Memorial tells the story of gay couple, Ben and Mike, in a relationship that's on the brink of crumbling. Yet at the moment when their relationship seems at an end, Mike leaves their home in Texas for Japan, to be with his estranged dying father. Ben remains in Texas, suddenly roommates with Mike's mother, who's recently arrived from Japan. The book is told first in Ben's perspective, and then the same time period is told from Mike's perspective. The portrait that emerges is of two young men struggling with trauma from their families, who are unable to communicate, especially with the people they love the most.
Both Ben and Mike have casual, free-flowing voices. There's a lot to unpack in their identities, their relationships with others, their sense of purpose. I enjoyed the book, but the characters' inability to communicate could sometimes be frustrating. At times it felt like the dialogue was all subtext--a series of vague, "deep"-sounding non-statements, to the point where I had no idea what the tacit meaning was.
Still, it was a book with characters and relationships that go outside the norm that I read about. The voices felt authentic and nuanced.
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