Live Until You Die

You told me, once, to just remember to breathe. As long as you can do that, you’re doing something Good, you said. Getting rid of the old, and letting in the new. And, therefore, moving forward. Making progress. That’s all you have to do to move forward, sometimes, you said, just breathe.

Have you ever had a friend so close that you could finish each other’s sentences? How about so close you could finish each other’s lives? Etta and Otto and Russell and James is a life-affirming novel about love and memory that deals with weighty topics such as World War I, aging, dementia, unrequited love, and death. I think anyone who is growing older and perhaps worries about aging and death would do well to read it.

The “present day” of this novel is sometime in the 1970s in Canada. Etta, Otto and Russell are all 83 years old and life-long residents of Gopherlands, Saskatchewan. Each character takes turns narrating the events of their present-day and of their past as students (Otto and Russell) and teacher (Etta) at the Gopherlands school at the time of the first world war. We learn about Otto’s unusually large family (15 kids) and the sad events that brought Etta and Russell to Gopherlands. We know that Russell has endured a crippling accident, that Otto wants fervently to fight in the war, and that Emma is both resourceful and nurturing. When we skip ahead to the present day (the life in between is essentially ignored for this novel), we encounter Russell tracking both wild game and Etta; Etta on a long journey accompanied by dementia and a fellow named James; and Otto at home learning to be resourceful and nurturing.

Etta and her relationships with Otto and Russell are the core of the novel. The two boys/men love her and respect her, they esteem her knowledge and opinions. Etta loves each in return without using or harming them or causing any animosity between the two. When Etta leaves for her journey, Otto understands and and lets her go, while Russell needs time to learn to let go and follow his own journey. As she travels, Etta becomes an object of fascination for those she meets; communities anticipate her arrival and give her gifts and tokens to carry — almost as if she were on a holy pilgrimage and they hope for some blessing. Etta also seems able to inhabit Otto’s dreams at night and in doing so to absorb details of his past. It’s interesting that so many of Otto’s dreams involve water, which is the object of Etta’s quest as well as being an essential ingredient for baptism. In the afterward, Hooper mentions folk tales and magical realism as informing her story, but I think it also shows a beautiful and simple spirituality.

The idea that you’re never too old to pursue a dream is an obvious theme of this novel, but so, too, is the spirituality of our world and of our relationships if we are open to seeing that. Etta serves as a guide for many people and demonstrates a quiet wisdom and calm in the face of adversity, including her own dementia. Etta grows in strength rather than becoming frightened or vulnerable. Although she doesn’t quite understand it, Etta is a marvelous guide. I highly recommend this beautiful novel.