The life of Sy Baumgartner - noted author, and soon-to-be retired philosophy professor - has been defined by his deep, abiding love for his wife, Anna. Now Anna is gone, and Baumgartner is embarking on his seventies whilst trying to live with her absence. But Anna's voice is everywhere still, in every spiral of memory and reminiscence, in each recalled episode of the passionate forty years they shared.
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Baumgartner is sitting at his desk in the second-floor room he variously refers to as his study, his cogitorium, and his hole.- 1
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(@FaberBooks, 7 November 2023, e-galley, 176 pages, #ARC from the publisher via @NetGalley)
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I'm a fan of the author but didn't like Baumgartner as much as some of his other books such as The New York Trilogy which is an amazing piece of literature. Don't get me wrong, this is a fairly enjoyable book as far as these things go, I just prefer his other books. I liked the way the book explores the love Baumgartner clearly felt for his late wife. This makes the book shine at times. I also liked the way the book explores Baumgartner getting old and finding new meaning in his life. I supposed I didn't really connect with Baumgartner as a character which causes a problem as the book is very closely focused through his eyes.