Fiction

The first thing we have to talk about is penguins--the next thing is the color of Jim Carrey's hair. I mean, come on, the guy's got to be between 46 and 52 (my estimation only, of course, but I think he's "been around" for 20 years anyway) and I guess his publicist convinced him that he's got to keep that "youthful, prankster aura", hence, the dark hair of earlier years. The penguins--and Carrey--are in a new movie, "Mr. Popper's Penguins", which I will be seeing this week, and, honestly, I will go to it planning to like it and laugh at both the penguins and Jim. His pratfalls, in previous movies, are, like Red Skelton's marvelous sight gags, very well done and acrobatic, so, I'll just ignore his hair color--okay?

Speaking of penguins reminds me of water--lots of water--and that's something that we here in Kerrville don't have a lot of--to the point that our aquifer has so little water in it, we are all heading for Stage 4 water rationing and a 300 dollar fine for turning your sprinkler on if it isn't your day of the week (re-read those last words) to water, according to the designated day of the week for your address. But we are not cleaning up after a tornado in Joplin, or dreading or leaving our homes running from a destructive forest fire in Az., or trying to resurrect your life after an explosion of a nuclear plant--so, although it's hot and lawns are turning brown and flowers are drooping, that's fact and this column is about Fiction (a backwards but effective segue, Patti, dear!).

The fiction of E.L. Doctorow is well-known, in American fiction, for really great, intuitive fiction that, forgive the cliché, "gets to the heart of the matter"--what ever "the matter means"--love, hate, loyalty, cowardice, heroism, any of the emotions we all have and maybe don't always understand. "All the Time in the World; New and Selected Stories", I can tell you right now will appeal to me because I love short stories with "meat" on them. I will look forward to reading the six stories that are new as well as a selection of previous classics, and from perusing the stories in this book one is struck again by the strength and clarity of his descriptions of his characters. Where he really excels, however, is in expressing the emotions his characters feel, in these stories, and you "get it"--their anger, their despair, their astonishment at the truths of their lives--not their dreams. Read "Jolene" and realize you've been drawn in to her life. Doctorow is a bloomin' genius and this book shows why. I strongly recommend checking this out.

"22 Britannia Road", by Amanda Hodgkinson, is a debut novel, and it's always been my belief that a library should give a new novelist a chance to get his/her work out to possible new fans, and this is one of those chances for novelist and readers to meet each other. Having said that, this is not an easy novel to read. War, abandonment, a woman desperate to protect her son--even from the man he's instructed to call "Daddy" and yet calls him "The Enemy". However, plowing through this story, while examining people's passions and motives and techniques for survival is going to be exhausting for the reader. I wish Ms. Hodgkinson good luck in her career, but, she needs to lighten up a little.

"Story of Beautiful Girl", by Rachel Simon, (she wrote the bestseller "Riding the Bus with my Sister"), is a powerful story about a couple with "disabilities" who come together, the woman gets pregnant, they both escape the asylum where they're both held, flee to a farm and the woman there, Martha, takes them in. Lynnie and Homan are tracked down by the authorities, Homan escapes (he's deaf) and as the asylum officers drag Lynnie to a car, she hides her baby girl and can only summon her wits long enough to whisper to Martha--"Hide her."

So, the years go by; Lynnie in the asylum, mute and making a friend in an employee, Kate, Homan has a job and trying to make his way in a constantly strange world, and Martha is alive also. A powerful book and the details about their lives are wonderful and full of hope. Find this book and enjoy how the human spirit can triumph over, at first, not talking, being too scared to share, and the triumph of love and caring friends that overcome despair.


This next book, "Come and Find Me", by Hallie Ephron, has a delightful "Hitchcock" touch, according to the reviewers, and the basic premise is, indeed, interesting i.e. Diana Highsmith has become a recluse--a few steps out from her front porch is all the can summon up the courage to do. Her fiancé, Daniel, was killed on their climbing vacation in Switzerland and the memory of it keeps her inside and safe.

The strange thing is that she and Daniel's best friend run a successful Internet security system and Diana can do it from her home, in her jammies! But when Diana's sister goes missing, "she is forced to do, for her, the impossible: brave the outside world and her own personal demons to find her sister"--and as she takes her fragile steps away from her security blanket, she uncovers a plan of evil and treachery that not only threatens her sister's life but also hers.

As I always do, I take some pages in a book that I'm reviewing--several selections at random--and see what I think of style, action, meaning, etc. and this one was no exception. Lots of white space around the print, ala Danielle Steele and others who write a lot, and not a very big vocabulary, print is large, adjectives used loosely rather than more precise language. So, all in all, the premise is good but not its execution. This author needs to write more, get more critiquing from groups or mentors in the field and keep trying. Great peg to hang a story on, but not very well done. Sorry.

Now, don't despair--"Hunter's World", by Fred Lichtenberg, is really a great read--not in Clive Cussler's or Grisham's category but not many new authors, debut work or of 5 years, are! It's a thriller to find the killer of a man who painted the women he slept with. One of the women takes exception to this and kills him--then another one dies and the police chief becomes convinced that maybe his wife might be the killer. His deputy, the judge, and a lot of townspeople feel that Police Chief Hank Reed isn't doing enough to catch the killer. The many other women (all married) whom he implicated in his paintings are all, understandingly, wanting to keep the paintings from becoming public knowledge.


I'm telling you right here and now, I kept reading for 45 minutes before remembering I wasn't to read a whole book in order to review it! Moves quickly, is excellent in portrayal of human nature (men and women's) and keeps you guessing. I can't take the time to finish it now but I betcha I will before I send it back to LML! Get this and sit back with a cold drink, put a pillow over the phone/answering machine and enjoy a great Summer read! See? I handed you a good one! Trust me! I need to find out if it was the Police Chief's wife who killed the painter.

Okay, see you, maybe in person, in Liberal between July 11 and the 15, leave me a message via the library and we'll have tea at my favorite Spencer Browne's and discuss how things have been going with you and your world, be sure your pets have fresh water twice a day, hope you remembered Father's Day and keep walking! Bye!