This is the gorgeous title of a gorgeous new book by Anthony Doerr. I finished reading it on my way home from Houston and I felt transformed by the experience.
When you love a book as much as I loved that one, it's hard not to put on a white shirt, a tie, a pair of shiny Swedish knit pants from Mr. Mac's, and a nametag in order to proselytize the reading public so that they, too, can partake in the rapture. (Right. I'm mixing religious metaphors here.) This, of course, can be a dangerous thing because maybe I just read this book at exactly, exactly the right time so that it spoke to me on a cellular level, which would make me a problematic judge. Is the book as stunning as I think it is?
I don't know. But I lived a life apart every time I opened it. I could taste it. It's been a long time since I've felt this way about a novel.
Incidentally (and not that it matters), four of my all-time favorite books are set against the backdrop of WWII--
The Madonnas of Leningrad (Debra Dean)
Prince of the Clouds (Gianni Riotta)
The Lost Garden (Helen Humphreys)
And now this.
Reading it currently. Halfway through.
ReplyDeleteThe HOLDS list was so long at the library I decided to buy it...now it sits waiting. I've read Madonnas -- it was OK, haven't read the other two...will add to my growing TBR list now. One of my ALL TIME favorite WWII books is City of Thieves -- wow. Just wow. But I could survive on WWII historical fiction.
ReplyDeleteHMMMM.
ReplyDeleteI obviously need to read something worthier than the current run of Minneapolis-based police procedural WHICH I AM LOVINGi but which may or may not be good for me. So I appreciate this tip and the list as well. But I may have to finish the police novels. I gots momentum.
As worthy as light you cannot see sounds, I think I'm at the police procedural level at the moment. Lisa B., please share the author.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading it. I just about started this summer at the beach. Hey Lisa B, there is nothing wrong with a good police procedural.
ReplyDelete