Though an artist may be long gone, their work lives on. A statement that they were here. Hand drawn paintings on cave walls, carvings in stones under ash, graffiti that won’t wash away. Art, as a humanistic concept, is as old as human existence itself. And in author Rebecca Makkai’s 2018 novel The Great Believers, she follows this thread of art through time, connecting our lost generations in a hauntingly beautiful portrait. A National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize Finalist, The Great Believers brings the Lost Generation of WWI and the lost generation of the AIDS Crisis together. Two groups who slipped through the cracks of an uncaring system, but whose art lives on in paintings, literature, music, and beyond. For every Wilfred Owen, a Keith Haring.
In search of her estranged daughter, Fiona Marcus finds herself in Paris calling on an old friend, Richard Campo. There, she and the famous documentarian photographer rekindle a bond forged 30 years ago in Chicago. Back when their friends were exploring life, art, and love. Back when Yale Tishman’s budding career rides on the donations of never-before-seen works of a 1920s Lost Generation artist. Until the looming threat of a new disease slowly drips into their community, until they must contend with a tidal wave of loss, fighting back with resistance and love. And today, Fiona, still burdened by the ghosts of the young men whose innocence, agency, and lives were stripped away during the AIDS Crisis, might lose her daughter as well.
“What a burden. To be Horatio. To be the one with the memory. And what’s Horatio supposed to do with it? What the hell does Horatio do in act six?”
– Rebecca Makkai
Makkai’s book starts slowly, intentionally immersing the reader in its world. The reader learns the lives and loves of each of these young men affected, as the loss grows around them. In The Great Believers, Makkai asks: What happens once a story is over? What about those who are left to carry the mantle and memory of those who are gone? Are they still haunted by the loss of innocence and their whole community? Do we feel them still? Our last Book Club Spotlight covered similar themes to The Great Believers. How do we cope with loss at such an unimaginable scale? How do we maintain a cultural memory of these moments and these people without losing ourselves to it? In The Sentence, Erdrich’s characters are mourning the eradication of their people and culture due to colonization, in contrast with the COVID-19 epidemic. And Makkai’s novel follows a community fighting against that eradication during the AIDS epidemic, and the survivors reeling from losing 10,000 people in a single generation, much like how a community is forever changed after war. Adult Book Clubs with members belonging to different generations will benefit from discussing together. Younger members, who have not lived in a world without AIDS/HIV, can learn from those who were alive during the epidemic. And together they can discuss how we approach the topic today, what has changed, and what has not.
Further Resources:
- World AIDS Day
- “World AIDS Day exists to shine a light on the real experiences of people living with HIV today, while celebrating the strength, resilience and diversity of the communities most affected. It is a moment to inspire the leadership needed to create a future where HIV doesn’t stand in the way of anyone’s life.”
- “They Were Warriors” by Rebecca Makkai
- Article on the Chicago AIDS Protests
- “Marginal Waters” by Doug Ischar
- Photo History of Chicago’s Boystown
- Nebraska AIDS Project
- “NAP provides HIV and sexual health services to the entire state of Nebraska and 11 counties in Southwest Iowa.“
- Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
- Read Alike Book Club Spotlight
If you’re interested in requesting The Great Believers for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 4 copies. (A librarian must request items)Makkai, Rebecca. The Great Believers. Penguin Random House. 2018
