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A woman writer goes to Athens in the height of summer to teach a writing course. Though her own circumstances remain indistinct, she becomes the audience to a chain of narratives, as the people she meets tell her one after another the stories of their lives. Beginning with the neighbouring passenger on the flight out and his tales of fast boats and failed marriages, the storytellers talk of their loves and ambitions and pains, their anxieties, their perceptions and daily lives. In the stifling heat and noise of the city the sequence of voice begins to weave a complex human tapestry. The more they talk the more elliptical their listener becomes, as she shapes and directs their accounts until certain themes begin to emerge: the experience of loss, the nature of family life, the difficulty of intimacy and the mystery of creativity itself. Outline is a novel about writing and talking, about self-effacement and self-expression, about the desire to create and the human art of self-portraiture in which that desire finds its universal form.
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Can’t give no stars for the plot… there truly isn’t one. So bizarre.
0“i discovered that a life with no story was not, in the end, a life that i could live.”
Faye's brief encounters with people highlighted to me the importance of being able to listen, observe and talk which often times we take for granted. Reading this book made me feel the slow-paced life I'd want to have in my life. The kind of life where you don't have to be in a constant sense of urgency. There's a chapter when Faye asked her ten students, on the first day, about what they noticed on their way to the summer school, and that question also made me think about mine. Since then, I've make it a routine to include on my journal about the mundane things I've noticed in a day, and it helps me to observe the tiny details of things differently.
Through Faye's narration, and the little details about herself, I felt the connection with the characters as if I was given a front seat show with their lives. I was engrossed in Rachel Cusk's words throughout the story which made me forget I was reading. (And I'm excited to read the book 2!)
I loved all the characters, reading their experiences in life were like a hug to me. And out of all the characters, there are few who resonates with me most, the billionaire man with his curiosity, flexibility and adaptability,
Angeliki with her self-image, urge for self-expression, personal aspirations and desire for knowledge, “she was being given a choice, and that if she wanted to escape her old identity then this was her opportunity.”
and finally, Elena with her opinions towards relationship and men. “men like to play this game. and they actually fear your honesty, because then the game is spoiled. by not being honest with a man you allow him to continue his game, to live in his fantasy.”
Definitely a good read and I’d recommend this for those who like slow-paced and character-driven story. I enjoyed reading all the stories and I'd probably re-read this one :)
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