Trust

TRUST
a novel by Hernan Diaz
Published in 2022 by Riverhead Books

I usually don’t want hand-holding when I read a book. Sometimes, I won’t even read a back cover or book jacket flap before choosing a book. Often, I prefer to experience a book for what it is and how it is presented as is… and usually I find the flow or rhythm of the book— eventually, and that’s part of the intrigue. TRUST, a recent Pulitzer Prize winner by Hernan Diaz, was such a different experience for me. I wish I could have had a bit more explanation without any spoilers for how the book is structured. Maybe that’s just my simplicity speaking — I don’t know. In case you are interested… I offer a bit of structure.

There are four parts to this book— each on them written in a different voice— created authors — and it all begins to come together in Part 3. However, there is no illusion that this will happen because as the reader, one is trying to figure out how and why Part 1 and Part 2 are connected. I think this is a deliberate part of the writing style… “trust”-ing that we will find our way through the book… another layer to the depth of the title. I also wonder if this is a totally new style of writing or if there are other books written this way. Anyway, it really is brilliant! I’m so glad to have read it—particularly as part of our book club in our apartment complex.

TRUST is a beautiful example of how voices and rhythm can feel different while reading and how they can be hidden, expressed, embodied, and explored on the page. I could hear the particular style differences in the rhythm as I read it out loud. The rhythm of Part 1, in particular, felt like a ticker tape. In Part 2, I could feel the masked condescension of the man for his wife and it made my stomach churn. Part 3 was probably my favorite writing style. I was surprised by the father character in this part and how Diaz used this character to fill in an oppositional point of view. Not a typical “feel good” read, but oh soooo exceptional!