Should We Stay or Should We Go

Exits. The protagonists of Lionel Shriver’s novel titled, Should We Stay or Should We Go, are looking for ways to address the reality of their mortality. Husband and wife Cyril and Kay are medical professionals who have watched the elderly depart the world in ways that are not gentle. While in their fifties, they decide to commit suicide together after their eightieth birthdays. Using humor regularly while exploring a sober topic, Shriver organizes her book into chapters in which Kay and Cyril exit the world in different ways. Readers in long term relationships will recognize the humanity of these characters and their patterns of communication and interaction. We laugh at the ways in which they agree and disagree, and how they deviate from plans in ways that we recognize as fully human. Beyond a certain age, it would be dysfunctional not to think about death. Shriver uses Kay and Cyril as stand-ins for us who will face a wide array of different things that happen as our lives end. Rating: Five-star (I love it) Click here to purchase Should We Stay or Should We Go from amazon.com.