The Living Sea of Waking Dreams: A novel

This book was a whirlwind of world destruction, uncertain vanishings and making difficult decisions for ageing parents. The first half really captured me and I enjoyed the premise and key themes - particularly around the quantity vs quality of life but it also explored themes around power and class really well. The protagonist distracted herself with social media, ignoring the reality that was in front of her and running the rat race of life instead. Somewhere in the second half it unravelled a bit though potentially in tandem with her life but it lost me. The unexplained vanishings became too much; the leap to magical realism was too pronounced and I found myself not as engaged. Some great nuggets in here but for me mainly in the first half.

I’m a moderate fan of this Tassie author and his unique style. I found this story - the desire of an ailing elderly mother Francie to die in peace being thwarted by her daughter Anna and son Terzo‘s inability to let go — very real and painful. Flanagan also shows that staying put in the presence of suffering is very difficult to do for many people. To me, Tommy’s quiet presence by Francie‘s side is the best model of delivering compassion and support in the face of someone dying. A model I hope to aspire to.