Wednesday, January 27, 2016

A book published this year??


The various categories for my current reading challenge are not vast and inclusive I fear.  When Breath Becomes Air was going to count for a book published this year, but I'm going to have it be the category a book recommended by your child - since Hannah recommended it to me - and I will have this be the book published this year!!

I enjoyed Olive Kitteridge a lot, so that is what attracted this book to me, since it is by the same author.  However, it was quite a different book - and in fact I went to the library today to get earlier books by this author just to get more familiar with her.  Will let you know what I think.

My Name is Lucy Barton is very reflective - reflective in the sense that the woman - Lucy Barton - is reflecting on many different parts of her life.  Although the time frames jump around, it is easy to keep the thread.  The story is basically that of a woman who is in the hospital for 9 weeks - we never know exactly why - and her mother comes to visit her after a very long absence.  The story is very spare - but full anyway.  The richness of language is apparent in its sparseness.

I do wish I knew more about the woman and her life though.  Maybe that was the author's intent.

It might not appeal to everyone, but I found it compelling. 

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