A good friend and I have become book pen pans: we read things, then mail them to each other. It pretty much rules. This book was one she sent to me, with the caveat that it was pretty sad. I struggled through it and put it down many times, but by the time I was done, it was like swallowing unpleasant medicine: good for you in the long run, though a bit hard to get down.
This is a quiet novel about life and death in middle America in the 1950s. John Ames is a preacher at the end of his long life, sad to leave a young wife and son behind. He is collecting his thoughts to leave for his son, once he is gone, so that he can at least live on and impart wisdom to his son.
With that as the set-up, it is a weary read, as you are basically meandering through the whole of a man’s life that although there were happy times, was fraught with loneliness, missed opportunities, and small regrets. Heavily spiritual doesn’t typically catch my attention, but I’m glad my friend recommended it as it is a thoughtful and heavy book, which is good food for thought every now and then.
