Left: large book cover, Trust by Hernan Diaz. Right: 2 rows of book covers, each half as tall as Trust. Top row, left to right: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin; This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub; Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Bottor row, left to right: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead; Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward; Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby.

6 Degrees of Separation

It’s time for another adventure in Kate’s 6 Degrees of Separation Meme from her blog, Books Are My Favourite and Best. We are given a book to start with, and from there we free associate six books.

This month we start with the book that topped the most ‘Best Books of 2022’ lists – Trust by Hernan Diaz. Since I had bought the book on vacation last July, this choice prompted me to read it. 

Trust is a brilliant novel comprising four sections that each offer a different viewpoint on the lives of a wealthy financier and his wife involved in the 1929 economic crash in the United States. It’s the story of an investment trust, but also an examination into which of the four narrators readers should trust. The novel uses the language of finance throughout its variations on the concept of trust.

first degree

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin also uses an extended metaphor. Focusing on characters in the world of video gaming, the novel considers some of life’s big issues such as identity, motivations, life choices, and relationships.

second degree

Emma Straub’s novel This Time Tomorrow contains the same keyword in its title, but there’s also a (perhaps far-fetched?) thematic similarity between them. In video games, the dreaded “game over” notification allows one to start all over again to try out other virtual selves and virtual lives. In Straub’s novel, the magic of time travel allows the protagonist to start over again each day in her attempt to learn from the past.

third degree

“After all, tomorrow is another day,” Scarlett O’Hara famously declares at the end of Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. This novel received the National Book Award for Novel in 1936.

fourth degree

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is another work that won the National Book Award for Fiction (2016). If I hadn’t already read it, I’d have it on my list of books for this month, Black History Month. 

fifth degree

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2017. This novel was on my TBR shelf until a couple of days ago, when I picked it up as my first book for Black History Month. Also, the covers of this novel and The Underground Railroad are the same color. 

sixth degree

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby also has an orange cover, also is on my TBR shelf, and also is a book I intend to read for Black History Month.

Where did your musings on Trust take you this month?

© 2023 by Mary Daniels Brown

11 thoughts on “6 Degrees of Separation”

  1. I have read two of the books on your list (Gone With the Wind and The Underground Railroad) and loved them both.. Zevin’s Tomorrow is something I have seen everywhere and added to my TBR late last year.. hope to get to it soon.. This Time Tomorrow as well as the last two books on your chain are getting added to my TBR too..
    love how you linked them all..
    Here is my 6 Degrees of Separation

  2. I am currently reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and have to do so quickly, as there is a long waiting list at the library for it, apparently!

      1. It feels a bit YA so far… but let’s see. I had to laugh at the Hanafuda reference, as my son and I are currently playing it a lot (it was my Christmas present from him).

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