Book about another time..."The Invisible Circus"

The Invisible Circus



I recently finished reading this book and in my mind, some unanswered questions...I thought the writer has a great writing style. She is very descriptive and you can picture the scenes easily.

It is a bit of a travelogue, but it's a painful one in MANY ways. I like the main character's dedication to finding out more about her sister...and what happened to her. I don't think the choices the girl, Phoebe makes are the best choices. But a lot of it comes from hurt from her past. There are a lot of flashbacks...(no pun intended)..it is the 70's...lol! The book goes back and forth between her childhood and the present and even a couple years before...

It's a lot about family and miscommunication...the book has a lesson: to cherish each moment with the ones you love and really notice when a loved one is in trouble/pain.

I think the guy, Wolf (The ex-boyfriend of Phoebe's sister Faith) doesn't always make the best choices either. But there's a lot of realism in how emotions can make people do things they wouldn't normally do.

It's a bit eerie with the search for Faith...or the spirit of Faith. I had this book at one time and put it down because some of the writing about family dysfunction was tough to read...but if you stay with the book through the dark and light...you'll see the light at the end. The writing takes you to Europe along with Phoebe and there are times you feel like you're immersed in the sorrow that Wolf feels.

I recommend this book! It is worth reading...and it leaves you thinking and questioning...which is what people in the 60's and 70's were actively doing...

How does one honor this fateful day?

On this fateful day in 2001, much was lost but there was also a lot gained...

We all witnessed a great coming together of various tribes of people, which was unusual, in my opinon...when everyone was so used to their own little industrial lifescapes...and doing so much on their own. It was nice to see people look beyond their own little nuclear families and their own needs.

We also witnessed great fear and this resulted in some racial profiling, stereotyping, hate crimes. It was very difficult to watch others judge people of middle eastern descent or Muslim religion and label them as terrorists. It was super painful to watch the U.S. and other countries really promote war because of some people who chose to fly right through the twin towers.

I've never gotten to see New York, but I know it's a mecca of diversity. It's hard to believe that this could have happened...and people were just going about their normal work days. Some survived the attacks and some didn't. And I will always remember families with signs around their necks...trying to locate loved ones who could be alive or buried in the rubble at Ground Zero.

I think of everyone hurt as part of the human family. I sometimes feel sad about the people who died in the planes while crashing into buildings. Were they brainwashed? How did they feel before doing this? Was there reflection on life after death and/or the feelings of the victims lost to this horrific occasion?

The best that I can come up with...is darkness escaped that day into the atmosphere and it was not just developed that day...it had been building.

This darkness happens around the world. 9/11 showed us this darkness in an overpoweringly destructive way...but it happens every day...this darkness and hopelessness.

I see it this way...the best we can do as citizens of the world...is to unite with each other. There are different religions, different ethnicities and backgrounds....the acceptance and understanding of this is the way one falls into the divine, the light.

And this has been the way for centuries and trillions of years...let's not forget that. It is the way the world is...and we have much to be grateful about..."variety is the spice of life!"

I'm hoping for more unification and peace throughout the world. Why not?