The Opposite of Loneliness Essays & Stories by Marina Keegan

isbn: 978-1-4767-5361-4

published 2014

read from: 11/21 to Not Finished

its been quiet here since my last read.

i actually picked up a book i wanted to re-read but then i fell behind on homework and work got crazy and then i just decided to leave it. 

i wasnt really feeling anything and then Amy Poehler released her book and ABM is reading her book next month for their book selection so i thought i'd join in. 

welp, i went to the library but i was #161 in line for the book. so as i was walking out i decided to look at the new release section (i was on lunch so i couldnt fully spend time looking for a book) when i saw this book! 

i first saw this book at Target and i was really interested but i didnt want to buy and regret purchasing. 

im glad i didnt buy it. 

no, no. its not bad. its just, im okay with not owning this book (and trust me, i LOVE owning books!)

so as its says in the title, its a book about essays and stories written by Marina K. 

she was a student at Yale with great promise and i believe something like 6 days after graduating, she died in a car accident. Hey boyfriend was driving them over to her parents for her father's birthday when he fell asleep on the wheel. she passed away and he survived without a scratch. 

i honestly have NEVER heard of her or this story as a matter of fact. i only know of it because its in the jacket of the book. 

as i type this, i have NOT finished the book. i am still reading it. (of course by the time you read this it'll be a done deal.)

i just wanted to do this different. since its short stories and essays, ill write about them individually...that way i dont forget cause you know me and my goldfish memory!

Cold Pastoral

this story is about Brian and Claire. well mostly Claire cause Brian is dead. 

long story short; Brian dies and Lauren (his x gf who he's totally NOT over) asks Claire to go back to his house and take his journal because he wouldn't want his parents to read it. do we ever find out what was so bad about it parents wise? no. we do however find out that he's the one that called it quits with Lauren and every.single.day.since, he has regretted it. hes basically only dating Claire to not think about Lauren. Of course Claire reads all that and a bunch of 'nasty' shit he writes about her; how she's nowhere near as perfect or confident or the one as Lauren. then his parents ask Claire to write a eulogy for the viewing and she does. using notes Lauren sent her! 

le sigh. 

Winter Break

she goes home. smokes a shit load of weed with her boyfriend. her dad's an alcoholic and her mom's finally starting to come to terms with it. 

she basically spends every waking moment with her boyfriend. of course they spend new years with his family and then she realizes what her moms trying to tell her. 

end scene.

Reading Aloud

grama's a perv. 

and she wants to die to feel important but she doesnt. 

then her husband dies and she's shocked like it could never happen to her. 

vanity i tell ya!

The Ingenue

she has trust issues and thinks that her boyfriend is cheating on her. 

then she realizes that hes being honest. 

they play Yahtzee and she sees him cheat and its the end of the world for her. 

but of course, they get married. 

The Emerald City

a soldier (William) stationed in Afghanistan is trying to get a hold of Lauren. (its all based on emails.) 

....he finally gets a translator who happens to be a woman. said woman finds a man who needs to get 50 people in to where they are stationed and when they get them in, said men will release names of people they need to get in touch with to end war or something like that. they get in, they blow shit up (this was after 9/11 so those men and families and NO chance of getting in to the safety zone. so William who is in charge of background checks for people that go in decides to overlook these peoples history and then BOOM!) attacks and bombs from the inside of their safety net (so to speak) so now translator woman and William are on the run. of course he is emailing all this to Lauren so she knows EVERYTHING that's going on and the escape plan and all. its okay though cause "delete this email."

gah!

Baggage Claim

dude takes his girlfriend to a warehouse where they sale all the stuff that's been left unclaimed at airports for 90 days or more. (is this like really real?! it says its in Alabama! uhm...ROAD TRIP!) he was going to propose to her but the fact that she MIGHT know bugs the shit out of him and so what does he do? leaves his backpack where the ring is stashed with all other backpacks that are for sale. 

they leave and head to the parking lot and he changes his mind. runs back inside and buys it for $4.99

idiot.

Hail, Full of Grace

woman cant get over her ex boyfriend after YEARS!

they had a baby. he didn't believe in abortions and she didn't believe in caring for a baby. 

boom adoption. 

boom they break up. 

boom! years later she's all alone and adopted a baby and NOT over her ex (oh! the irony!!!)

she runs in to him. he knew about the baby and she invites him to the Christmas play her daughter is going to come out in. the scene ends with her friend Jared taking the baby for the play and her letting her go because "Jules" finally walks in. 

Sclerotherapy
make sure when you get Chinese symbols as tattoos they actually read what you want them to read and not Soybean.

-
okay.
thats as far as i got which was page 127 so i had 80 something pages left.
im not one to give up on a book but i just couldnt read it anymore.
i wasnt crazy about it and well, life is to short to keep reading what ya dont like.

have you read this book?
if so, what did you think?
.....im off to the library for another book.

thanks for reading.