Caffeinated Politics

It has been a dramatic week in Wisconsin, and now it is time for the weekend. Everyone needs a few days to unwind. Family is coming by our home Friday night, and rain is slated for much of Saturday. James and I have dinner with a friend on Sunday. In between all those reasons to smile, I will be found with my first John Irving book. (Yes, how can this only be the first at my age?) I am halfway through The Cider House Rules and am so captivated by the writing, the plot, the strong multi-dimensional characters, and the book’s thoughtful pacing.

I can say without a doubt that this is what American storytelling is like when done at its best. I am so hooked on the book’s feel and mood. At times tender. At other times, unruly. Morally charged. And the anchor in the book, as I see it, is compassion. Almost a duty.

There is no way to feel that Homer Wells is not a real person we could interact with. Stubborn, tender, wounded, and quietly magnificent. What makes Homer compelling isn’t some grand heroic flourish but the way he absorbs the world. The orchards. The laborers. The unspoken rules. The aching need to belong somewhere that doesn’t quite know what to do with him. He is just a powerful character created by Irving.

As I wrote above, I am halfway through this book, and what strikes me — and what I find so compelling — is the way the characters wrestle with the rules written for them. Whether they’re written by someone else or by their own hand. And in this time when bombast and in-your-face hectoring are done everywhere all the time, Irving doesn’t lecture or berate. That tonal difference between the rough world we live in and the pages within the book’s cover is what makes this read so utterly refreshing and endearing for me.

I can say without hesitation that if you are seeking a story that grips the conscience as much as the heart, this is the one you might consider picking up for a read. (Yes, Amazon has already delivered other John Irving books in the past week. Really, how did I miss him for so many years?)