The Correspondent

I waited a very long time to read The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. Everyone has been raving about it, and I must admit I absolutely love the idea of telling a story through letters. So much so, in fact, that I’ve often thought about doing it myself. The decades-long email exchanges between me and my college roommate meld together a crazy romcom-worthy medley of stories full of angst and personal growth. The protagonist in this book compares her letters to “the links of a long chain” documenting her life experiences. 

Many of the one-star reviews for The Correspondent called it boring and forgettable, but I suspect those readers didn’t try hard enough to connect with the characters. I love a character-driven plot with strong personalities bouncing off of each other. While Sybil isn’t my favorite fictional heroine, I didn’t mind spending a short time with her as she tackles the nonsense this strange world throws at her during her twilight years. We have a lot in common, of course, and despite her abrasiveness, I also grew to appreciate some of her pithy observations. Here are a couple of examples:

“Most people tell you they want to hear the truth, but they do not, and if you tell the truth it will come back to bite you like a snake finding its own tail to swallow.”

“When I was young, by writing letters I found a framework that made living easier, and that has never changed.”

That’s exactly how I feel about the writing I’ve been doing my whole life. This exchange between Sybil and her daughter really hit home with me, too.

“You said that you hadn’t told me about it because you don’t know how to confide in me, that I am very distant. My response to you was that you have never seemed to need me, and you said that I taught you not to need me.”

I heard The Correspondent is being made into  a movie starring Jane Fonda, and while she wouldn’t have been my first choice to play Sybil, I’ll probably watch it. And even with Jane Fonda playing the lead, the theme will probably still resonate with me.

Crash Book

 

 

Crash Book is the second of my former therapist Marlene Denessen’s books that I was delighted to discover online and read. My curiosity was peaked by the title and cover image depicting a closeup of a deer head. It turns out, the book documents her healing journey after being seriously injured in a car accident involving a deer on Route 195 in Massachusetts.

Published in 2022, this book is a pretty handy resource filled with practical advice for developing a meditation practice. It contains anecdotes that humanize the experience for those of us just beginning. Marlene’s voice is straightforward, nonjudgmental, and rings with clarity. Her salt-of-the-Earth guidance is easy to understand and incorporates background information about mindfulness and wellbeing. 

For example, here is a quote from Marc Hiles of the Iona Center that is so relatable.

“We are overdosed on data and underfed on the mysterious. Our brains inflate while our souls wither.” 

I need to be especially cognizant of not drowning my brain while my soul remains thirsty for knowledge. This concept also brings to mind a beautiful word I learned recently from Susan Cain, the author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. “NUMINOUS” means mysterious, spiritual, enchanting, mystical, bewitching. Wouldn’t the world benefit from a boost of numinousness?

In Crash Book, Marlene talks about what she calls the “passing show” or the daily distractions that inevitably compete for our attention during meditation. She matter of factly counsels us to recognize the passing show, pay it no mind, and redirect our focus on our breathing and the process of clearing our heads. This is powerful advice that has always worked for me. She also references the Buddhist term for this inner chatter, “monkey mind” of which I am most definitely afflicted!

The Quick and the Dead

The Quick and the Dead—A Collection of Stories by Harry Van Sciver is a book with a remarkable story of its own. After the author’s untimely death at age 65 his widow decided to publish his writing posthumously, “As a way for him to stay with us a bit longer.” She extended copies to family friends to thank them for their support. A friend of mine  received a copy as a thank you for her kind words at the funeral, which she passed on to me to read.

Nestled between a heartfelt foreword written by his wife and a recipe for his excellent version of a perfect Manhattan with a Twist, are two complete and three incomplete short stories that reflect the percipience of a gifted writer, taken too soon.

Despite never having met the author myself, while reading his words, I couldn’t help but feel the heaviness of the tragic circumstances surrounding his death. I have no intention of critiquing a dead man’s work, nor is it necessary. I enjoyed both of his completed stories and can only imagine how more time could have enhanced this writer’s body of work. Let the cocktail speak for itself.  

The Covenant of Water

My performance with The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese should win me an award for “the longest time taken to read an interesting and compelling book”! Along with Cutting for Stone, his previous bestseller, this author was recommended to me by my physical therapist friend Sue. 

Fun fact: Sue actually found, not just a type-o, but a factual error, in this book, and contacted the author online about it! It had something to do with specific names of bones in the leg. Nerds of a feather ;)

Anyway, whenever I read long books like this one and especially when it takes me f o r e v e r to read them, my inner editor always emerges. I’m probably being too judgmental because this book is beloved, but for me the transitions between people and time periods felt awkward.

I loved that I learned a bit about India—its history and British colonization. I also loved being immersed in the feelings and perspectives of the iconic main characters, especially Big Ammachi. Finally, I loved dragging this book with me through the last months of my teaching career. It was like a warm embrace returning each night to this story after my grueling days at work. 

