Jonathan Safran Foer “Here We Aren’t, So Quickly”
Summer Fiction: 20 Under 40
June14/21 “The New Yorker”
As with Joshua Ferris, I’ve read Jonathan Safran Foer’s second novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, but have not read his more famous debut, Everything is Illuminated.
It wasn’t because I didn’t want to; I’d bought a copy of his debut immediately when it was available in paperback. Do you ever feel sometimes that you are so sure that you are going to love a book that you don’t need to read it?
Well, that’s how it was with me and Everything is Illuminated, but I did read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close because a reading friend insisted.
(I had avoided her recommendations steadily — including, and still successfully, I add, her insistence that I read William Faulkner — so consistently that I simply had to toss her a reader’s bone and read Foer’s novel. And of course I was exceedingly glad that I did. I realize this bodes well for my reading experience with Faulkner, but I continue to resist.)
But I still haven’t read Everything is Illuminated. And I really don’t want to.
Foer strikes me as a writer who takes his time. And I don’t want to be Foer-less.
And a story like this one, “Here We Aren’t, So Quickly” isn’t much of a gap filler.
I’m guessing that this is the shortest of the stories featured in The New Yorker’s 20 Under 40 series; although these two pages manage to encapsulate a life, or most of it, with an emphasis on the adult years shared with a spouse.
Thematically it’s a familiar tale, but stylistically this story is innovative. And even if you are the sort of reader who requires a conventional narrative arc, the fact that this experiment continues for only two pages makes it accessible to a wide range of readers.
Most importantly though, it hints at what Jonathan Safran Foer is capable of in a longer form, as in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. If you haven’t read that novel yet, you really should. Although I’m not going to push Faulkner at you.
Here’s a link to a brief Q&A, which also contains a link to the short story( at the time of posting).
Have you read this one? What do you think of Foer’s writing?
Agreed, Raymond: that would certainly have changed my expectations in advance and have allowed the piece to resonate more fully on its own terms. Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
It probably would have been more apt to call this piece a cameo and I think distinguishing it as such would save many from the anticipation of elements of dialogue, rising action, etc. one comes to expect from a “story.” Nonetheless I feel like this is a wonderful piece of writing that captures so many of the paradoxical elements of life. The sentences come off as both momentary jogs of thought spit down quickly in a journal as well as musings of an old man reflecting on a relationship with a hindsight bias prescription. The writing nudges the idea of the little choices and inclinations of character which turn out to define who we are…and who we aren’t, and how we quickly end up being those people who we weren’t planning on being.
Specifically, I liked his inclusion of modern minutiae in a way that felt natural and purposeful. An example of this is his line about watching movie trailers on his computer. Too many times recently in various mediums I feel like the allusions to contemporary technology facets in our everyday lives seem tacked on. Foer used them in a way where they were signifiers of the angles of the personality. Overall, I felt this was a piece that will still be able to ring emotionally for decades to come.
Claire, I’ve only read History of Love but I loved it. Are there others I should make time for too?
Nymeth and Lija: thanks for the encouragement. I’ll get there before much longer, I’m sure.
I also read his second book first, and only got around to Everything Is Illuminated this summer. The advantage of reading an author’s most current novel first is that you already know you like them and you only have to wait as long as you feel like before reading their backlist.
Everything is Illuminated is an absolutely amazing book. But I completely understand wanting to save it. I’ve been doing the same with Sarah Waters – I still haven’t read her last, because I don’t want to run out of books by her!
I loved Everything is Illuminated, super funny. I understand what you mean by not wanting to read it. Sometimes we are afraid of being left nothing of a fave author to look forward to. I’ve also a copy of Extremely Loud and mean to get to it soon. Have you also read Nicole Krauss’s works?