Transit

by Rachel Cusk

This is the second of three books.  In this book we learn more about the protaganist from the first book.  She has moved to London with her two children to try to get away from the memories of her bad marriage.  She buys a rundown house in a nice neighbourhood and starts fixing it up.  The neighbours who live below her constantly complaining about them walking on the floor and other noise.  The construction noise makes them even angrier.  The neighbour even complains to the other neighbours about the woman.

The chaos in the house seems to reflect the woman's mental state.  She tries to write part of the day and teaches writing the other part of the day.  She seems to be fighting to not feel or care about things so she won't get hurt again.

"For a long time I said that I believed that it was only through absolute passivity that you could learn to see what was really there.  But my decision to make a disturbance by renovating my house had woken a different reality, as though I had disturbed a sleeping beast in its lair. I had started in effect to become angry.  I had decided to desire power becuase what I realized was that other people had it all along. that what I called fate was merely a reverbation of their will...by people who would elude justice for as long as their actions were met with resignation rather than outrage".  Is she saying that people will do whatever they can get away with as others will be resigned to it rather than challenge them?

Again a lot of the book involves the protaganist listen to other people as they tell her about their lives and disappointments.  I found the book hard to read, everyone she encounters seems to be unhappy in their marriages, don't care about their children.   Does what she sees switch her from ennui to outrage?