life as we know it

We the Animals is the kind of fiction that I would not think to choose to read for myself since I lean more heavily into the fantasy and romance genres, but I am immensely grateful for the chance to be exposed to fiction that explores very real as well as mature themes surrounding coming-of-age and dysfunctional family units - this kind of fiction. This novel's author, Justin Torres, stresses that this piece is fiction despite the fact that much of the plot of the novel was written from, as he described it, his own experience. I found this knowledge particularly interesting to think about when I started to read the series of short stories that make up this entire book and realized that it centers around a narrator who is the youngest in a family of five that, honestly, function unhealthily and dysfunctionally on many levels. Sexual and domestic abuse, lack of communication within a marriage, mental health issues, suppressed sexuality, and pornography are just some of the subjects that show up and propel the plots of these stories forward, always centering on the lives of three boys growing up in an environment that appears to be preparing them to follow in their father's footsteps. Overall, I found this book to be raw and blunt in all the best ways, especially as it was told from a young child's perspective; from a writer's point of view, I think trying to write an entire story through the eyes of a child is not only a welcomed challenge but an opportunity to write about themes and messages in a simple but profound way. All in all, this story evoked the kind of empathy I have felt while reading other coming-of-age novels, the kind of nostalgia that stirs up my own childhood memories and makes me long for days that seemed steeped in the bliss of ignorance in comparison to the realities of the real world. But I think that is one of the most profound things about this book: the childhoods displayed in these stories are not full of the kinds of warm and fuzzy experiences one would long for in adulthood, but rather look back on with a heavy heart, knowing that they were forced to grow up very fast, and in a capacity different from other children in other families. I appreciated the unrestrained way in which Torres wrote, describing in beautifully as well as painfully specific ways to capture very specific emotions and create striking and powerful metaphors.


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One of my favorite quotes from We the Animals:

"We were six snatching hands, six stomping feet; we were brothers, boys, three little kings locked in a feud for more."

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