Books I Read in 2024
* = Stars (rating)
#1 - Once Upon A River - 5*
Bonnie Jo Campbell
I liked Once Upon A River a lot. The main character, Margo Crane, is really interesting to get to know. The story follows her as she is growing up from around the age of 15 to 19 on and near the Stark River and then the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. There’s a line drawing map on the first page and I just love maps at the beginning of a book like that. Almost all the novels by Wendell Berry have maps like that. And the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Margo lives with her dad in what sounds like a kind of compound, or at least a bunch of houses close by each other and the river, in a town named after the family in most of the homes, Murrayville. In an early chapter, Margo’s dad is killed and Margo starts on her life of finding places to live on her own and sometimes with other characters on and near the river. She idolizes Annie Oakley and works to become a sharpshooter like her. She hunts and practices shooting, finding a peace in the act of laying her cheek against the rifle, aiming, and shooting. A lot of the story is in her mind. She processes things slowly and internally so she doesn’t talk much. Even when she’s with someone, she’s alone in her mind. I see there’s a movie based on the book and I’m curious how they’ll portray her rich inner life.
Margo’s mother abandons Margo and her dad before the novel begins. Throughout the book, Margo is looking for and then finding her mother, who keeps saying she is “in a delicate situation” and it’s not a good time for Margo to be with her. Her mom turns out to be, from what I perceive, a rather selfish, shallow person more interested in her looks and possessions than Margo or others. But the book holds out hope for her at some time in the future.
I liked getting to know Margo and learning about her self-sufficient means of living near the river. The other characters, too, are interesting to get to know. I like the way she experiences different kinds of grace and love from different people.
I blogged a quote in an earlier post. Wonderful writing!
#2 - Brooklyn - 4*
Colm Toibin
Brooklyn was a good story and very well written, but I didn’t like the ending. It’s the story of a young woman from a small town in Ireland who goes to Brooklyn with the help of an Irish priest who emigrated there. At first I worried there’d be sexual abuse or something, but there was not. I think it’s set sometime in the ‘50’s and the Irish girl, named Eilus, gets a job in a department store and takes courses to become a bookkeeper so she can get an office job. She falls in love with an Italian boy. I guess I shouldn’t give away much more. It’s a good story, as I said. I enjoyed reading about her and the other characters in her life—her mom, sister, brothers, landlord, Irish friends, and so on. Her life getting over her homesickness and settling in to her American life was interesting and engaging. Eilus was a good character with a rich inner life. A lot of people liked the book and I do think the writing and story were excellent. I just gave it a 4 rather than a 5 because the ending wasn’t what I wished it would be. It’s a realistic ending and all, so it’s just a personal preference. If you’re considing the book, I recommend reading others’ opinions besides mine.