Book Chatter

Homecoming Book Cover

Homecoming
By Bernhard Schlink
Knopf Doubleday
January 2009 (reprint)
272pp

Here’s the blurb from the publisher:

A child of World War II, Peter Debauer grew up with his mother and scant memories of his father, a victim of war. Now an adult, Peter embarks upon a search for the truth surrounding his mother’s unwavering—but shaky—history and the possibility of finding his missing father after all these years. The search takes him across Europe, to the United States, and back: finding witnesses, falling in and out of love, chasing fragments of a story and a person who may or may not exist. Within a maze of reinvented identities, Peter pieces together a portrait of a man who uses words as one might use a change of clothing, as he assumes a new guise in any given situation simply to stay alive.The chase leads Peter to New York City, where he hopes to find the real person behind the disguises.

The Short of It:

I liked it, but I didn’t like it and if this brief statement makes absolutely no sense to you, then read on.

The Rest of It:

Homecoming is one of those novels that is a story, within a story. I usually love these types of books. A book about a book? I’m there. BUT, this one promised to be an adventure and for me, it sort of petered out halfway through. As Peter heads out on his quest to find the truth, the story starts to get a bit muddy and then I started to skim, and then I was completely lost. By the end, I thought I had a pretty good grasp of what happened, but after thinking about it for a day or two, I realize that I really have no clue.

To his credit, Schlink’s characters are lovely. I liked them very much and felt as if I really got to know them. If it weren’t for the strong characters I probably would have given up on the book because it just didn’t grab me as much as I expected it to. The ending was very strange too. Almost surreal at one point. It didn’t seem to fit the rest of the story.

Homecoming is my book club’s pick for this month so I’m hoping that the discussion on Thursday will shed some light on what exactly happened there at the end. Have any of you read it? If so, what did you think of it?

Source: Checked out from the library.

It’s Independence Day here in the U.S. Also known as the Fourth of July. On this day, back in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted. These days, we celebrate it with a day off from work (for most of us), cook-outs and fireworks. The weather in Southern California is not cooperating though…

The View from my Front Door

The view from my front door is a gloomy one. Yesterday was sunny, and about 80 degrees, which is cool for this time of year. Today, it’s overcast and drizzly. Most of it will burn off (I think) but fireworks typically won’t happen with this much haze in the sky.

Our plans? Well, we normally head out to see the city’s firework’s display but this year we are avoiding the crowds and plan to just hang out in our own backyard. Fireworks are not legal where we are, but someone ALWAYS obtains them illegally so there is usually something to see. We are going to BBQ some teriyaki burgers & make smores.

As for the reading pickle I mentioned…

I am in the middle of reading several books right now. I am re-reading The Stand, which most of you already know about. I am really enjoying it but it’s an epic that demands my attention so although I am reading it along with three other books, I find myself having to go back to it more than the others. It’s sort of hard to switch gears between all of the books because they are all so different.

The other books are The Space Between Us, which I am reading for Lisa’s read-along, and Homecoming which I am reading for book club. All good, but my attention span is that of a gnat these days, so the brain is working hard trying to give each the attention they deserve. Balance is still something I strive for when it comes to reading. I can’t seem to find it. I either have way too much to read, or not enough.

On a personal note, the Boy’s grounding has ended so he may once again walk amongst society. He won’t get his computer back until school starts though. Many of you asked about him so you’ll be happy to know that he survived his offense, but just barely. I sure hope he learned his lesson.

Right now The Hub is fixing my brake light (the jerk at the oil change place loosened it to make a buck) and I am about to jump back into one of those books. I wish you all a happy and safe Fourth of July!

Chatting with friends about books and life…