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I’ll take and tell you, if there’s something beneficial about being incapacitated, in addition to the handicap sticker, it’s that it’s given me more time to read. The bedpan comes out, book opens.
I couldn’t help but notice the Barbara Kingsolver book Ginnie was reading, "Demon Copperhead." I had never read any Kingsolver books. Dunno why. She has all the credentials: Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, New York Times Best Seller List, etc. Ginnie is a paper-book reader, leaving her books scattered around to trip over. The tripping causes me to look down, and the book covers attract me, like a mouse to a peanut-butter-baited trap. Snap!
I’ll say two things about "Demon Copperhead" that won’t give away the plot. Ginnie agrees with me on this: reading "Demon Copperhead" felt like sitting in an IMAX theater watching the story unfold before my eyes, complete with special effects. I wasn’t reading, I was watching the story. I can’t recall ever feeling this way about any other book.
Secondly, Barbara Kingsolver writes "Demon Copperhead" from the viewpoint of a small boy, and does a spectacular job. I know female writers who write well from the viewpoint of an adult man, and male writers who write well from the viewpoint of an adult woman. But to get inside the mind of a child of the opposite sex and make it believable? That’s talent. I’m not sure I’d want to tackle writing from the perspective of an adolescent girl.
So impressed was I with Kingsolver’s prose and use of similes, like the intricate patterns of a butterfly wing, that I downloaded two more of her books, "The Bean Trees" and "Pigs in Heaven." These two books are a set, with "The Bean Trees" to be read first. Kingsolver switches gears and writes from the female perspective, both adult and juvenile, and does a grand job, of course, like Lionel Messi scoring a goal. You know they’re good when they make it look so easy.
My non-spoiler comment on "The Bean Trees" and "Pigs in Heaven" is that Kingsolver’s writing relaxes me. I could be tensed up from whatever, sit down and read a couple paragraphs, and feel calmness come over me, like sitting down in a warm bath. Ah. (Writing has the same calming effect on me, also.) Once again, I can’t recall any other author relaxing me like this.
I’ll probably read more books by Kingsolver, like "The Poisonwood Bible" but Ginnie threw a wrench into the works. She casually mentioned that Richard Russo had a new book out, "Under the Falls." I’ve read most of Russo’s books. He’s an outstanding writer with all the awards, including a book, "Nobody’s Fool" that was made into a movie starring Paul Newman.
Russo isn’t as heavy on the similes as Kingsolver, but man can he a write a Hail-Mary story. Thomas Wolfe wrote, "You can’t go home again." I believe this is a central theme of "Under the Falls." Minor themes, without giving away the plot, might be that paybacks aren’t worth it, that we’re already in Hell--the main character meets his father there--and that we float somewhere between The World of Is and Is Not, and the World of Meaning. Heavy stuff, but packaged in a barn-burner of a book.
I’ll give any of Barbara Kingsolver’s and Richard Russo’s books the coveted Empty Nest Four Stars. If you’re not fortunate or fortunate enough to be incapacitated and have plenty of downtime to read, blow off whatever else you have to do and read. Reading is never a waste of time.
When your legs aren’t cooperating, a good book can still take you places.
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Have a good story? Call or text Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526 or email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com. Curt is available for public speaking.