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A review by jaclyncrupi
Seeing Other People by Diana Reid
4.0
I’ve been so busy reading and thinking about lockdown novels that I’ve completely neglected to think about coming out of lockdown novels. It’s this deeply interesting moment of right now where change is in the air and we’re all rethinking our entire lives and Reid is right there (YES!). Our best contemporary writers see our time and shine a light to it revealing it to ourselves (or use history to do the same). This aspect of SEEING OTHER PEOPLE is what captured me completely.
In just two books, Reid has positioned herself as a novelist deeply interested in questions of morality. As uncomfortable as I was with the behaviour of her characters and the ways they justified that behaviour, it really allowed her to mine aspects of moral character and those times when we prioritise ourselves and our desires over those we purport to love. Knowing a course of action would cause pain and heartache to someone you love and doing it anyway is pretty ripe material. Good people can behave so badly. There were moments this book verged on becoming moralistic but I think Reid walked that difficult line mostly without tripping over it. I’m already anticipating her next book (sorry, I know! And this one isn’t even out until October!) and what moral questions she will pose. Could those with reading copies please read it soon so I have people to talk to about it.
In just two books, Reid has positioned herself as a novelist deeply interested in questions of morality. As uncomfortable as I was with the behaviour of her characters and the ways they justified that behaviour, it really allowed her to mine aspects of moral character and those times when we prioritise ourselves and our desires over those we purport to love. Knowing a course of action would cause pain and heartache to someone you love and doing it anyway is pretty ripe material. Good people can behave so badly. There were moments this book verged on becoming moralistic but I think Reid walked that difficult line mostly without tripping over it. I’m already anticipating her next book (sorry, I know! And this one isn’t even out until October!) and what moral questions she will pose. Could those with reading copies please read it soon so I have people to talk to about it.