Welcome to Litsy!

I have no words that can adequately review this memoir. A mother who lost her only two sons to suicide…beyond unimaginable. So I quoted some of her own words. It‘s the best I can muster. Highly recommend. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Yiyun Li had endured more in her life than I can fathom and yet she is able to go on. This book about the deaths by suicide of both of her sons years apart is told matter of factly but that doesn‘t make it emotionless. For me it amplified the sentences that hit me hard, as if they snuck up on you. Thoughtful and reflective and like nothing I have read before.

#grateful
Poe had an echocardiogram today so was at the vet‘s all day. We are awaiting results. The Vet again had to drain lots more fluid from his chest which is not a good sign. We are so happy he is home with us for now. Enjoying the “now” (Yiyun Li) with him.

The book‘s title within the book. #memoir

Time to bundle up- 32 this morning. The real Poe is huddled next to a steaming radiator in the kitchen. Smart cat, that Poe! #10BeforetheEnd

Next up for Poe & I. #10BeforetheEnd #week2

Both of the author‘s sons died by suicide, as teenagers, 6 years apart. The author talks about how to keep on living afterwards. You would imagine this book to be terribly emotional, but it‘s not. It‘s also not cold-hearted.

It‘s very difficult to find the words to describe this book - it‘s poetic, beautiful, clear-eyed and somehow hopeful.

This is a book that I don‘t really have the capacity to describe. I cannot relate to anything in it. And yet I have been changed by the mere reading of it. It‘s not sad but matter of fact. We, especially we in the United States, do not deal well with death, especially death from suicide. I feel a strong compassion for the author. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Six years apart, each of writer Yiyun Li‘s sons died by suicide. Here she reflects on that loss. I had thought such a book might be steeped in emotion, but this is more deeply intellectual. It‘s compelling.