They met long ago
Destined to be best of friends
Differences aside
Their hearts found a connection
They carry each other’s smiles
©2018 Annette Rochelle Aben
RAE’S READS
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Maybe it was because I saw Joyce Carol Oates read from a work in progress once that I have had a fascination with her books since graduate school back in the mid-eighties, but whatever the reason, I have read many of her books and stories. With such a prolific author as Oates, that’s quite a few books! This one, a novel, as the blurb on the back cover proclaims, is “taut and fascinating.” It deals with the mysteries of the human mind and the human personality. It is an unusual, perhaps unique love story.
The novel is set between 1965 and 1996, all years in which I was an adult, so I had a perspective of living through the years the story was set in. To me, one of the most interesting facets of the novel was its attempt to show personal obsession as a reality. Themes such as loneliness, ethics, passion, aging and memory are all present in this page-turning novel. As in most of Oates’ novels, it contains precise, detailed writing and definitely gives insights into the human psyche.
Margot Sharpe, one of the two main characters, has devoted her professional life to Eli Hoopes, an attractive amnesiac whose short term memory is gone due to a brain illness (infection). He is “trapped eternally in the present moment,” haunted by a vague childhood memory, an image of a girl child, drowned and floating in the water under a bridge on which he is standing. This image dredges up feelings of dread, anxiety, and guilt. Because of her association with Eli, Margot goes on to an exceptional career as a neuroscientist and wins awards and acclaim within her profession.
The relationship of the two main characters is complex, disconcerting, and definitely unethical. Out of necessity it is a secret relationship. The first time Eli meets Margot and she introduces herself, his response is an interested, “Hel-lo.” Because he does not remember her from encounter to encounter, this is repeated over and over throughout the course of the novel right up to his dying moments. It is a fascinating subject/theme and a fascinating approach to presenting the story/novel.
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It’s been a few weeks since I’ve written a Sunday Evening Post, and I thought I had given it up, but several blogging friends write updates of some sort, and they often end with, “What are you reading?” So, I’ve decided to give it another go, and this is my update, my Sunday (Evening) Post.
What I have recently finished:
Today’s Sunday edition of The Houston Chronicle
The Accidental Life by Terry McDonell, recently reviewed on this blog
What on Earth Am I Here for?, an inspirational study by Rick Warren, which I borrowed from my church library, which will be reviewed on this blog soon
The Light Between the Oceans, by M.L. Stedman, also to be reviewed soon
Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong, which I read earlier, then reread in a feeble attempt to write a review which would do it justice, but still have not accomplished
What I started this week:
Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep, which describes the life and “adventures” of a grown up Daniel Torrance, the young son in the novel who had the “shining”
Carry Me Like Water by Saenz, which is on my Kindle, and because of that, may be a challenging read for me
Still reading:
The Lightning Thief , a YA novel by Rick Riordan
Book VII of The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King, which I have been reading for years and can’t bear to be “through”
The Fifth Season, first book of the Broken Earth Trilogy, which my Better Half and I are reading aloud together
What I watched this past week:
A Promise, a love story set in Germany during the war
a heart warming, tear jerker of an episode of “Queer Eye” recommended and sent to me by my grandson
several episodes of a Netflix original series, “Strange Empire”
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5 StarsPublished May 15th 2018 by St. Martin’s Press
This story was a very quick read that was heart-breaking one moment and laugh out loud funny the next. Margaret Jacobsen has worked hard all of her life and was the perfect daughter. She has recently graduated, has landed an amazing job and is dating the love of her life, with the hope that he is going to engage that night, on Valentine’s Day. Everything is turning out according to plan and she is sure that things are about to get even better. Unfortunately for Margaret, you never what is going to happen next, and her life is about to change forever. On what she believes to be the greatest day of her life, she makes a decision that quickly turns it into the worst day of her life. What would you do it your life was so changed that…
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In a deliberate effort to read “more than just novels” this summer, I picked up McDonell’s 2016 collections of memories and recollections, (subtitle: An Editor’s Notes on Writing and Writers) from my local public library. The author shamelessly name-dropped (in a good way) sports figures names like Tiger Woods; authors like Hunter S. Thompson and Hemingway; and twentieth and twenty-first century celebs like Frank Sinatra, the Kennedys, Jack Nicholson, and Steve Jobs. Most of his stories and recollections of meeting and working with these notables were fascinating. I admit that I did not read every selection/chapter, for I knew nothing about some famous sportswriters or even about some of the literary “who’s who.” Roy Blount, Jr. says on the back cover, “McDonell knew the wildest writers, edited most of them, and he remembers a great deal.” In his careers as editor at Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Gentlemen’s Quarterly (GQ), McDonell came face to face and often toe to toe with the eccentricities and demands of writers. He was often “in on” plans for the next “big” undertaking of the writers, and his impressions were so accurate that he cold have been excused for saying, “I told you so.”
