Similar to the opening lines, this is a book where “you put
together two things that have not been together before. And the world is
changed…” Barnes here combines photography, ballooning, and grief to talk about
life and love. It’s a combination that I would not have expected, but
surprisingly makes sense. That way, levels of life can refer to vertical
levels, as well as life versus death.
The first half is almost like a story, where he discusses
eighteenth century ballooning and the different figures that came into play
there. The second half is the lack of a story, no characters are mentioned by
name and it circles around and back on itself to portray the author’s grief at
losing his wife. It makes sense, that way you feel the lack of persons the same
way that the grieving do.
Despite the fact that none of the characters in the second
half are mentioned by name, it is a deeply personal account. All of his musings
hit home and yet also seemed insightful into the nature of anguish without ever
becoming too specific. It was a moving, if short, read, and one that I would
recommend for anyone getting over a heartache of any kind.
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