[a photo repeat from my other blog, in a post about reading]I must be honest with y'all ~ during my stomach virus, I finished Peace Like a River. And oh, how I loved it! In fact, I loved the last two chapters so much that I read them 2-3 times. I've never read anything quite like this book. I have a hunch that each of you finished Peace Like a River, too. Am I correct?
I ask because I cannot finish this book discussion in the manner I've been posting all along. My health issues are so odd. I'll feel pretty good for a few days, then I'll sleep horribly or whatever and feel like utter crap all over. The book discussion has been a fun experiment, but it's actually been very hard for me to keep up with. And, I feel like the discussion fizzled out for the most part. These things happen; I do understand.
So, if y'all have finished the book, I'd say let's talk about the ending, and anything leading up to it that you found significant. What do you say?
I'm also pondering what exactly to do with books for calvin. I'm keeping this blog for sure, but it's about to change into a reading & writing blog of sorts.... All things literary, from an aspiring writer's perspective. I will not outright copy Robin's lovely blog - The Wonderful Pen - but I'm thinking I will share:
-quotes from books I'm reading,
-some thoughts,
-author interviews,
-writing advice quotes,
-poems,
-book reviews,
-giveaways,
-reading/writing photos,
-local bookstore adventures,
-etc.
I'll leave the comments open ~ if any of you love all things bookish as much as I do, I'd love to read your thoughts!
Thank you for taking part in the discussion so far, and your patience with me. Who knows, maybe when my health is consistently stronger, we can try another discussion. We shall see.
5 comments:
My favorite part of the last section of this book is the transition between the 3rd to last and 2nd to last chapters: "..the next country gathered itself under my feet....I waded ashore with measureless relief. Stay with me now."
This touched me so much because it confirmed my love of Reuben as a narrator. I as a reader was panicking a little at this point, with the shooting, and the knowledge that they were in the afterlife. Reuben senses this, and assures the reader with his "Stay with me now." I love narrators that right out talk to the reader.
That chapter was so beautiful. The book wraps up wonderfully.
Thanks for having this discussion, I loved the chance to think about this book again and see what others had to say about it. I look forward to seeing what you continue to do with this blog!
I loved Reuben as a narrator, too. I think he's the best narrator I've ever read. After I finished the book, I felt like I really knew him, almost in real life. I would feel nutty saying so except that Marilynne Robinson said a similar thing about her characters in Gilead, when she was writing that amazing book.
I will post my thoughts about the last few chapters and the ending of Peace Like a River very soon.
Thanks, Robin!
You're right, I finished the book way back, and actually that was one thing that made it hard to participate as much as I wanted to in the discussion. I didn't want to give anything away, but it was hard to remember if such and such had occured yet in the selection without rereading, which I would have loved to do, but just didn't have time.
Maybe for a future selection we could all just read the entire book ahead of time? You could still post on sections, but whatever is discussed in that section is in light of the total book.
Regarding the end of the book, I have to say I was so disappointed that Jeremiah had to die, and that Jape seems to have gotten away with it. It makes you look back at the couple of times that Jeremiah referring to Reuben said "I would take his place if I could" (or something like that). Foreshadowing that I totally didn't catch because I really had no inkling whatsoever during the book that this kind of thing would happen.
I'll probably have more comments after you post yours, but I have to go now.
Thanks again for the discussion.
I enjoyed the discussion even though I finished the book long ago and had to return it to the library and rely on my unreliable memory for my comments. I would love to participate in another one.
I agree that maybe next time you can let us know what book you are reading and then post chapter by chapter. We can read the chapter posts as we finish those chapters ourselves. Maybe if you start ahead and have notes on several chapters typed up before you even tell us about it then you will have some leeway in how often you post. Just an idea.
Andrea & Crystal - thanks for your future book discussion suggestions! I'll be thinking....
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