Homo Irrealis: Essays

As an avid fan of André Aciman's novels, I was eager to read his essay collection Homo Irrealis. While his writing was beautiful as ever, the essays didn't resonate with me as profoundly as his fiction.

One passage that stood out to me was when Aciman wrote, “People may take their own lives when they realize they've been living the wrong life.” Another poignant observation was, “Life itself is wrong.” His musings on the idea of time were also compelling, as he stated, “Because ultimately it isn't time that is wrong for us, nor, for that matter, is it a place that is ineradicably wrong. Life itself is wrong.”

Although I wasn't as captivated by the collection as I had hoped, Aciman's writing style remains unparalleled, such as when he wrote, “I exist without knowing it and will die without wanting to. I'm the gap between what I am and am not, between what I dream and what life has made of me.”