This is how long it took me to finish this epic novel. In the end, I just bought a digital copy so I could finish reading it in peace without CLAMS harassing me.

 

Cloud Cuckoo Land

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr is a book about the importance of writing: writing stories, information, feelings, instructions, anything that strengthens rather than divides the bonds of humanity, especially during these divisive and conflicted times. Spanning several continents and time periods, the frenetic plot is somehow tied together in the end. Somewhere in this sprawling novel lurks a cautionary tale about AI and the havoc humans are wreaking on our planet. I'll be pondering the lessons embedded in Cuckoo Land once the covid-induced dumpster fire in my head subsides. This may be my new all-time-favorite book (beating out John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany), and I may have to check out some of the author's other works, such as All the Light We Cannot See.

The Couple Next Door

Perfect end of summer quick-read, recommended on Instagram by @msjulieeeeee, aka Julie Doiron, The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena is not one of my favorites. Maybe that's because I'm not really a huge fan of mysteries or possibly the characters just didn't appeal to me. Also, the subject matter of a baby being kidnapped is terribly unpleasant, and the convoluted plot deteriorated into a sensational and unrealistic turn of events that definitely didn’t win me over.

The Cay

I’ve always wanted to read The Cay by Theodore Taylor, and yesterday I found it in a pile in my bedroom while I was disinfecting my house from the sick I’ve had for two weeks! I read half the book last night before bed and finished the second half this morning. It’s a classic survival story with some historical elements about the West Indies during World War II. I was happy that the cat did not have to die!! 

The story’s theme centers on the friendship and respect that grow between eleven year old Phillip, an American living on the Dutch island of Curaçao, and the old black-skinned Timothy, a deckhand from Charlotte Amalie, when they are stranded on a desert island together after a shipwreck.

The 860 Lexile level can be attributed to the geographical and historical terminology related to the time period of 1942, as well as the distinctive West Indian dialect infused in dialogue between Timothy and the boy.

I’m glad I finally read this novel as it fits nicely with a couple of our reading units in fifth grade. It incorporates the message of accepting and appreciating cultural diversity and also touches upon the power of nature when a tropical storm wreaks havoc on the cay.

Canada

I started reading Canada by Richard Ford at the end of last summer and got halfway through. I picked it up again during Christmas break and forced myself to finish it. In an act of mercy, I put this book out of its misery ;)

Canada is a plodding book with way too much attention given to ordinary events. The premise is intriguing, and the characters are unusual. But, for the love of God, the pace is slow! In late 1950's Montana, the parents of 15-year-old twins Dell and Berner are arrested for robbing a bank, throwing this strange little family off its already sad and dysfunctional trajectory. Berner runs away to California and Dell reluctantly begins an adventure in Canada. And that's it.

Choke

Choke is an interesting and disturbing book by the author of Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk (Paula-nick). While I have no interest in the premise behind Fight Club, my daughter convinced me to read a different Chuck book because of his unusual writing style and odd characters. Choke centers on a med school dropout/sexaholic character who makes money by pretending to choke at fancy restaurants. The story did hold my interest, spun out of control in the middle, and ultimately I was disappointed by the over-the-top ending. I will try another Chuck book; however, maybe Invisible Monsters or Lullaby.

Catching Fire

Catching Fire is Book 2 of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I didn't like it as much as the first book. The main character, Katniss is starting to wear on me. I was also surprised—not in a good way—by the plot, which I won't give away here. Let's just say I was hoping the story would focus more on life back at home in District 12 after being victorious in the Hunger Games. Maybe flesh-out the characters more, provide more history of Panem in flashbacks, get more insight into what life is like in some of the other districts. Nope, instead we get a Quarter Quell. You'll have to read the book to find out what the heck that is.

I've just begun Book 3. I'm still annoyed with the main character but starting to get into the story.

The Catcher in the Rye

LEXILE 790

Just finished the classic The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Now I can say I read it. Problem is, I don't get it. Really I don't. Old Holden is a swell character and all, maybe a little precocious and kinda sophisticated for a 16-year-old, but it was difficult for me to connect with him. If you want to know the truth. Sure teenage boys from any decade are definitely a foreign species to me. I'm not kidding. Take my schizophrenic relationship with my 14-year-old son for instance. It's crazy, I tell ya. He's a madman sometimes!

So, I fell asleep several nights reading this book. I really did. One time I even bit my goddam tongue when my head bobbed while I was holding the book up reading about some boring conversation with old Mr. Antolini, the pervert teacher drinking his highballs.

Okay, this neat little tidbit near the end of the book did catch my attention:

"The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them."

Angst. I can relate to that. Gorgeous!