“Life is a bit more difficult for women. More difficult than it is for us, I mean. And you don’t need to ask them to explain why or understand it all. You just need to be nice to them.”
Andy doživi ljubavni brodolom i osjeća se kao jedini preživjeli na pustom otoku. U jednom trenu ima sve, a u drugom je u potrazi za stanom, karijerom i razlogom zašto ga je Jen ostavila. Raspadom veze Andy shvaća i koliko mu se društveni život izmijenio od zadnjega puta kada je bio solo…
Dobar materijal sam mjerkala već neko vrijeme kod stranih blogera pa sam se požurila čitati čim je dospjela u moje ruke. I nisam požalila. Ja sam vječni zaljubljenik u ovaj stil pisanja koji znam da ne odgovara svima, ali meni je toliko ispunjavajući i poseban da sam stalno u potrazi za novim autorima. Zatrpajte me knjigama Sally Rooney, Coco Mellors, Eimear McBride…i u moru “sad girl” (ili sad boy) priča biti ću sretna žena.
U suštini ljubavna priča, ali istovremeno i fenomenalan prikaz međuljudskih odnosa, pronalaženja sebe i svoje najgore i najbolje verzije. Autorica je stvorila savršene likove, kada je ona tako zamislila Andy mi je beskrajno išao na živce, a samo par stranica kasnije natjerala me je da suosjećam s njim i želim mu sve što si je i sam priželjkivao.
Dobar materijal je roman o stvarnim ljudima, o našim prijateljima, o nama, ali i o vezama koje imaju jedan početak, ponekad više verzija i uvijek dva kraja – njegov i njezin.
Ako ste više ljubitelj osjećaja koje vam knjiga može izazvati, a ne toliko radnje i same brzine radnje, ako ste u potrazi za romanom o kojem ćete razmišljati i nakon čitanja jer je dovoljno realan da se nađete u njemu, a opet dovoljno udaljen od vašeg života da vam ne izaziva nelagodu, onda svakako pročitajte Dobar materijal, jednu od pet najboljih knjiga ove godine prema The New York Timesu.
“Kad dobiješ nogu, tu se nikad ne radi o tome da si dobio nogu.”
“A o čemu se onda radi?” upitao sam.
“Radi se o svim tim slučajevima u cijelom životu kad te netko odbio. O klincima u školi koji su te zadirkivali. I o roditelju koji se nikad nije vratio, djevojkama koje u disku nisu s tobom htjele plesati. I djevojci koju si imao u školi koja je htjela biti solo kad ode na faks. I svim kritikama koje si dobio na poslu. Kad ti netko kaže da ne želi više biti s tobom, osjećaš bol svakog tog događaja kad si pomislio da nisi dovoljno dobar. Opet sve to proživljavaš.”
“Ne znam kako da to prevladam, mama”, rekao sam. “U ovom trenutku sam tako umoran sam od sebe. Ne znam kako da je ostavim za sobom.”
“Ne radiš to odjednom. To ti je prva pogreška. Opraštaš se cijeli život. Možda deset godina o njoj nisi razmišljao, onda čuješ pjesmu ili prođeš negdje kamo ste zajedno zalazili – nešto što si potpuno zaboravio izbije ti na površinu. I onda se opet oprostiš. Moraš biti spreman ostaviti je za sobom puno puta, tisuću puta.”
“A bude li onda lakše?”
“Puno lakše”, rekla je.
[english]
Good Material – Dolly Alderton
Andy experiences a romantic shipwreck and feels like the only survivor on a desert island. One moment he has everything, and the next he is looking for an apartment, a career and the reason why Jen left him. With the breakup of the relationship, Andy also realizes how much his social life has changed since the last time he was single…
I’ve noticed all the buzz Good Material has created among foreign bloggers for some time, so I hurried to read it as soon as I got my hands on it. And I didn’t regret it. I am an eternal lover of this writing style, which I know does not suit everyone, but it is so fulfilling and special to me that I am constantly on the lookout for new authors. Shower me with books by Sally Rooney, Coco Mellors, Eimear McBride… and in the sea of “sad girl” (or sad boy) stories I will be a happy woman.
Essentially a love story, but at the same time a phenomenal portrayal of interpersonal relationships, finding yourself and your worst and best version. The author created perfect characters, when Alderton wanted, I found Andy extremely annoying and just a few pages later she made me sympathize with him and wish him everything that he wished for himself.
Good Material is a novel about real people, about our friends, about us, but also about relationships that have one beginning, sometimes multiple versions and always two endings – his and hers.
If you are more of a fan of “all the feels” that a book can give you, and not so much of the paced plot, if you are looking for a novel that you will think about even after reading it because it is realistic enough to find yourself in it, yet far enough away from your life so it doesn’t make you uncomfortable, then be sure to read Good Material, one of the five best books of the year according to The New York Times.
“Getting dumped is never really about getting dumped.’
‘What is it about, then?’ I ask.
‘It’s about every rejection you’ve ever experienced in your entire life. It’s about the kids at school who called you names. And the parent who never came back. And the girls who wouldn’t dance with you at the disco. And the school girlfriend who wanted to be single when she went to uni. And any criticism at work. When someone says they don’t want to be with you, you feel the pain of every single one of those times in life where you felt like you weren’t good enough. You live through all of it again.’
‘I don’t know how to get over it, Mum,’ I say. ‘At this point I’m so tired of myself. I don’t know how to let go of her.’
‘You don’t let go once. That’s your first mistake. You say goodbye over a lifetime. You might not have thought about her for ten years, then you’ll hear a song or you’ll walk past somewhere you once went together – something will come to the surface that you’d totally forgotten about. And you say another goodbye. You have to be prepared to let go and let go and let go a thousand times.’
‘Does it get easier?’
‘Much,’ she says.”
