Suffering

This is a book about suffering in various forms: physical, emotional, psychological. G’s mother, for instance, is about to undergo surgery for an illness which ends up killing her. At the start of the novel, G has given up on life to tend his herd, traumatized by his relationship with Sad. Ida, who has her own history of mental illness, lives under a highway, while CMO and 4NO reside in the protective shell of a glacier. Sad is essentially homeless (and directionless) and being treated for PTSD. They all want to form meaningful relationships; however, given their private pain, they seem unable to do so beyond the most superficial and ineffective of attachments.

The novel's settings convey the same sense of pain. The natural landscapes are cold and unforgiving; storms come out of nowhere to destroy homes; glaciers and volcanos convey an ominous sense of...