Shark Heart
Amy to Matt: “I’m thinking of this post and I’m starting it with how I think about death on occasion. Well, actually, a fair amount. Is that a weird and/or concerning thing to share?”
Matt to Amy: “Uh, yes. Are you catastrophizing?”
A: “No, not really. Well, don’t you think about what happens? Like, is a soul something that lives on? Does a ‘being’ really just ‘disappear’? That sort of thing. I thought everyone ponders these ideas.”
M: “No, I do not ponder that.”
A: “Because I just finished this book. Julia recommended it. [points to book reco thing on our wall…{see April 17 post}] It’s about a guy who has a genetic mutation that turns him into a shark.”
M: “Whaaat? [equivalent of lol]
A: “…and now his wife has to grieve the loss of him even though he’s not dead per se…it’s just that he can’t live on land any longer. He’s transforming. And that’s like a death.”
[I start to make a smoothie.]
M: “I saw a guy on Twitter ask if he’s the only one who is still haunted by Awakenings with Robin Williams. It is the only movie that has had a long-standing impact on me and it was good to see someone else experience the same.”
A: “Yes! See, those people weren’t dead. Except others pretty much thought of them that way. Their lives were just outwardly different in really hard ways.” [me to myself: Also, this shared a-ha experience is why I like discussing books with people] “But even if someone really is dead, wouldn’t this be a productive way of imagining being able to commune with them still?”
[More smoothie making.]
M: “I’m going to the gym.”
A: “Don’t turn into a shark.”
{Wow, Shark Heart by Emily Habeck gave me major Time Traveler’s Wife vibes because just like in that 2003 bestseller, we have a protagonist who “dies,” but not in the literal way we latch onto; instead it’s a transformation into something different, something that is unattainable for the other partner. In Niffenegger’s novel we’ve got a guy who disappears because he time travels, and in Habeck’s we’ve got a guy who has a rare genetic mutation that turns him into a shark. Does this sound like an Amy book? No, it does not. But I was both enchanted and stirred by it.}
originally published on instagram