I REMEMBER NOTHING
by Nora Ephron
(Doubleday, R215)
Her previous book is titled I Feel Bad About My Neck which, with this current one, should give you a hint what Ephron is about at this point. Ageing is what bugs her and in a recent chat to Bloomberg Television’s (DStv 411) Charlie Rose she was quite hilarious about growing old.
“There’s nothing good about it, Charlie,” was her response to his enquiry. She was not about to soften the blow for anyone listening. What is important, it seems, is to find as much joy as possible in what is a miserable situation – and with her sardonic wit, she hopes to smooth the way.
It’s ordinary stuff she’s dealing with, like memory, something many of us battle before we get old. And once there, it becomes acute. Ephron believes that because of this lapse in memory, she should keep hers as empty as possible. In other words, don’t waste any space on something that’s not important to your life – Jay Z for instance.
When Rose asked her about her antagonism towards this particular celeb, a personal friend of his, she responded that she didn’t have anything against the music mogul, she simply wasn’t into his music so she didn’t want to clutter her memory with stuff she was never going to use.
That’s the thing about Ephron, who is also the author of Heartburn (which dealt with her disastrous marriage which dissolved because her husband had an affair while she was pregnant), When Harry Met Sally and most recently Julie and Julia; she dips into everyday things we’re all familiar with and gives them edge but with lots of laughs.
Not many of us would see someone in a shopping mall in a strange city and not realise it was a sibling. And then she adds: “I was there to meet her.”
How can you explain that one? But Ephron does as she plays around with the frailties of ageing and coming to grips with a modern world.
Anyone of that particular age will know what happens when you get a new cellphone. It’s like a maze and it all happens just as you have finally navigated the last one and found yourself comfortable.
We’re talking about people who grew up without the internet and might thrill at all the marvels and use them, but can also be debili-tated by the way technology dominates the world.
It’s fertile ground for Ephron, who has a wicked tongue. After all, she is from New York, a city that embraces those who speak their minds.
It’s a quick, amusing read that can lead to even more fun if you like her style. A play she has written with her sister, Love, Loss and What I Wore, is playing at the Montecasino Theatre’s Studio until June 12 starring Louise Saint Claire, Rika Sennett, Anne Power and Christel Mutombo.