Book Talk

Our most recent book club selection was The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy.  He is probably best known for writing The Prince of Tides, which went on to become a highly acclaimed film in the early 90's. TWIW is sort of a memoir-meets-novel; from what I can tell, Conroy based the story loosely off of his experience teaching on an impoverished island off the coast of South Carolina in the late 60's.  Although some pieces of the story may have been altered or even embellished, Conroy is a natural storyteller, and was able to beautifully convey the conundrum he faced as a forward thinking, open minded teacher in the recently-integrated south where his educational philosophy and practices were not embraced by the powers that be.  Conroy admittedly reacted to barriers and criticism with emotion that came out of young age and naivete.  It made me laugh thinking back to the first couple years of my career.  The number of things I said or did out of pure, raw, immature emotion are embarrassingly immeasurable.  I don't mean to compare my experience in any way with Conroy's (there is absolutely no comparison to be made), but I did appreciate the honesty that emerged from his hindsight.  I like to think I have grown in much the same way.  All that aside, this book is a must-read.  Especially for those in education, you'll find scary parallels between the system that exists now and the one that existed then.  If nothing else, you'll appreciate Conroy's frank, no holds barred writing style.

My friend, Ashley, recommended I sign up to receive the Kindle Daily Deal e-mails from Amazon.  As a result, I found myself reading the child in time.  This story follows Stephen, a successful children's book author, as he deals with the kidnapping of his three-year-old daughter.  For obvious reasons, this book was incredibly difficult to read.  Stephen and his wife find themselves traveling very different paths as they cope with their grief, but come full-circle in the end.  While the underlying story was interesting, most of the book was slow-paced and really pretty boring, for lack of a better word.  I found myself skimming through chapters that felt a little disconnected from the real story so I could get back to the matter at hand: finding the lost child.  Although the premise could provide a real page-turner, I never found myself very interested or invested in this book.

The Test popped up as another Daily Deal, and certainly was worth my $1.99.  When a wealthy philanthropist passes away, his children and grandchildren gather for the reading of his will, many anticipating walking away with a decent chunk of money.  What they get instead is a test.  It turns out that, at the end of his life, the philanthropist felt that for all the good he had done, he hadn't instilled in his children the importance of family, giving to others, and leaving an honorable legacy.  In the year that follows, the children are left with various tasks, many of which include repairing broken relationships, giving of themselves, and finding true joy in the paths they've chosen.  A turbulent and tragic series of events ensues, turning the test into a more difficult journey than anyone imagined possible.  Although a bit predictable in parts, overall this was a worthwhile read; the perfect mix of suspense and feel-good for summer.

"Books are a uniquely portable magic."

Stephen King