What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt

Published by Henry Holt and Company, 2003

Reviewed by Sofia Burgess, Leesburg Branch Library

In Siri Hustvedt’s third novel, What I Loved, she reveals a poignant view of a relationship between art historian Leo Hertzberg and artist Bill Wechsler. The book is written as a reminiscence of Leo Hertzberg which spans 25 years and explores the numerous threads that combine to weave a tapestry of friendship and family.

The evolution of Leo’s marriage is mapped from blissfully numbing newness to the refined distance and isolation of separation. The families of both Bill and Leo grow closer ad stronger as both their young sons. The dynamics begin to change when Leo is faced with a sudden death in his family and Bill’s son grows into a hedonistic teenager incapable of empathy.

Not only are marriage and family issues dealt with deftly but the author raises many questions about the complexities of perception and the many facets of reality. Hustvedt also explores the idea of cerebral and physical sentimentality. She illustrates this with Leo’s collection of objects that he keeps in a drawer. The accumulation provides him with a tangible link to the people in his life that he has lost. Cerebral sentimentality is expressed by Bill through his art and the various meaning and connections that are revealed in it.

Hustvedt’s writing is powerful and the depth portrayed by her characters creates an awareness of their emotions and longings. We can understand that often what is unknown is often equally important as what is known. Often relationships become muddled by what s seen and known allowing all the things that are under the surface to be left unacknowledged. We learn through the characters to see things from a variety of perspectives and to understand that life is neither flat nor opaque.

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