There’s a theory that people come into our lives to teach us what we need to know. They may be people we like or dislike and we may not always care for their lessons but the knowledge we gain from them helps move us through our lives. I like that theory but I think it needs to be expanded to include books. Along with entertainment and education, the right book at the right time can change a person’s future. I’m still giving thanks for a book that came my way about twenty-five years ago. I’ll always be indebted to Pat Conroy for writing The Prince of Tides. If anyone missed the announcements, Mr. Conroy writes stories about the perennial outsider. Whether the focus is on a Marine’s family readjusting to a new environment or the English Major in a military college, his people don’t think they fit in the orderly pattern that makes up their world. Because they don’t fit, Outsiders tend to stay on the defensive. The first lesson in The Prince of Tides is how defending yourself can cost you everything you care for in life. Tom Wingo, the coach in The Prince of Tides has had good…
I remember a few things about my first trip to Disneyland. I loved riding the flying elephants with my Dad and I screamed all the way through the Sleeping Beauty castle, terrified that Maleficent would appear. I don’t recall much more of that day but memories are like overstuffed closets; if you pull out one or two items, you’ll be surprised what you’ll find underneath. The hero in The Ocean at the End of the Lane has similar holes in his memories. He’s driving down roads he doesn’t remember to a childhood home destroyed long ago. Some neighbor ladies remember him and, at his request, take him to a duckpond behind their farmhouse. He stands by the pond, remembers someone called it “an ocean” and the memories crash in like a wave. Water’s important in this story, as is memory, and all the things we don’t know. As a child, our hero knows he was lonely but he doesn’t know what makes loneliness bad. So, other children play with each other while he stays inside and reads books. What’s wrong with that? His parents said they’ve lost their money but what he knows is they’ve rented out his bedroom; he’s not really…
There are stories that pass through your brain and leave, unnoticed and unmissed. Others are like summer romances that hold you until there’s a change in the weather. And there are stories you find by chance that stay with you forever. I’ve been rereading Bag of Bones for fifteen years now and I believe I’ve fallen in love to stay. That’s good because love is a driving force in this book, along with death and in a New England summer. Stephen King turned into a writer sometime while my back was turned. A first, he was a commercial success and a critic’s nightmare come true. I couldn’t stand his early prose, so I ignored him. Then one August day I was combing the shelves, craving a good ghost story. (Ghost stories and haunted houses are DOCs of mine.) This book was on the shelf and I was desperate enough to try anything, even a book by Stephen King. It hit like a tidal wave. Mike and Joanna Noonan have the marriage we lesser mortals crave. They like and understand each other and she knows when to deflate his ego. Not that Mike needs much deflating. He’s one of King’s Everymen,…
Because Harper Lee’s “other” book, To Kill A Mockingbird has been read and loved by so many people over the last half century, the release of her Go Set A Watchman has received the hype and fever of a Harry Potter book release. In a way, that’s appropriate. One of the themes in J. K. Rowling’s series is how a person’s perception of people and events changes as they receive more information. Go Set a Watchman challenges everyone who thinks they know everything about To Kill a Mockingbird. If you don’t like surprises, shut this page down now. There are Spoilers Dead Ahead. Watchman is the story of young adult reevaluating her past. Jean Louise is Southern by birth but a New Yorker now by choice. Like others who start adult life in a new location, she finds visiting home a bit difficult. Still, she looks forward to spending time with Atticus, the father she’s worshiped all of her life. Then Jean Louise hears the political opinions of her adored father and falls into shock. Atticus sees southern black people as a group without the sophistication and education necessary to handle the privileges of citizenship responsibly. He fears their full…
Some stories are brave as warriors, holding their ideals high toward the sun. “This is truth.” they say, challanging the status quo, and quiescent crowds. I love those books. I also love stories that are beautifully told with graceful sentences and sinuous prose. I’m a sucker for graceful books. I love many types of books but these days I rarely find one that captivates me with an idea. That’s why I’m so enchanted with The Little Paris Bookshop. It’s a novel of infinite charm. The Little Paris Bookshop is a book-filled barge that’s steered up and down the Seine by its owner, Monsieur Perdu. His name for the business is The Literary Apothecary and it’s a good description for the place because Monsieur Perdu prescribes books more than sells them. He listens to his customers and finds the books that will treat their unfulfilled needs. For example, the woman adrift in heartbreak doesn’t need Fifty Shades of Grey. She’s still recovering from a real relationship with a controlling, damaged man, she doesn’t need a fictional one to make her feel worse. Instead, Monsieur prescribes a book to be read in small doses, one that creates serenity, especially if it taken…