pickThe format is definitely part of the strong appeal of this novel: alternating chapters follow the story of a fancy house in Christchurch #NZ with the story of an eel in the nearby river, from 1906 & advancing 2 years with every chapter in Part 1, switching to monthly in 2010, up to & after the 1st big quake. Not much changes for the eel, but the house‘s many inhabitants go through wars, social activism & 9/11. A wonderful sense of history‘s sweep.
This passage is set in 2012. If it was 2020, he would definitely be opting for the stand back option. Standing way back.
One of the problems with working at home was that there were fewer interruptions. No one came and stood in his office doorway, in the way that had always annoyed him when he had an office and a doorway.
(Internet photo)
Paul categorically refuses to use Barry-speak: consumers, clients, units. They‘re patients, damn it. It‘s a good word, an old word, for people who are waiting as they mostly do, with the touching submission of the ill and damaged, for him or someone like him to do his best to make them well. These are not consumers, fecklessly occupying their free beds, gobbling up some finite resource. They are patients.
“a panful of kidney bean lasagne from a recipe in The Moosewood Cookbook …”
This is from the tagged book‘s chapter set in 1978, so I know the author is referring to the original Moosewood cookbook (my tattered copy was published in 1977). I assume Fiona Farrell is mocking vegetarians of that era (for eating stolid food) because neither of Mollie Katzen‘s two recipes for lasagne in this book have any beans in them.
@shawnmooney created a video of us chatting on opposite sides of the world about similar reading experiences.
https://youtu.be/IwbPZ_T7y6E
Ha! I‘ve ensconced myself with oatmeal and tea by the window and discover that the next chapter where I left off yesterday is “The Window Seat.” Perfect.
Decline and Fall on Savage Street | 
