The Disappearance

This book appears small and short in content--but believe me it is very powerful reading. Every individual letter the author has written has amazing thoughts that go along with it. She, in various letters, has written a footnote; now I have further books to add to my list of--wants to read--This book is a very loving tribute to her (WHOLE) family.

I read this book about 7 or 8 years ago but I think of it often. It's beautifully written and translated and is very powerful. I highly recommend it for anyone dealing with the loss of a child or anyone who knows someone who's lost a child. When I read the book I mourned for these little girls and their parents. It's clear to the reader how loved Mathilde and Elise were, how very special they were to their mom and dad. Genevieve Jurgensen captures a parent's love for a child exquisitely. This book is the most memorable book that I have ever read.

On Friday, September 21, as I was driving listening to Ira Glass's This American Life on National Public Radio, a lengthy portion of this book was read. I had to pull over to the side of the road, unable to continue until it was finished. For those of us so far away from the site of last week's horror, connected only through television, radio, and print, it has been hard to move from the numbers to the names to the lives of all those lost. Our prayers have been frequent and our thoughts constant but we have still been removed. This helped me and I hope it will help us all.

A lovely and valuable book. In the glimpses of her children that Ms. Jurgensen gives us in an effort to have us know what was lost, anyone who has ever loved a child must see and feel that child -the little chubby hand in yours, the legs wrapped tight around your waist. This book also gave me much to think about on the subject of compassion - for those you care about as well as those you see in passing and will likely never see again. This book looks a parent's worst nightmare full in the face, so is not for everyone. But your openness to the wrenching pain of this story will reward you with the realization that, woven throughout this nightmare of sadness and loss is hope, survival, love, connection and happiness. Nightmare though it is, it's a beautiful thing.

Jurgenson writes of something most of us hope never to experience -- the death of not one, but both of her children. Not a topic that ordinarily beckons for one's enthusiastic attention, this book caught mine when I heard one of her letters (the book is comprised of letters written to a friend, telling this story more than 10 years after the accident) read on the public radio show, This American Life. Jurgenson writes to this friend with terrible honesty about the entire emotional spectrum, reflects philosophically on the pain of existence, and demonstrates throughout it all that, somehow, one figures out how to carry on. And it all comes packaged in the most beautiful, provocative prose -- a translation, yes, but a very good one, I think.It strikes me as a "must read" for anyone seeking greater understanding of the difficult inner dynamics of such a loss, whether personal or otherwise. Really, though, anyone interested in literary self-portraiture, psychology, or simply the human condition would likely find this book fascinating, riveting, and heart-rending. Highly recommended.