Name: Bi's review of The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan
Item: The Opposite of Loneliness
Rating: 4
Author: Bi

Marina Keegan

Anne Fadiman

"An affecting and hope-filled posthumous collection of essays and stories from the talented young Yale graduate whose title essay captured the world's attention in 2012 and turned her into an icon for her generation. Marina Keegan's star was on the rise when she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at The New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash. As her family, friends, and classmates, deep in grief, joined to create a memorial service for Marina, her deeply affecting last essay for The Yale Daily News, "The Opposite of Loneliness," went viral, receiving more than 1.4 million hits. Even though she was just twenty-two years old when she died, Marina left behind a rich, deeply expansive trove of prose that, like her title essay, capture the hope, uncertainty, and possibility of her generation. Her short story, "Cold Pastoral," was published in NewYorker.com just months after her death. The Opposite of Loneliness is an assemblage of Marina's essays and stories, which, like The Last Lecture, articulate the universal struggle that all of us face as we figure out what we aspire to be, and how we harness our talents to impact the world"--

Essays and Stories

The Opposite of Loneliness

This is not a sad book. The story behind the book, Marina's story is incredibly sad but her writing is extremely intelligent, creative and relatable!

The instant New York Times bestseller and publishing phenomenon: Marina Keegan’s posthumous collection of award-winning essays and stories “sparkles with talent, humanity, and youth” (O, The Oprah Magazine). Marina Keegan’s star was on the rise when she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at The New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash. Marina left behind a rich, deeply expansive trove of writing that, like her title essay, captures the hope, uncertainty, and possibility of her generation. Her short story “Cold Pastoral” was published on NewYorker.com. Her essay “Even Artichokes Have Doubts” was excerpted in the Financial Times, and her book was the focus of a Nicholas Kristof column in The New York Times. Millions of her contemporaries have responded to her work on social media. As Marina wrote: “We can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over…We’re so young. We can’t, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have.” The Opposite of Loneliness is an unforgettable collection of Marina’s essays and stories that articulates the universal struggle all of us face as we figure out what we aspire to be and how we can harness our talents to impact the world. “How do you mourn the loss of a fiery talent that was barely a tendril before it was snuffed out? Answer: Read this book. A clear-eyed observer of human nature, Keegan could take a clever idea...and make it something beautiful” (People).

heleen de boever

Beautiful, lucid prose with elements of heart-breaking tenderness. The only thing that bothered me a bit is the stories and the essays are so obviously rooted in an American contemporary reality, which sometimes made it hard to relate or empathise. That being said, she unapologetically speaks with the voice of a young adult (searching, feeling, doubting) and I think that's both brave and praise-worthy, especially when it's executed in such a embracing way; In no way did I ever feel that Keegan's privileged background impeded her honesty as a writer.

'A generation-defining collection published posthumously...Her voice is relevant, sharp, fresh, unfiltered and poetic, with a dry wit. You can dive in and out of her questioning and her musings and meanderings. So much promise' Jenna Coleman, star of Doctor Who and Victoria Marina Keegan's star was on the rise when she graduated from Yale in May 2012. She had a play that was to be produced at the New York International Fringe Festival and a job waiting for her at the New Yorker. Tragically, five days after graduation, Marina died in a car crash. As her family, friends and classmates, deep in grief, joined to create a memorial service for Marina, her unforgettable last essay for the Yale Daily News, 'The Opposite of Loneliness', went viral, receiving more than 1.4 million hits. She had struck a chord. Even though she was just 22 when she died, Marina left behind a rich, expansive trove of prose that, like her title essay, captures the hope, uncertainty and possibility of her generation. The Opposite of Loneliness is an assemblage of Marina's essays and stories that articulates the universal struggle we all face as we work out what we aspire to be and how we can harness our talents to make an impact on the world.

Flavia Louise

Fiction
The Cold Pastoral: 4 stars (24 pages)
->Very scenic; I almost cried(but that might just be my weird mood)
Winter Break: 3 stars (16 pages)
Reading Aloud: 3 stars (16 pages)
->Weird; How does a story like this emerge from the brain of a woman in her early 20s?
The Ingenue: 3 stars (18 pages)
->These are all very scenic!
The Emerald City: 4 stars (20 pages)
->This was seriously good!
Baggage Claim: 3 stars (4 pages)
->Meh...
Hail, Full of Grace: 4.5 stars (16 pages)
->This hit me in a way I wasn't expecting!
Sclerotherapy: 4 stars (6 pages)
->I like the time-jumpy thing!
Challenger Deep: 2 stars (10 pages)

Nonfiction
The Opposite of Loneliness: 4.5 stars(4 pages)
Stability in Motion: 4.5 stars (8 pages)
->I get it now! This is really good!
Why We Care about Whales: 5 stars (6 pages)
->Damn Girl!
Against the Grain: 4 stars (12 pages)
Putting the "Fun" Back in Eschatology: 4 stars (4 pages)
I Kill for Money: 3 stars (14 pages)
Even Artichokes Have Doubts: 3.5 stars (14 pages)
The Art of Observation: 3 stars (4 pages)
Song for the Special: 4 stars (6 pages)

Average rating: 3.61 stars(->3.5)

Renee K Hopper

Do I think it was the best thing I've ever read? No. Do I think she was a beautiful writer who's life was taken way too soon? Yes.

