The Instant - Amy Liptrot

 

The instant I started reading this I was locked. Locked into the life and love of Amy Liptrot as she spends a year in Berlin.

‘ The Instant tells of the momentous year that follows, encountering the city’s wildlife in the most unexpected places, tracing the cycles of the moon, the flight paths of migratory birds, and surrendering to the addictive power of love and lust.’

Hard to place in any specific or defined genre, I loved the paradox of Amy’s story. Her love of the natural world and the commitment to dating apps and finding love. I suppose it comes close to a memoir or autobiography, but it’s more than an account of a life lived, it’s a consideration of a state of mind and individual desire. There is an intimacy with the honesty of the book, the sense that someone has bared their soul to perfect strangers. But alongside the individual and personal observations, there is also a consideration of Berlin, and of course, Germany. And then there are the digital, online lives that we lead and our seeming addiction to checking our devices way more times than we really need to. 

It’s not a lengthy book, but it packs a concentrated energy within its pages. There are times, I suppose, when I felt it came across as a little self-indulgent. And I did wonder whether I would have benefited from having read The Outrun before I read this because it may have offered me a greater context. There were moving moments in the book, and some very informative ones. Ms. Liptrot would make a fine nature writer as well as a perceptive observer of her own life and state of mind.

My thanks to Canongate Books for a gifted copy.