"If you marry this man... You'll become his smiling shadow.".... "I thought I wanted the world, Mama. But I've seen the world now, and I want no part in it."

I think this is SO common. For example, just today, I saw someone's post admitting they were wrong to vote for Trump and that they were deconstructing their religion and politics and apologized for the harm they cause. The comments were abysmal. "Anyone with half a brain knew this from the beginning" etc... We write people off as stupid, unkind, selfish, hateful, etc... without EVER offering space to talk as a human. Then, if they start to question their beliefs, who will they have to go to? If you discredit the work they made to widen their horizons, then you just shove them back into their echo chamber. If they feel like they won't be welcomed or accepted once leaving their echo chamber then THEY WILL NEVER LEAVE. It's a vicious cycle.

" I'd found myself in a highly claustrophobic holding tank for rich kids. An artificially intelligent Eden: a warm, incubated landscape designed to keep the worst kids in America safe and warm and well-fed until they matured past the urge to peck each other's eyes out"

It might be a hot take to agree with Natalie -- but I do. I went to a rich highschool as a not-rich kid. Kids got Cadillacs for their 16th birthday and nose jobs and boob jobs for their 18th. I drove a 1998 Honda accord and worked two jobs. I'll never forget a debate I had senior year in AP Language. The question was: does everyone in this room have equal opportunities to go to university. Most kids said yes. Me and a few other kids said no.

I'll never forget the girl who I debated this with. She was mean, and I knew that intimately. She had even, the year prior, drugged a girl's drink as a joke and the girl got raped. But, since she was wealthy and on a sports team, she got off on a warning.

Anyway, she said we have the same education and if I didn't get good enough grades then it was on me. But I worked until 10pm every day and didn't have the same amount of time to study. I would need a full ride scholarship to go to a school outside our town. She wouldn't. But she refused to accept it and she said we all have the same opportunities and most others agreed with her.

I got scholarships to elite schools, but none of them covered room&board so I ended up going to community college in the evenings and weekends. She ended up at an out of state university and joined a sorority.

Most of the rich kids went to fancy schools and then graduated and work at the same company as their parents. Uni was a playground for them. Absolutely, just a daycare for rich kids.

I then moved to Finland and went to university for free, and the barriers are much smaller between a poor and rich person (though there are still barriers) and I wouldn't say the same about uni here.

Anyway, that's my rant.

"A trade must take place for this life to enter the world. As my body slowly halved open like a peach, I realized it was me who was losing my life; me who would vanish from the world to make a room for this new child"

Damn, ngl I felt a bit like that having my first kid at 23. I had never felt fear like that, but there was light on the other side.

This is my THIRD time trying to start this book -- this time for a book club at my work. It's sooooo boring and the writing is so clunky. Maybe the issue is the translation, but I've read japanese literature translated into English before that I enjoyed. I'm also extra judgemental when the author is a man 😆 oh well, I will push on!