Escapist? I suppose so. But a good story can be instructive and can touch parts that are deeply hidden and close to the heart. The novels that have affected me this way are often simple stories with a strong sense of place.
Of course I'm now trying to remember some novels that affected me that way. Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Dreams was one; Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson was another. There are others (many others actually) but while I remember the feeling of being totally absorbed and some details of the story I can't remember the titles.
What novels have touched you deeply?
snow falling on cedars - i was gone!!! steven
ReplyDeleteAnything by Barbara Kingsolver, I find, is absorbing.
ReplyDeleteRecently, I entered the world of "The Help" by Cathryn Stockett. Part of the fascination was the time culture being so different - yet also strangely familiar.
There are so many novels I have enjoyed over the years.
A book that has stayed with me was "Still Life With Chickens"
ReplyDeleteIt was a small book about how a wife became a single Mum, leaving a posh town and started a new life with her daughter and the chickens she bribed the daughter with for the move, to a smaller not so posh town and run down home just down the road.
But any town that sell bait from a vending machine is OK by me !
I was going through the same thing, divorce with children, major move only my chickens were Scotties. Only difference was her husband was understanding unlike mine who was smug and condescending.
It is a small book, easy reading and quite lovely about life friends and chickens. I also learned quite a bit about the care of the crazy chickens. If I didn't live in an area with so many predators I would have chickens ! but it is hard enough keeping my Scotties safe ! so no chickens for me.
Love the artwork on your book, going to look it up right now.
Great post again....
cheers, parsnip
It's so easy to lose yourself in a good book. Great post. I’m stopping by from the A to Z challenge and I look forward to reading more from you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments.
ReplyDeleteSteven, Guterson's "Snow Falling..." was so very engaging, but I had trouble getting into his next novel.
Stephanie I'll look that book up. Sounds interesting.
Parsnip, I read "Still Life with Chickens" last year and really enjoyed it. It made me think about having chickens too--until I thought better of it with the two border collies! I think you're going to enjoy Barbara Kingsolver's book.
Sylvia, thanks for stopping by. I'll return the compliment.
So many books, so little time... I've read and enjoyed both books you mentioned. I like short stories, too, and Alice Walker is hard to beat (Too Much Happiness). I also liked Lisa Genova's, Still Alice - a fiction about alzheimer disease. Lisa Bell's memoir, Claiming Ground, is wonderful, too. (See - I can't pick just one!)
ReplyDeleteSooo many: Still Alice, Her Sister's Keeper, Never Let Me Go, The Handmaid's Tale, To Kill a Mockingbird....
ReplyDeleteStopping by from the A to Z Challenge
My most recent book which was truly absorbing was The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. It goes by a different name in the U.S, Australia and N.Z. but that's its title here in Canada.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visit to my blog. Always nice to see a new face drop by. :)
I forgot so many books I have enjoyed but on writer who I so got caught up in and had to read other books by her was Amy Tan. The first book I read of hers was The Joy Luck Club.
ReplyDeletecheers, parsnip
Thanks everyone for the responses. Some of these books I've read (Joy Luck Club, The Book of Negroes, Still Alice, Her Sister's Keeper, The Handmaids Tale) and some I haven't. Usually when I like a novel I then devour everything else by that author. As Barbara says: so many books, so little time!
ReplyDelete