The Truth Is All We Have

August 3rd, 2010

I’m fairly certain this is the first time I have been completely clueless as to how to start my review.  My normal banter seems wildly inappropriate, yet focusing entirely on the gloom, I feel will have an adverse effect.

When I first read the slip cover for “Days of Grace” I picked up two very distinctive things,

1.  Struggling with the affects of war through the eyes of a 12 year old girl

2.  Experiencing the inner turmoil of a lost love

but when it was all said and done, when I closed the back cover, and switched off the light, it occurred to me that what I got was so much more.

Troubled with the idea of loosing her daughter unnecessarily to war, Nora’s mother does the unthinkable… offers her up as an evacuee, and plops her on a train bound for the country, however, what her mother sees as a selfless act of sacrifice, Nora saw as abandonment.  Unsure of herself (or her surroundings) Nora’s mind starts to run wild, that is until she meets Grace.  As a girl who is used to running free (and getting her way) Grace teaches Nora a whole world of things she never knew existed… books, beauty, and love… but when Nora’s love continues to go unrequited, and her life suddenly starts to take a direct left, the place that she lovingly started to refer to as home, is not so welcoming anymore.  In an effort to escape an unhealthy situation, and take control of her own future, Nora decides to runaway.  With Grace, dutifully by her side, the two girls set out to experience the other side of life… the war torn, desolate streets of London. Will their love for each other be enough to battle the forces around them, will the shady side of their new home tear them apart, and will Nora ever accomplish the most challenging feat of all… forgiving herself for the things she has done for love?

“Catherine Hall” did exactly the opposite of what I expected in this novel… she focused on the negative.  This story was not about WWII, or even an enduring friendship for that matter, what is was… was a story about a young girl so desperate for a family, that her own conscience created a mutilated web of abandonment issues, and internal punishment.  The fact that Hall used such a significant, (and life altering) war as her backdrop only added fuel to the already abundant turmoil.  Now… does the fact that this novel is so blatantly depressing mean that I disliked like it?  No… on the contrary,  the writing (for being a debut novel) was quiet impressive.  The plot was split into 2 eras, both boasting the same narrative voice (Nora) but both in very different times in their life.  Writing in this way not only allowed the reader to experience Nora’s emotional unsteadiness as a young girl, but also allowed the reader to connect to her on a deeper level, as her age gave way to unfiltered thoughts of the past.  The character development was astounding, (there was no way the story could have possibly made sense without it) but the thing that caught my interest was Hall’s very straight forward way of relaying details. There were no paragraphs of flowery descriptives, letters of profession, or even filler chapters (which so many new authors rely on) instead, you had a straight forward plot, with a straight forward objective, with just enough twist to keep the reader from taking unscheduled trips in their own head.

Do I think this book is for everyone? No.  The novel, as a whole, was well written, but remains a difficult read, and though it’s lovely (in its own way) it remains sad. Only those truly dedicated to literary structure, and an artfully crafted story need apply, I’m afraid that everyone else will find it to much to handle, and consequently… be unhappy with the book as a whole.

Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: Sometimes it’s healthier to love the attainable, than to destroy our lives with the untouchable.

Click for a completed book description

(3.5/5)

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Damn You Tears!

February 14th, 2010

If you have ever read a “Nicholas Sparks” novel  (or even watched a movie adaptation of one) you should be well versed in certain aspects of his writing by now.

1 – Someone always dies… you may not know who, and you may not know when but it is inevitable, and

2 – He’s not all that big into “happily every afters.”

These 2 reasons are more than enough for me to normally steer clear of Mr. Sparks, but as usual, my OCD took precedence over my need for self preservation and the past couple of days I found myself reluctantly diving into “Dear John.”

Please don’t misunderstand me though,  Nicholas Sparks has such a knack for expression that he will capture your soul in only a few chapters,  it’s just to bad that he likes to take that swelled, willing, and loving soul and hit it with a mallet.

“Dear John” was beautiful.

“Dear John” was sad.

I hated/loved/despised/adored “Dear John”

John was on the short bus to No-Where-Ville and his beer and lack of motivation were along for the ride…until one day he woke up.  While sitting in a run down bar in his small seaside town he decided to make something of himself;  Be all that he could be…make himself a better man, so he did just that…by joining the army, but just when John thought he had finally started to get his life on the straight and narrow he met a girl.  Her name was Savannah and they only had 2 weeks, to find each-other, help each-other, and love each-other.  With John’s inevitable return to duty looming in the not so distant future they make a promise to  each-other… write letters, talk on the phone, stare and the moon, and come back together, but when 9-11 hits and John reenlists Savannah shatters into a million little pieces.  Can love survive across oceans? Can love survive a war? Is love ever really enough?

“Sparks” tugs at the strings in your chest you never knew existed, the dialogue and flow were perfectly paced and the characters were so well developed that you felt each and every pain that they went through like it was your own.  The ending made me mad and made me cry, it was lovely, bittersweet, and nothing short of perfect.

I would like to tell you that this book was a happy one.

I would like to tell you that for once the inevitable didn’t happen, but then I would just be lying.

This book is a lesson, one that each and every one of us should learn.  “If you love someone, let them go.”

Get it, Live it, Love it…and pass it on.

Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: Sometimes we need to see the good in ourselves that other people see in us.

For A Complete Book Description Click Image

(4.5/5)

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