Some of My Favorite Books

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The Hour I First Believed -- Wally Lamb writes another winner

SPOILER ALERT:  This entry contains details of the book 
you may not want to know if you haven't read the book.

Book Read:  The Hour I First Believed
Author:  Wally Lamb
ISBN:  978-0-06-039349-6

When all is said and done, this book was a pleasurable read. The first part was about the fictional character, Maureen, a part-time nurse at Columbine High School, and the shootings there by Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris in April 1999. The second part was all about the aftermath of Caelum and Maureen Quirk's lives after her version of the ordeal. Hell on earth, I'd say. And it just kept getting worse.

It was an interesting study of cause and effect, how different people deal with the same situation. And talk about a couple of people with a string of bad luck. Good grief. Between Caelum's drinking, avoidance, family history that gets unearthed by a woman he has a fling with, and Maureen's inability to cope with life after the Columbine tragedy, her drug abuse, subsequent manslaughter charge and then imprisonment and finally untimely death, the book keeps the reader turning the page.

But maybe it should be subtitled:  If It Weren't For Bad Luck, They'd Have No Luck at All. Lamb likes to use song lyrics as book titles after all.

And in the end, it is hopeful and shows that a life can turn around even after decades of despair.

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