"...Why didn't our neighbor leave that abusive man? Why did she spend her money on drugs? Why couldn't she see that her behavior was destroying her daughter? Why were all of these things happening not just to our neighbor but to my mom? It would be years before I learned that no single book, or expert, or field could fully explain the problems of hillbillies in modern America. Our elegy is a sociological one, yes, but it is also about psychology and community and culture and faith."
-J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (p.144)
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This morning I'm sitting here in the beautiful North Durham Library near my house. This side of the building has a wall of windows that allows us to look out at the sunshine and daffodils in their early bloom, just before cold weather returns this weekend. I've always loved libraries and I come here often. My first memory of a library is when we lived in Louisville, Kentucky. I was about 8 years old and loved getting "free" books to read and enjoy. I continued the trend with our own children as they grew up, and they both enjoy reading to this day. There is something about the smell of books that is unequaled anywhere. You probably know the feeling.
I had a nice surprise when I arrived here this morning. They have a long display of newer hardback books that we can check out for just one week. Yesterday I requested some books online, some of which I had to put on hold, but I found one of them here so I checked it out for just one week. So, I need to read A Man Called Ove very quickly, and then I'll get A Gentleman in Moscow. I read books pretty quickly anyway, so I'm not too worried about trying to read a book in one week. I'm pretty excited about this new program that the library is using.
A few days ago I finished reading J.D. Vance's book published in 2016, Hillbilly Elegy. He spent most of his early life in Middletown, Ohio, a town just about halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati. His grandparents were from Jackson, Kentucky, a small town in Eastern Kentucky where lower-class whites often had a very hard time making a living. Many of the people were, of course, coal miners, and they had little hope of doing much else with their lives. Vance's grandparents, people he calls "Mamaw and Papaw," left Jackson when they were teenagers. They heard there were good jobs up in Middletown, so they left home for the first time in the hopes of a better life. Mamaw was just 14 years old, and Papaw was 17, and they were expecting a baby. The company job in Middletown gav Papaw more opportunities so they were able to live a middle class lifestyle, own a home, and pay their bills. But their lives were so chaotic due to alcoholism, drug addiction, divorce, and more. Vance always thought of his grandparents as his primary guardians because his own mother wasn't really able to take care of him as she went in and out of prison, had several husbands, etc. Vance analyzes his life now that he is an adult, but he can't solve the problem that has plagued generations of hillbillies. He wonders how to stop the madness, as the quote above indicates, and yet he loved his family members very much. He was very close to Mamaw, even though she could cuss a sailor or pull a gun on somebody, because he knew that she loved him and wanted the best for him. He and Mamaw used to love to watch the movie "Terminator 2" together, and Mamaw say Schwarzenegger as the embodiment of the American Dream. She liked seeing an immigrant coming out on top, but Vance saw the movie more as a metaphor for his own life. He thought of Mamaw as his protector, keeper, and terminator, and she wouldn't let anyone harm him. With Mamaw, he knew he would be ok. After reading this warm hearted book, I can see why it's so popular. Today Vance and his wife are lawyers, and they definitely live the American Dream.
Another book that I finished this week is War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans. This historical novel was so good that I didn't want to put it down. It is translated from the Dutch and is dedicated to the author's father. The narrative is told from the perspective of the grandson, a man who found two notebooks that were kept by his grandfather, Urbain Martien, and he strives to understand the information that he learns. His grandfather was both an artist and a survivor of the atrocities of World War I. Martien grew up watching his poor, lowly father paint in churches, and he would often retouch his father's work. The speaker wants to understand his grandfather so that he can accept some things about himself as well. This book is so beautifully written and is worthy of being called a great novel. I encourage you to read it or something else written by Hertmans, an internationally acclaimed Flemish author.
I listened to a couple of books on CD in the past few weeks. I listened to a book set in England, The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson, and Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson. I've read another book by Simonson as well, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. The Summer Before the War is sort of a "Downton Abbey" type of a book, and the "class" of a person is as important as anything else. I enjoyed both of her books and found them to be fairly relaxing stories. Patterson's book set in New York is about a girl and her imaginary friend, Michael. She is a lonely only child, and she longs to feel loved so she turns to someone no one else can see for comfort. On her 9th birthday, Michael has to disappear, but she later encounters him again when she is an adult. It's a fun, easy book to listen to (only 5 CDs) so if you want some light reading, it's a pretty good one.
Well, there's so much to read and so little time, so I'll read A Man Called Ove and my Great Britain tour book in the coming week. I'm "reading up" on England and Ireland in preparation for a summer trip. Let me know what you're reading. Or, you can let me know what you'd like to read.
-Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.ongoodbookblog.blogspot.com
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