Book Chatter

Sunday Matters

This past week I’ve noticed more progress in my recovery journey. It feels great but it always takes me by surprise. For instance, I hosted book club at my house this past week. We take turns and it was my turn this month. I was a little nervous, to be honest, because I had not hosted since my brain surgery and I was a little freaked out about it.

BUT, it went swimmingly. The weather cooperated, we sat outside, had good food and a great discussion. As I sat there I thought about how far I’ve come since the surgery and it made me so happy! These types of milestones are huge!

Right Now:

No student ministry today because they leave for camp. This means my weekend is wide open. I really need to do some purging. Things just piled up around me these last few months.

This Week:

I don’t have anything planned for this week. I need to write-up a couple of reviews but that’s it.

I’m finishing up King’s new one, You Like It Darker. Overall, I am enjoying it. It’s really fun to listen to on my commute.

My next read is House of Cotton.

House of Cotton

Grateful for:

Quiet moments. Sometimes, my head gets loud. Do you know what I mean? The constant self-chatter, the reminders to do this or that, the worries that sneak in, etc. So when I have a quiet moment I really sink into it. Especially now, post surgery. I force myself to slow down and it’s a good thing.

Census
By Jesse Ball
Ecco Press,9780062676146, 2019, 272 pp.

The Short of It:

A quiet, complex story about the love between a father and his son.

The Rest of It:

A widower is told by his doctor that he doesn’t have long to live. As a doctor himself, he takes this information in but then immediately thinks about how his special-needs son will survive without him. Who will the boy live with? Who could take this responsibility on?

As the man ponders this, he sets himself up as a census taker. A door-to-door census taker. One who will travel from town to town and record its inhabitants. He believes this road trip is what he and his son needs. Time together, in the car, going door to door. One last trip.

Census has been called a dystopian sci-fi. If you dig deep, you can see it. A census taker, applying permanent tattoos on the citizens he encounters, nameless towns that are only represented by a letter of the alphabet. Strange people. Often quirky and then the way this man deals with his own impending death. There is a lot to take apart.

The author set out to write a story that would honor his brother who had Down Syndrome. A brother who passed away. Although the boy’s affliction in this story is not mentioned specifically, the reader is well aware that he is special needs. But did the author succeed in honoring the brother he lost? I think the author believes so. The way in which the boy is drawn, the interactions he has with strangers, and the bond he holds with his father speaks to something but not Down Syndrome specifically.

What I enjoyed while reading this book is how different it was from past reads. It was unique but not overly so. Really, a quiet story that moves you along slowly. Occasionally beautiful prose. Ball is a poet and you can sense that in his writing. I enjoyed the quiet moments that the father and son shared.

I didn’t agree with the ending, even though the story opens with the ending. It should not have been a surprise to me but it left me a little unsettled. That said, I am glad I read it and I would happily read another story by Ball. He’s written nine novels!

Source: Borrowed

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