᴛᴀᴛᴇ.» -Don DeLillo, The Body Artist.
«When he is dead, everything to do with him will be in the past tense.
Or rather, the sentence “He is dead” will be in the present tense, and also questions such as “Where are they taking him?” or “Where is he now?”
But then I won’t know if the words he and him are correct, in the present tense. Is he, once he is dead, still “he”, and if so, for how long is he still “he”?» -Lydia Davis, Grammar Questions.
«ᴛɪᴍᴇ ɪꜱ ꜱᴜᴘᴘᴏꜱᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴀꜱꜱ, ꜱʜᴇ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ. ʙᴜᴛ ᴍᴀʏʙᴇ ʜᴇ ɪꜱ ʟɪᴠɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ꜱᴛᴀᴛᴇ.» -Don DeLillo, The Body Artist.
mhewza's review against another edition
4.0
Could barely breathe reading the notes from two weeks to three years after J’s death.
Read this if you know a grieving mother, and buy it for her.
Read this if you know a grieving mother, and buy it for her.
apurvanagpal's review against another edition
4.0
Time Lived, Without it’s Flow is a deeply personal and moving memoir/essay by Denise Riley, which she started by penning down her thoughts after her son’s sudden death.
She mentions in the book that she isn’t writing about or talking “death” but how the loss of a loved one takes us away from the liner flow of the passing time. You live or rather learn to live, hoping for their return but aware that the hollow they’ve left can never be filled.
I found the book both raw with emotions and tender, beautifully written! There’s nothing you can compare to or even bring close to the inconsolable loss of a child and Denise Riley’s account puts together her minutes, days, months and years of arrested time in less than 100 pages.
For anyone having lost a loved one and trying to find a literary companion, this is the one to go for!
I highly recommend this and give it 4/5.
She mentions in the book that she isn’t writing about or talking “death” but how the loss of a loved one takes us away from the liner flow of the passing time. You live or rather learn to live, hoping for their return but aware that the hollow they’ve left can never be filled.
I found the book both raw with emotions and tender, beautifully written! There’s nothing you can compare to or even bring close to the inconsolable loss of a child and Denise Riley’s account puts together her minutes, days, months and years of arrested time in less than 100 pages.
For anyone having lost a loved one and trying to find a literary companion, this is the one to go for!
I highly recommend this and give it 4/5.
leestewart's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.0
Very sterile. Very academic. Lacks heft and heart.
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