Aquarium by David Vann: Bring a crown of roses, for this book and I shall wed

THIS BOOK IS SO DAMN GOOD.

I only put it on hold at the library because Emily said it had fish pictures. I'm not even a huge fan of fish. But I like pictures.

However, since what mainly stuck with me about the book was "fish pictures," I didn't remember anything else about it, and somehow thought it was for eight-year-olds. Hey, guess what, no. IT'S FOR THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE, SO GLORIOUS IT IS.

It's about a 12-year-old girl! Named Caitlin! And she lives with her mom in a cheap apartment and she goes to the aquarium every day after school until her mom can pick her up, and she meets an old man there and oh the relationships in this book. David Vann, I will read all of your books. And maybe track you down in Alaska and make you get coffee with me because ahhhhhhh I love Aquarium so much.

Why do I love it? Because he'll be writing this 12-year-old girl's story, and nobody's exactly good or bad because they're just people and humans are flawed but sometimes do beautiful things and it's the opposite of damn Thérèse Raquin and all of a sudden you get something like this:

Parents are gods. They make us and they destroy us. They warp the world and remake it in their own shape, and that's the world we know forever after. It's the only world. We can't see what it might have looked like otherwise.

Or this:

LIKE A LEAF GIVING BIRTH TO STARS, IT SAYS

Just the things it says about childhood and adulthood and forgiveness and love and let's all read it all the time.

I think fairy tale is always waiting for us, that we can slip at any moment into forests and wolves and voices luring and believe in the shadow world. All that we fear embodied, all pattern and shape that hides somewhere within set loose.

Fairy tale is all that we fear embodied. All pattern and shape that hides somewhere within set loose. What the damn hell, sir. I love you. And I love your crazyass author bio on your website that says "For 12 years, no agent would send out his first book, Legend of a Suicide, so he went to sea and became a captain and boat builder."

BECAUSE WHY WOULDN'T YOU DO THAT.

Imma marry this book.

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