Winterkill

by Gary Paulsen

One Thumb Up and One Thumb Down.

Paulsen is a great story teller and this book is no exception.  But this book left me with a hollow feeling in my heart.

I've heard periodically since moving to this area about this book and the controversy associated with it throughout the years.  I've heard from several local people that the books is somewhat autobiographical, with the fictional town of Twin Falls being a pseudonym for Paulsen's hometown of Thief River Falls, MN.  Many of the characters and incidents, apparently, have basis in real people and happenings in Thief River Falls in the days during which Paulsen grew up.  The character telling the story lived through many things that Paulsen lived through.  Paulsen faced a libel suit over this book; after going all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court, he was exonerated.  But apparently it almost spelled an early end his writing career because he was so disheartened by the accusation.  How can a writer write about things he or she has no experience with, after all?

The story is told by a thirteen year year old boy whose parents are violent drunks.  He tells of his friendship with a mild mannered drunk, a local police officer, and his time at two different foster homes, his first girlfriend and his early jobs.  The story ends abruptly after a crushing loss in the boys life.

Again, excellent story telling.  But very sad.

The Christmas Sweater (Part II)

by Glenn Beck

OK, here's the deal now that I've finished reading this. Beck has had a troubled life. His mom committed suicide when he was a teen. Beck later became an alcoholic and drug user. When in his thirties (I think he said) Beck found "faith" and at some point after that had a dream that changed his life.

This book is an allegory aimed at teaching Beck's version of how to thrive in this life even when things are tough. Even when we are broken in spirit. His answer: acknowledge your own worth; grasp the atonement that is there for you. His definition of atonement: peace that comes from forgiving yourself and others.

The story is mostly sweet. It gets a bit hokey just prior to the climax, after which the story rushes to a happy ending.

We all carry around guilt in this life. Some is our own guilt. Some is guilt we take on falsely. By this I mean that we often feel guilty over things that are not our fault. Those of us who are feeling beaten down by this undeserved guilt, might be helped by Beck's allegory. Perhaps. But the true guilt we all have is harder to assuage. The idea that we are "worthy" in and of ourselves and we just need to grasp the "atonement" that is somehow universally available is not a Christian idea. Our true worth comes only through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The righteousness God gives us through this sacrifice is what gives us our worth and true atonement. True guilt will only be assuaged by this atonement; and true atonement will give true peace with God and therein lies true wholeness for our brokenness.

The Christams Sweater

by Glenn Beck

Thumbs up. In Progress.

This is apparently a fictionalized autobiography Beck has written to help others appreciate the important things in life before it's too late.

Beck tells the story through the narrative of a young boy and series of his flashbacks. The story is compelling and well told. I'll post an update when I finish it.

Waiting for Columbus

by Thomas Trofimuk

Thumbs up.

I give this book a thumbs up, but with a caveat that I'll address later.

Mr Trofimuk spins a tale of mystery and intrigue; love and pain. He tells the story of a person who thinks he is Christopher Columbus. Consuela, a nurse at the Sevilla Institute for the Mentally Ill, is trying to help Mr. Columbus find his way back to reality. Mr. Columbus gradually tells Consuela his story, which we hear in snippets. Trofimuk bases the man's tale on the biography of the real Christopher Columbus with occasional lapses by the patient into modern situations, such as when he tells of looking for his parking place or answering a phone.

We also follow the tale of the the Interpol detective, Emile Germain, who is healing from his own traumatic experience while searching for a missing person who was last seen in Spain. Hmm, convenient.

The book is rich in sensual experience. I mean that in the truest sense of the the word "sensual," as in "appealing to the senses." Many times I could almost smell the air; taste the food or wine; hear the music or street noises.

The author uses metaphor generously, but in a pretty way, not contrived or forced. The language is often very poetic, as when the detective, Emile, momentarily recalls the playful personality of the car-rental woman. He "presses the button on the door panel and the window opens. He lets the car-rental woman slip out the window and into the hot day."

The complaint I have with the book is one common to most contemporary novels. Too much, too graphically described male/female interaction stuff. Although much of it in this book is cloaked in metaphor reminiscent of the Biblical Song of Solomon, none of it is necessary to the story line, almost all of it is between unmarried persons, and on at least two occasions does Mr. Trofimuk cross the line into graphic description. And, well, the author's great descriptive talents...let's just say he doesn't leave them behind for these parts.

Woodsburner: A Novel by John Pipkin

by John Pipkin

Thumbs down.

A fictional account of the day Henry David Thoreau accidentally burned down a chunk of Concord Woods. Pipkin tries to use the quirks of fictional characters against which to compare and contrast Thoreau's philosophy. It kind of falls flat.

That coupled with the fact that most of the main characters and several minor ones have these blaring deviancies in their personalities. I don't need to read about the perversions of fictional nineteenth century personalities.

Also, I couldn't help getting the impression that Pipkin was trying to show that even old-fashioned people, and people of of faith especially, were all perverts. Maybe he was trying to define deviancy downward; or to defend the acceptance of various perversionsin our day by showing that perversity, itself, is universal throughout history. Which it is, of course, in our sinful condition. But not to the extent Pipkin's characters portray.