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An introduction of sorts
Hi, I'm Brian.
(I've probably introduced myself to this list three or
four times. Either the posts never "post" or I never
actually follow it up.)
I've had a series of conversations over the past few
weeks about why I don't participate in this community.
My reasons are varied.
But I want to.
So, I'll throw out some thoughts. I read a book last
week that I really got a kick out of. I've been
looking to interact with it. Maybe people here have
read it.
Here are some of my thoughts on Nick Hornby's novel
_How To Be Good_.
Katie Carr is a thirty-something married mother of two
who doesn't seem to know what she wants out of life.
She cheats on her husband but regrets it (mostly).
She moves out into her own apartment but returns to
her family's home. She flits back and forth in a
struggle to find herself. In spite of this apparent
ambivalence she tells us exactly what she wants: "You
see, what I really want, and what I'm getting with
Stephen, is the opportunity to rebuild myself from
scratch...I just want that feeling, the feeling I get
with him, of having not gone wrong yet." (Stephen, as
you would guess, is her temporary lover.)
Ah, the fear of failure. The agony of disappointment.
The haunting, numbing realization that our own lives
aren't nearly as eventful or poetic as the most recent
Hollywood romantic comedy. The desire for rebirth,
recreation, new identity. Compared to the promise of
youth most everyone seems to face the specter of life
having gone wrong in some way. Who hasn't wanted to
start over at some time?
I bought this book on a whim. I was browsing the new
selections at a local bookstore and it caught my eye.
(OTR content: I was *not* shopping at my usual Barnes
& Noble which always seems to be playng either Dido's
_No Angel_ or OTR's _FFR_.) I read the first chapter
sitting in the store and decided to buy it. The book
itself has gotten all types of reviews and in some
cases has been lambasted.
I liked it.
I like Nick Hornby writing through a female narrator
(OTR content: hasn't this list talked about Linford
writing songs for female point of view?). As a
Christian I identify with Katie's search: it's the
search for redemption. In the middle of her crisis
she sets out to write down her sins ("I took marriage
vows, I broke them, I can't unbreak them.") and frets
over the fact that there is nothing she can do to
truly reverse many of those things. I liked that the
ending was surprising, messy and rather anticlimactic
(much like my life). I liked the descriptions of
relationships in the mundane, how Katie says that she
has "developed contours for his elbows and knees" that
make sleeping together comfortable.
I liked the book.
Has anyone else read it? Thoughts?
Please discuss,
Brian
=====
"What kind of man would live where there is no daring? I don't believe in taking foolish chances, but nothing can be accomplished without taking any chance at all."
~Charles A. Lindbergh, at a news conference after his trans-Atlantic flight
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