Book Review: Really!

I've been having a little bit of a problem the last oh..... three or four months or so.... I haven't been able to read! I mean I can "read", I just can't seem to finish a book. The last one I remember finishing was in September when I was home recovering from surgery. It was Elegy for Iris, the story of author Iris Murdoch's life as told by her husband. Very good, if a little depressing. I followed up by watching the movie. Very, very good. (Kate Winslet was great!) 

Anywhoo.... I don't know what happened after that. I just lost interest or focus or something. Couldn't seem to finish anything. So, yesterday I finally finished a book I've been working on since October, Peace Like a River.  It's been on my TBR list for a while and our book club chose it for our November read. 

Peace Like a River  by Leif Enger, Atlantic Monthly Press; Later Printing edition (August 20, 2002), ISBN-10: 0802139256

Source: Heard of it for a long time, on my TBR list, chosen by book club

Rating: Definitely 5 out of 5 STARS

So, my taking so long to finish Peace Like a River is absolutely NO reflection on how wonderful this book is! There are a ton of reviews on it (here is a good one) so I won't really add much to all the words floating around out there in Bloglandria except to say "read it!" Great story told with wonderful words. Period. 

I dog-eared so many pages! (Yes, horrors! I do indeed dog-ear pages of *my* books that have especially beautiful writing or interesting tidbits of information. Here are just a few examples of Mr. Enger's ability to produce "good words":

"...it had Judge Raster, who I'd pictured as some predatory deep-sea critter, sitting behind his high desk. In the flesh the judge had the kind of wavy white hair I associated with benevolence, the hair of soft-touch aunts who keep mints in candy dishes within your reach; though his eyes, behind half glasses, evoked no such hopeful impressions. Surprisingly, my first sense of Judge Raster was of a man who clung to small vanities. He had a preening look. You do't like to think it of a judge." page 83 (Just a great character description.)

"Once in my life I knew a grief so hard I could actually hear it inside, scraping at the lining of my stomach, an audible ache, dredging with hooks as rivers are dredged when someone's been missing too long." page 54 (Do you know that kind of grief? The description brought tears to my eyes.)

"Davy didn't reply. It was deepest night. I remember his shape in the stuffed chair next the window: clean map of chin and cheekbone, cup of coffee under drifting steam. He was watching the meadow and after some silence rose and stood close to the glass. A herd of deer had come out from a black tangle of trees. They were crossing the meadow, so shapeless at this distance seeing them was an act of faith." page 298 (Lovely!)

That's just a few random pages I flipped to.... there's so much to admire in Enger's writing! Truly a man who can write a story with an obvious Christian worldview to a wider audience. Excellent!

Since I finished this one (hooray!) I thought I'd pick up another novel to read and bought When She Woke  for my Kindle based on a recommendation from a friend. Ai Yi Yi! I am *sorely* disappointed. It's so bad, I've put it down for good without finishing. I usually try not to be too harsh about books I don't like, but this one really was shocking to me. Great premise but very poorly executed with an obvious political agenda. Contrived characters, forced dialogue, stilted writing.... you get the idea. From some reviews I've read I gather Ms. Jordan's first novel, Mudbound, was much, much better. 

So, now I think I'm off to bed to start Leaving Van Gogh.... a recommendation from a (different) friend that I hope gives better results.