BOOK REVIEW: "the watermark"

The Watermark
By Travis Thrasher
Copyright 2001
Tyndale House Publishers, inc.
Adult Fiction
2 Bookmarks

I finished reading The Watermark over a week ago, but I have been torn about how to write this review. There is a part of me that liked the book. It had a certain sense of “can’t-put-it-down”ness. The characters were interestingly drawn. And the feeling of not being entirely sure what was going on kept me on the edge of my seat for a time.

But once I figured out what the real story was, it sort of felt….well, wrong.

Sheridan Blake (cool character name, by the way) is 28 and returning to college. For several pages of the book, you don’t know why he was absent so long. But the reader eventually learns that Sheridan has done something bad. Very bad. And not only that, but he got away with it.

Sheridan is torn up from his guilt and remorse, or at least he is supposed to be. In reality, it seems he is just trying to forget his past and ignore its importance in his life. Fairly early on in the book (and periodically throughout the remainder), the author points the story in the “if only he could look to god for forgiveness” direction. It seemed to me that these gratuitous pleas for Sheridan’s soul were thrown quite haphazardly into the book. They almost seemed like a weird sidenote.

Toward the end of the book, the plot started to become quite predictable and cliché, which was disappointing. Some of the choices the characters made seemed very out of character. And I really wasn’t sorry when the book ended. And that’s all I have to say about that.

BOOK REVIEW: "Train Man"

Train Man
By Hitori Nakano
Copyright 2004
Del Rey Books
Adult Fiction
3 Bookmarks

Before there was Facebook, there were chat rooms. Before chat rooms, there were bulletin boards. And in “Train Man”, by Hitori Nakano, a love story unfolds before the reader's eyes on the pages of an innocent bulletin board “thread”.

Tren, a self-professed computer geek, has found himself in a quandary. Riding on the train to work one day, he witnesses a group of women being accosted by a drunken geezer. Tren does something completely out of character for himself; he comes to the rescue and saves the women from what he presumes is an assault waiting to happen. But when one of the women (a young, attractive one at that), sends a thank you gift to Tren, he hardly knows how to react. So he turns to his virtual “friends” on the bulletin board and asks for their help.

This entire book is written as a routine bulletin board “thread”; each post dated and timed from each individual user. Tren takes the advice of the other computer geeks on the thread and calls the girl to thank her for the thank you gift. The relationship progresses from there with the computer geeks giving Tren (a very inexperienced young geek) advice at every turn. What unfolds is a beautiful love story filled with sophistication from the young woman, and innocence and geeky-ness (two of my favorite male qualities! ;-) from the young man.

The writing style of the bulletin board was very clever, I thought. The book was originally written in Japanese and translated into English two years later. A fun book and a quick read.

COMMENTARY: Here Comes The Rain Again...

We are a little spoiled in Colorado Springs with our average of 300 days of sunshine per year. This year has been tough on us with day after day of clouds and rain. Our lawns our happy, and so are our water bills, but are we?

If I go too long without the sun, I start to feel groggy and depressed. The sun is a lifeline to…well…life, if you will. The bright sunshine in the morning helps us wake up. The warmth of the sun gives us comfort and a sense of fullness. The constant motion of the sun in the sky helps us track our progress for the day. The shadows tell us it’s time to hurry up because the end of the day is drawing near.

But when the clouds roll in and just stay and stay and stay, everything feels a little…off. It’s more difficult to get out of bed in the morning. It’s impossible to know what time it is without referring to some kind of electronic device. There’s no sense of movement or warmth.

How do the people of Seattle survive with their average 43 days of sunshine per year? I don’t know. Really. I don’t have a clue. I went to Seattle once. I was there for five days; no sunshine at all for five days. I was unbelievably ready to leave by the end of those very long five days (let me make myself clear….I was actually ready to leave BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY at that point).

There is a mood disorder called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), related to the changing of seasons. People who have been diagnosed with this disorder become depressed most commonly during the winter (in fact, many people know the disorder by the name “winter blues”) and occasionally during other seasons of the year. Believe me, I can relate! There is something to be said for the healing power of the sun.

And yeah, I am grateful we are not in a drought and I am grateful my garden is getting lots of water; but really, can’t the sun just come out and play for awhile?

BOOK REVIEW: "The Pastures of Heaven"

The Pastures of Heaven
John Steinbeck
Copyright 1932
Robert O. Ballou, Inc.
Classic Literature
4 Bookmarks

Take a voyeuristic look at Las Pasturas del Cielo, The Pastures of Heaven, with author John Steinbeck and you will be welcomed into a world of fate, longing, disappointment, and resignation. This collection of interconnected short stories tells of the lives of the inhabitants of a secluded valley near Salinas, California. Each tale draws the reader closer and closer in to the core meaning of the name of this enchanted place.

This lonely collection of farmhouses and cabins is a final resting place for the hopes and dreams of three generations. From the single farmer who finds an abandoned baby on the side of the road, to the new school teacher fresh from the city, each character is portrayed in stunning detail. Their ambitions are all different, but the end result of each story ties them all together.

One of my favorite stories in the book revolves around the Whiteside family. A man who has decided to create a legacy, purchases land and builds an estate. He envisions the home being filled with children and imagines the home passing from generation to generation so that he can live on forever. This man and his wife, unfortunately, are able to have only one child. While this saddens them greatly, they direct their son, when he becomes an adult, to carry on their wishes. The son is very much like his parents, and he too wants to continue on this legacy. That son, however, is also only able to have one child, and when that child decides he doesn’t want to stay in the valley, the only reasonable conclusion to the story results.

There is such variety and eccentricity in the characters of this masterpiece; from the prostitutes who ask forgiveness each day from their statue of the Virgin Mary, to the chicken farmer who thinks nothing of visiting his friend (the warden of the prison) and witnessing executions, to the man named “Shark” who leads everyone to believe he is the possessor of great wealth, when in reality, he is as poor and destitute as his neighbors.

I truly enjoyed this book. It is one of the better “classics” that I’ve read and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to expand their literary horizons.