Adrián Astur Álvarez reviewed Ti Amo by Martin Aitken
Review of 'Ti Amo' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
"We've been through so many phases in the time you've been ill, but after we got married in the Summer, you'd been ill for a year then, and for a long time it was as if everything was all about getting that done, getting married, as if that was our focal point, the thing we were moving towards instead of death, and we were going there together, but after we got married there was nothing ahead of us anymore, nothing we had to look forward to together. All there is now is that you're going to die. And you say you're not. So we're not together in that, or at least it's not something we talk about, but still its the point towards which we're heading now." - pg 72
This book hit me like a bag of hammers. I'll be honest, I had no idea what it was about. …
"We've been through so many phases in the time you've been ill, but after we got married in the Summer, you'd been ill for a year then, and for a long time it was as if everything was all about getting that done, getting married, as if that was our focal point, the thing we were moving towards instead of death, and we were going there together, but after we got married there was nothing ahead of us anymore, nothing we had to look forward to together. All there is now is that you're going to die. And you say you're not. So we're not together in that, or at least it's not something we talk about, but still its the point towards which we're heading now." - pg 72
This book hit me like a bag of hammers. I'll be honest, I had no idea what it was about. I've read and enjoyed Orstavik's novel, Love, and that should have tipped me off that a novel from her titled Ti Amo might not be a romantic, feel-good affair. So here I am, in Honolulu, on a beach, pulling out my sun time reading and a few hours later I'm fighting back tears and trying not to ruminate too much on my own mortality.
Yes, this is a crushing novel about a writer's husband's decline due to stomach cancer, but no this is not cheap or gimmicky in the slightest. Orstavik has a masterful handle on the craft of writing and her ability to sustain a first person voice for the duration of these pages and still layer a depth of themes and philosophical considerations without ever once dropping her emotional connection to the excruciating transformation at hand is a testament to her abilities.
Highly recommended.