17 posts tagged “books”
A couple of weeks ago there was an article on salon.com; an excerpt from a new book about learning to play bridge. I read the article, noted that it was written by a New Yorker and idly wondered whether they played at my club. I had completely forgotten that my bridge partner, J., had told me a while back that someone at our club was indeed writing a book about learning to play bridge. Duh.
So after bridge on Wednesday night, (which we *won*, yay!) J. and I go for a beer and he pulls out a copy of The Backwash Squeeze. Finally I remember that he'd told me about this and it all comes together. (Not even my friend in England emailing me about the article reminded me - that's how vacant I am sometimes.) J. is super-stoked about the book, with good reason. The author has written about him in a very complimentary manner. You see, J. teaches bridge to beginning/improving players at our club, and had the author under his wing. He's mentioned in a few examples of the bridge classes. I daresay J. is an excellent teacher, he has a nice way of criticizing people so they don't feel too bad, but still learn something. Anyway, I thought that was all pretty cool and I'm angling for a copy of this book for my birthday!
Re-reading Harry Potter 6 in preparation for FRIDAY!
OK so Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson, is written from the POV of an elderly father writing to his young son. It's set in the 50s. The father is a Congregationalist minister living in the town of Gilead, Iowa (note that in the Bible Gilead means site of witness or testimony), who has married for the second time, late in life, to a much younger woman. They have a 7 year old son, and the father is basically thinking of all the stuff that he won't be able to tell his son, because he's dying.
Sounds a bit boring and/or depressing, huh? But it isn't! It's a lovely book. It meanders back and forth as the narrator tells stories about how he and his wife met, stories about his family (particularly his grandfather's role in the abolitionist movement) and the family of this best friend, who is a Presbytarian minister in the same town. Along with that, there's narrative on what's happening at the time: his best friend's son (who is his godson) has showed up unexpectedly in town, a happening that history has taught does not bode well; as well as the daily goings on in their household.
But the thing I liked about the novel the most isn't the plot or the stories. Interspersed with that is the narrator's musings on his life, pacifism, Christianity, and a lot on the concepts of grace and forgiveness. I found myself reading many paragraphs again and again because they were so beautifully written as well as being incredibly thoughtful.
It's a lovely story, a slow story, one that you want to read in a quiet place. I recommend.
