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'One of the finest accounts of the mysterious workings of grief I have ever read.' Helen Macdonald 'Completely compelling.' Olivia Laing 'Read it with awe and sorrow.' Fatima Bhutto After the sudden death of his father, Nick Blackburn embarks on a singular, labyrinthine journey to understand his loss. How do you create an existence when all you can see is a void? The Reactor is a memoir about absence and creative possibilities, assembled like the pieces of a puzzle. Through philosophy, music, fashion, psychology, art and film, Blackburn travels a vast panorama of ideas and characters to offer an entirely new exploration of grief. This is a book about looking for and finding chain reactions and human connection - a work of enduring fragmentary beauty.
Reviews with the most likes.
Alright some vignettes in this collection I just do not understand. But maybe that's also partly the point? As the author is someone that wrote this whilst (and possibly still) is going through grief himself. Grief is so differently for everyone, that not everyone will understand.
The general chaos in the collection I find to be an expression of this journey of grief and loss as well. Because it is chaotic, it really can be, because that's grief. It goes up and down and sometimes you just do not understand what is happening or what you are feeling.