WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here.
PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.
1. What are you currently reading? The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough. The epic begins in New Zealand, where the Cleary family is barely scraping by. It's 1915, a tough time to work the land. It's an especially masculine family, with 5 sons and just one daughter. Meggie. Beautiful Meggie! Even as a 4-year-old, she beguiles everyone.
I know the family is somehow going to end up in Australia where they will meet a handsome priest. It's what I recall from the mini-series a million years ago, which I watched like everyone did. I know I owned the book -- a book club edition that I lent it to my mother -- but I don't recall ever having read it. Maybe I did -- I virtually devoured books in those days. The passing of Richard Chamberlain, who played a major role in the mini-series, renewed my curiosity.
Anyway, it feels very new to me and I'm enjoying it. Ms. McCullough knows how to paint a word portrait.
2. What did you recently finish reading? The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue. I loved this book! It's set in Cork, Ireland, in 2010, but it could have been here in Chicago in 1981. It reminded me that much of me and my friend, John, when we were in our 20s. To borrow a phrase that our heroine/narrator uses more than once, this book captures "the vibe" perfectly.
It recreates that magic time of life: young adulthood. Everything is new. Everything is important. As Rachel says of those days, "I was twenty and I needed two things: to be in love and to be taken seriously." James works with her in the bookstore. They become best friends and go through this adventure together. They tell one another everything and expand their worldview by walking in one another's shoes.
I loved these characters so much -- even when I didn't like them -- that it was a relief to have the story told in flashback. It begins with a thirty-ish Rachel living in England, happily married and expecting her first baby, constantly texting James in New York. Knowing they were going to come through the romantic, financial, scholastic, and financial hurdles they face -- and come through them together -- helped propel me through the story.
3. What will you read next? I think it will be time for a biography, and one of an American. Of my last five books, three were set in England, one in Ireland and now here I am headed to Australia. I want to come home!