Rocio Rivas

This book has a few shining and even inspiring moments in a sea of 20-something "write what you know" clichés, wrapped in a sometimes isolated Yale/academia context that I'm honestly not interested in. Sadly, these few good moments chime in at the very beginning of the book, and the remaining 75% is kind of a chore to get through. Which is already a second point in which the book fails for me, not only is it OK at best, it's also poorly assembled, without trying to keep the reader hooked or in a steady flow of enjoyment. I firmly believe that this book wouldn't have happened if the writer hadn't suffered a tragic, young death. It shouldn't be wrong to point it out, because I believe Marina herself would've pointed it out if she could, that's the disappointing irony here.

Don't bother with it if you've had enough of "I took a writing class once" type of writing, complete with early, neatly wrapped endings and a nice, but overused, sense of young sentimentalism.

Jessica Williamson

As a lot of this was non-fiction, I'm going with my new poetry rule as well on this one. Star rating is based off of if it made me feel something.

And dang, did it ever. I'm only about six years behind on this book, Marina has now been gone from this world for eight years. And still she was able to make me laugh, to make me cry. Yeah. There was a fair bit of crying.

I don't think that anything she wrote was sob worthy in the general sense, but seeing a bright young woman talk about her future, the children she'd someday raise, the paths she wanted to take, the changes she wanted to make in the world. Yeah. It was rough. 

There is something interesting about all of that though. Because through Marina's writing she discusses ways the world could be better, we could focus on art more, we could go after our dreams now instead of waiting for an imagined "Someday", we could open up and learn more about the people in our lives and see things from their point of view. And with her words on these topics, she's inspiring the reader to do these things.

So although Marina herself can no longer change the world, her words can. 

A favorite for me from this collection was CHALLENGER DEEP. Similarly brilliant was SONG FOR THE SPECIAL which was not only beautiful but the most well deserved ending. 

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys short stories or reading about both the beautiful and mundane things in life. 

*Note, I started reading this in May but I'm not actually sure when. I read these one at a time as I felt I was emotionally prepared for them.

Destiny J Tamayo

The average from all the stories and essays was a 2.5 but I rounded it down based on my enjoyment of actually reading it.

Mary Graham

I give this about 3.5 stars. It's extremely tragic what happened to her but I felt like some of the fiction stories sounded sort of juvenile. I really liked "The Opposite of Loneliness" and the story about her car. But other than that I felt that it wasn't really anything special.

Elaine

THIS IS EVERYTHING!!!
Everything I didn't know I needed in my life, but now couldn't live without it!
Marina Keegan does a great job in capturing raw and real emotions in just a few pages of a short story and MAKES YOU CARE about the characters in just under 20 pages. 
I don't know how she does it, it is quite impressive. I would have loved to just talk to her and get a bit of inside scoop on her writing process. Reading this made me realize how much I love literature and regret that I wasn't brave enough to study it... 

Although I have to admit, it was her tragic story, which drew me into this collection of short stories and essays, I quickly began to fall in love with her writing. 

Especially the beginning essay, 'The Opposite of Loneliness', caught me off guard, capturing the moment of realizing everything you became to love in your life is over, while still giving hope for the future. This piece had a tremendous impact on me and will forever have a special place in my heart.

After experiencing all of the tragic, sad, funny moment Marina captured in her work I can#T get rid of felling sad, sad that she died at such a young age with so much potential, and sad that I will never be able to read a whole novel of hers.
But although this is quite tragic, Marina's legacy will live on, touching many hearts and giving hope and ensuring that many, many people will understand what 'the opposite of loneliness' really means.

Magdalene Lim

Remember Anne Frank? She was 13 when she started writing her diary and gave us a perspective from someone her age during the world war. Keegan's world was clearly not at war but she gives us the perspective of a millennial - in particular one who is graduating. Like Anne Frank, she is also no longer with us. I decided to read this book cos' I found the foreword, which read something like a eulogy, rather touching. I also relate to this though I am not 22, so not thaat young! Haha!

We're so young. We're so young. We're twenty two years old. We have so much time. There's this sentiment I sometimes sense, creeping up in our collective conscious as we lie alone after a party, or pack up our books when we give in and go out - that it is somehow too late. That others are somehow ahead. More accomplished, more specialized. More on the path to somehow saving the world, somehow creating or inventing or improving. That it's too late now to BEGINa beginning and we must settle for continuance.

Jessica 

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I wanted to write more for my review for this, but nothing seemed quite appropriate; not good enough for what I wanted to say about this beautiful book. Therefore, my thoughts will be rather quick and to the point when it comes down to it. I cannot stress enough that this collection of work is something you need to read in order to form an opinion on it. 

The Opposite of Loneliness is a series of essays and short stories written by the late Marina Keegan; a young woman who had recently graduated from Yale and, like most 22 year old women, had a promising future. As you’ve heard by now, within the buzz surrounding this publication, just days after her graduation, Marina was killed in a car accident. Just like that, an entire and bright future was wiped out and the world lost a potential literary star.

It’s moments like this that remind us how fragile life truly is and how quickly something can be taken away from us all. Marina, like many young people, has something in her writing that projected the idea that we all find ourselves feeling invincible. Even still, her tone was mature and realistic; bringing us the knowledge that although there’s still so much more to explore, she had a great understanding of the world around her.

FULL REVIEW: http://bookgirl.co.vu/post/1150447585...

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The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

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Bi &The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

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