Wonderful reflections on all the versions of oneself cohabiting the present version. ( )

I started this book toward the end of 2021 and finished it on the second day of 2022 and, given the subject of the essays, seems so apt. Irrealis, according to Aciman, is a kind longing for what might have been but hadn't happened but still might possibly happen. A between the world, or mindset, kind of unreal reality. These essays are among the most enjoyable I have ever read by any writer. They encompass the entire world of the arts, fiction, film, painting, history - all with the idea of irrealis as a theme. I want to say I especially liked, but I realize that I especially liked each and every essay with the fervor with which Acimen writes. He makes you want to head to the Frick to see the Corots, head to the Film Forum to see the films of Rohmer and even pick up Proust and lose yourself in Swann's world. He writes of a New York long gone, a Paris that possibly never-was and always is, and a world where art matters more deeply than almost anything. ( )

In my view, this book is an exercise in sentimental self-indulgence. In India, we have this class of 'intellectuals', who have been parodied as the Lutyens class - sometimes unfairly. In essence, this is a bunch of intellectuals who sit in manicured living rooms, pontificate, look down at the world - and do nothing.

While Andre Aciman writes with flair, this book reminds me of this class of people. ( )