From a long shelf of book featuring women characters expecting nothing from the day and the tomorrow, completely driven by small or bigger desires, Want by Lynn Steger Strong is so far my favorite.
Through the strong voice of the I story account of the woman character, randomly named towards the end of the book, the limits of language - more or less facing the ´want´ - and innately, the limits of our communication with the other and ourselves is finelly at play. ´There was a time I thought that all language might contain something of value, but most of life is flat and boring and the thing we say are too. Or maybe it´s that most of life is so much stranger than language is able to make room for, so we say the same dead things and hope maybe the who and how of what is said can make into what we mean´.
The main character, through whose words the actions and other characters´ story are reflected is a mother, juggling with various low paid teaching jobs, whose husband left his job for following his ´wants´. They just filled for bankrupcy, but will be eventually saved by a generous loan offered by her rich parents. Sometimes she is stuck in her old teenage friendship with the depressive Sasha, whom she will meet again, but life will continue as usual for her afterwards.
Want is a swift conflict of generations and desire(s) and want(s), of talking without being heard and hearing what was left untold. Relatively short, with a story that may not lead anyway and stops as the day stops before the night, in a very casual, matter-of-factly way.
Also, it does include a lot of bookish references, which makes the character even more relatable to me. Thus, she stays with me for even a longer amount of time.
Rating: 4 stars
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