“Does It Seem Like the End Times Are Here? These Novels Know Better:” Jenny Offill’s Novel Weather Reviewed in New York Times Essay

In an essay for the New York Times, Ayana Mathis asks what can fiction tell us about the apocalypse? Mathis turns to three books, including Visiting Writer in Residence Jenny Offill’s novel Weather, that “suggest new ways of seeing: a shift to deeper present-time awareness, even wonder, as the times grow ever more dire.” In Offill’s book about a disaster-obsessed protagonist, Mathis finds meaningful insights on facing a near-future doomsday, or what theologian Cahtherine Keller calls “apocalyptic mindfulness.” “In Weather, Lizzie’s frazzled report from the event horizon of impending disaster, the time that remains means that moments are more precious, less bound by previous rules of engagement and more open to radically new ones,” writes Mathis. “‘There’s the idea in the different traditions. Of the veil,’ Lizzie says. ‘What if we were to tear through it?’ The image recalls Keller’s apokalypsis — a revelatory ‘dis-closure.’”

Post Date: 05-01-2024