I read Distance, by Hernan Diaz, because I was such a fan of his book Trust. Though I didn’t like it as much, it was powerful in its own way, even if often disturbing and heavy to read.
The book is framed by the main character, Hakan (later known as Hawk), telling the story of his life to a group of strangers. It begins with his early life in Sweden in the early 19th century, and immigration to New York at age 16. Quite quickly, things go wrong. He gets separated from his brother and ends up on a boat to the West Coast. Lost, and without knowing English or having any money, he sets off trying to get to New York, where his brother was headed.
Most of the book vacillates between three axes. The first, and least common, is the incredible kindness of strangers. They teach Hakan, nurture, feed, help him, and value him on his own terms. The second, and far more common, is the unfathomable cruelty of people. They try to kill, take advantage of, or manipulate him for their own low purposes. The final axis is isolation. Hawk spends an unimaginable amount of his life alone, living off the land, and his own ingenuity and inner strength. It’s not quite fair to call it autonomy or independence, even though he’s entirely self-sustaining, since he’s constrained by staying as far away from people as he can (the reason for which I can’t say without revealing too much of the story).
What makes the book heavy, painful even, besides the cruelty observed, is the potential lost. Hawk, despite being very tall, is a gentle giant, a quick learner, and incredibly curious. Moreover, while quiet and reserved, he loves and cares for others, and life seems to only prevent him from having meaningful relationships. It forces him into isolation from others.
The book is also a story of America growing up, as it starts in the gold rush years in California and when the West was hardly settled, and traces itself over the continent and years as they progressed and developed.
The bookleaf describes Distance as a “coming of age” novel, and there’s a truth to this. By the end of the novel, having told his story, he finally sets out on his own path, not one established for him. But it strikes me more as a book about how much the people who surround us in life make, or break, our potential. We have some agency here, but far less than we imagine.
Just Because I Liked It:
- James Earl Jones, as the voice of Darth Vader, and the angel in Field of Dreams (amongst many other more impressive credits), died last year. I recently read the NYTs obituary, which was a powerful lesson in how to deal with challenges.