BOOK REVIEW: "The Garden of Eden"

The Garden of Eden

By Ernest Hemingway

Copyright 1986

Scribner Publishing

Classic Literature

3 Bookmarks

Ernest Hemingway, author of the classics "A Moveable Feast," "The Old Man and the Sea", and "A Farewell to Arms," among others, penned a number of novels he never quite completed. After his death, some of these unfinished works were published by members of his family. And so we arrive at "The Garden of Eden".

Ahhhh...young love. David and Catherine are newlyweds, honeymooning at a beach resort while David works on a new novel that he's been writing. His last novel has received positive reviews and things are looking up for David on a professional level. On a personal level, the couple's days are filled with leisure and lovemaking. Life is good.

But one day, something changes. It starts as a small, erotic journey David is led on by Catherine. But it soon turns dark and sinister. Catherine becomes someone that David doesn't know. He accepts the change with hesitation, as what else is there to do? But then when the darkness spirals into something even more erotically dangerous, David finds himself unable to control the world around him, not even the novel that is finding it's way onto the pages of his notebook.

A good author is able to challenge the reader to open their minds and look at life through a different set of eyes. Hemingway succeeds, but at a price. Although the novel was never completed, the story does have an ending, just not one the reader might have hoped for. If you're looking for a book to give you warm, fuzzy feelings after reading it, this is not the book for you. But it does make you think.

BOOK REVIEW: "Dear John"

Dear John

By Nicholas Sparks

Copyright 2006

Warner Books

Adult Fiction

4 Bookmarks

I've read some good books lately and this is definitely one of them. By the author of "The Notebook", this is another tale of love and sadness that pulls you in and rips your heart out (I love a good book like that!)

In this story, John Tyree leaves home after high school, an angry teenager who doesn't understand his father, and really doesn't even understand himself. John joins the Army and comes home only rarely to visit. It is during one of these visits that John meets Savannah. She is everything that John is not. She is soft and gentle where he is rough and rugged. She is religious and committed where he is floundering. But somehow, they fall in love. Through short visits and long letters, their love grows.

But things happen, as they always do, to interrupt a good love story, and this one is no different. Will John and Savannah be able to overcome the odds and get over the obstacles that come their way? Will they be able to face the logistical challenges of their relationship? Is love strong enough? I'm not going to be a spoiler on this one....you'll have to read it for yourself to find out.

I always enjoy a good Sparks novel. They are easy, quick reads; but they are always stories you just don't want to put down. I recommend this one!

BOOK REVIEW: "Candles on Bay Street"

Candles on Bay Street
by K. C. McKinon
Copyright 1999
Doubleday Publishing
Adult Fiction
4 Bookmarks
(spoiler alert!)

Alright, so really, I generally don't like books that make me cry. Especially ones that make me cry because someone is affected by cancer. But this book is an exception (I realize I just gave a big part of the book away, but maybe you're like me and have been personally touched in an excruciating way by cancer and like to avoid the reminders).

If I had known that cancer would be a part of this book, I probably wouldn't have read it, which would have truly been a shame. "Candles on Bay Street" is set in small-town Fort Kent, Maine, where veterinarian Sam Thibodeau is faced with some very tough choices when his childhood friend and lifelong crush, Dee Dee Michaud, returns to town after a very long absence. Both of their lives have changed dramatically (he is married, and she has a child), but the friendship is still there. Soon after Dee Dee starts up a candle-making business and begins to create a community for herself, Sam starts to notice something is wrong. Dee Dee is sick and getting sicker.

The story progresses from there and you will have to read the book to find out how it ends, but I do want to share my commentary on the way this book is written. The author pulled me in to Fort Kent and made me feel it was my own small town growing up. The people were so real. The incidents that were occuring in their daily lives were real. The writing was real and McKinnon's words conveyed the beauty of the setting with ease.

I felt each characters' joy and pain at various different points in the book. At several points in the book, I did weep like a baby. In part, because it brought up so many memories of my mother's own battle with cancer that she lost in 1995. But also, in part because I truly felt the character's emotions as written by the author.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially for someone who likes a good tear-jerker.

COMMENTARY: "Away So Long....."

No, I did not fall off the face of the earth. No, I did not contract some terminal disease and die. No, I did not "quit" my blog. But I did start school. College, to be more precise. So here I am, working, going to school, being a mom, being a wife, running a household.....no wonder I haven't had any time to post anything! I have been reading (when I can) and have read some good books. I'll get the reviews on here as soon as I can, but I just wanted to take a moment to.....what....vent, maybe?

I knew it was going to be tough going back to school after nearly 15 years. I knew it was going to be taxing on my personal life, a challenge as relates to my work life, and generally-speaking, I did know things were going to be different. But I just didn't realize how much it was going to take out of me. I'm not 18 anymore (duh!) and these long hours are tough! I'm finally finding ways to manage my time more efficiently, but there are certain things that are definitely not getting as much attention as they used to (housework being number one on that list *sigh*).

I love school, though. I love that I'm back in school. It feels so good to be learning again. My number one goal in life was always to graduate from college. It may not seem like a big deal, especially now that I'm pretty well established in a career and probably won't be changing that, but it is a big deal. Neither of my parents, nor any of my siblings, graduated from college (most didn't even attend any college). My sister, Emily, however, has been a huge inspiration for me on this whole back-to-school thing. She is in nursing school (and working and being a mom herself) and she is doing awesome! She will be graduating long before I will and I'm so proud of her. But when she started, I kind of started looking at my own life and said, "if she can do it, so can I." And so here I am, starting back in college and doing what I always promised myself I would do.

My first two classes are Intermediate Algebra (a class I have already taken and HATE that I have to be taking again....*sigh*) and Geography, which is, in actuality, not really a geography class so much as a liberal geo-political commentary on the world. I chuckle and shake my head in this class on a frequent basis. But the thing that makes me chuckle the most at school are the "kids" I'm in class with. Especially the "guy" who comes to class in bare feet (because he "doesn't like shoes") and the kid who listens to his ipod so loudly during class that I can hear all the lyrics two rows away (seriously, when did that become acceptable in the classroom?) So I have fun with the people-watching as much as anything else.

It's good to be learning, though. It's good to be exercising those brain-muscles that have been atrophying for so long. It's good to be doing this thing!