Two, I’m also a sucker for Rachel Cusk. I have a list of favorite authors, who appear there for a variety of reasons: either they have written a book (or books!) that I love, or I have read all of the novels they've had published (or I aspire to do so), or I would put anything they publish on my TBR. (There is considerable overlap between these three categories.) Cusk is #5 on the list.
But what I most want to remember about The Last Supper appears on page 196, and I will quote it here:
The longer we stay in Italy, the less we are able to conduct ourselves like visitors. Yet to live here, really live, would involve the same things as living anywhere. There would be school and routine, anxiety and conformity, judgment and separation, success and failure. There would be all the ripples of effect that are sent out when people establish themselves among other people. . . To live in another country requires a fundamental acceptance of things that are true in all countries. . . [People] seem to believe that when they moved, the bad things would remain behind. And perhaps they did: but the good things stayed there also.
Maybe that's a bit depressing when considering a dream of living somewhere else, somewhere better. How many times have I been on vacation, blissful and relaxed, looking around and thinking, Wouldn't it be great if we could live here? I typically follow that thought with the pragmatic downer of But if we lived here it wouldn't be like this. This doesn't stop me from dreaming, though. I just want to do it with my eyes wide open.
Cool side note: This book was published the year I started my blog! Which was also the year I first traveled to Italy.
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