The Loved One

I have never read The Loved One before, or anything quite like it. I found the warning at the beginning to be quite humorous and did not even consider "returning my copy to the bookstore or library unread". I really didn't have much trouble getting into The Loved One, as I kept waiting for the entrance of "the ultimate embalmer" and the "crematorium cosmetician" promised by the back of the book. Once the pieces began to fall in place, however, the sheer absurdity of the situation began to become apparent. I did enjoy Barlow's description of American women as "the standard product". I think it does say alot about our culture to be able to "leave such a girl in a delicatessen shop in New York, fly three thousand miles and find her again in the cigar stall in San Francisco, just as he would find his favorite comic strip in the local paper...". I realize this isn't always true, but I do think its funny when you pass the same girl ten times crossing the drill field. You know, the one with the big sunglasses, the jean miniskirt, the rainbow sandals, and that bag that all girls have? I did find it odd, though appropriate i suppose that Aimee appealed to Dennis' pursuit of "the veiled face in the fog, the silhouette at the lighted doorway, the secret graces of a body which hid itself under formal velvet," all images which allude to death in my mind.

I am not afraid of death, nor nearly as intrigued by it as the characters in the book. Perhaps it is my roots in Christianity, but I am wary of the way these characters glorify death. I realize that these are occupations which are needed in society, and perhaps I have never given thought to all the work that must be done before "waiting ones" say goodbye to their loved one by means of a funeral. Still, this was a very interesting book that opened my mind to many new perspectives in a short amount of time.