Tom Brokow called McDonell, “…one of the prominent editors in the world of popular magazines.” Interspersed with the author’s recollections about writers and editing magazines are helpful asides to authors and editors as well. Here is a writer who writes on writing and an editor who writes on editing. Overall, The Accidental Life is interesting and helpful, especially for magazine readers.
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This novel by Audrey Niffeneger, published in 2003, has become a frequent choice of book clubs since its publication. It was the author’s debut novel, and a fine one at that.
First Thoughts: Judging from the cover and the thought of “time travel,” I expected a story of how a person, or a team of persons, travelled back or forward in time, experienced adventures and perhaps had to accept consequences for inadvertently causing changes in history or the future of the earth. Was I ever wrong! In the first place, Henry De Table, the time traveler of the title traveled involuntarily, spontaneously, and ended up naked, somewhere in time. It caused many misadventures often leaving him beat up, bruised, and sometimes badly injured. This “twist” to time travel made for a complicated, complex non-traditional love story.
Characters: Henry’s soul mate, Claire Abshire, meets him first as a young girl; she around six or eight; he a middle-aged man. Her choice to marry Henry, accepting the strangeness of their marriage, where he might suddenly disappear, was a life-altering one.
Style: Flashbacks, obviously, and jumping around in time are the structure of this novel. However, the reader is never confused as to when and where the characters are because the author has provided at the head of each section, the character speaking and his/her age at the time of the scene. Surprisingly, with all the jumping around in time, the novel is never disjointed or confusing.
Overall Impressions: This was a darned good read which plumbed the depths of the reader’s emotions: incredible joy, aching sorrow, frightening uncertainty, and many more emotions. I would definitely give this novel five points out of five points and would recommend it to every reader.
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This 2018 novel by blogger (“This Is My Truth Now”) and author (Watching Glass Shatter), is a wonderful read. It begins with a “teaser” opening. One is approaching the two story cabin on the cover and sees two bodies, a man and a woman, who have just crashed through a window, lying on the ground. All we know from the police who have arrived is that one is dead, the other severely hurt.
Then the story alternates between Amalia (beginning in August of 1984) and Brianna (beginning in June of 2004), chapter by chapter. Amalia, submissive daughter to an abusive mother, Janet, and a 60 year old, quiet man, Peter, lives a life of shame and physical abuse. She and her parents live in Brant, Mississippi. Her brother, Greg and his best friend are about to come home from college to Brant for the summer. Amalia begins to realize that Greg’s friend is a tease, and ashamedly enough, he awakens feelings in her she has never experienced before.
Brianna, who lives in New York with her single mom also struggles with feelings. She is about to go to prom with her boyfriend, Doug, and knows that Doug has “expectations” for prom night, but she also has feelings for her best friend, Shannelle, who prefers women to men. Her story is one where she explores her sexuality, not coming to any conclusions until the very end.
There are many twists and turns in Father Figure, as well as many reveals and unravellings of family mysteries and connections. Both girls make the decision to go to college, both attempting to escape from something only to discover their own connections and pasts are intertwined. It is a good novel that spools out, clear and easy to follow as laid out by the author, but warning: DO NOT try to figure out the connections or who was lying on the ground at the beginning/end of the story. YOU WILL BE WRONG, until Cudney decides to tie up all ends and reveal all. It is a darned good read.
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