Reub's journey

31 May 2013

Salt Water

Considering how many books get devoured around here, it's surprising that I've never written a book review. Oh, unless you count swooning over YA fiction The Hunger Games, (more than once) yeah I guess that might count.

Then Armchair Squid started Cephalopod Coffeehouse, saying all you have to do is write a review of the best book you read in May and publish it on May 31. The details are here. The other participants are probably all super smart and very literate, so this could prove to be a daunting task. However, impressed by the the completely irrelevant tidbit that Mr. Squid's wife is a devoted fellow fan of Benedict Cumberbatch,  I am encouraged to jump in. 



Early this month I read Salt Water, by Charles Simmons,  a former editor of the New York Times Book Review. This little book-a mere 176 pages-was published in 1998, the year John and I both switched jobs and moved from Alabama to Oregon, a year when there was almost no time to read. What made me choose it a decade and a half later was:

1. It's a coming-of-age novel, told in the voice of a 15 year old boy, 35 years after the fact.
2. The author won a PEN Faulkner award for fiction.
3. The story is set in a time that's not-now.
4. Somewhere it was called "luminous." I should keep a list of the books that are described  with this adjective. It would surely number in the thousands.
5. At only $1.99 it wasn't a big risk.


Salt Water is a gem of a book. I didn't realize it was a re-telling of an old classic, although the opening quote was a clue that one should also read Turgenev's novella:

 "WELL, THAT'S AGREED THEN," HE SAID, SETTLING HIMSELF INTO AN ARMCHAIR AND LIGHTING A CIGAR. "EACH OF US IS TO TELL THE STORY OF HIS FIRST LOVE. IT'S YOUR TURN, SERGEY NIKOLAICH."
--Ivan Turgenev, "First Love," 1860



What I love about Charles Simmon's writing is its spareness. There isn't a single unnecessary word. The first sentence describes the skeleton of the entire book:

In the summer of 1963 I fell in love and my father drowned.

You continue to read this sad tale, knowing the ending after just a few words at the start.  The book's languid atmosphere belies a tense undercurrent that keeps you going. The story contains a philanderer, and a mother-daughter set of femme fatales. There's a sailboat and a couple of dogs, the beach, cigarettes,  martinis, and a mother-father-son relationship under pressure. America hasn't lost its innocence to the assassination of a president, but it is very close, a summer vacation in 1963. The atmosphere is so thick that you can feel it closing in around you.

Whaa, now I feel like re-reading it. Why not? It's short!




28 comments:

  1. Benedict Cumberbatch, again! Geez, what *is* it with that dude?

    Okay, sorry, had to get that out. Now. Onto your book choice.

    Your number four made me smile.

    1963 is a very peculiar year in our history. It's like a sleeping volcano that's about to spew not just lava but an entire new landscape with almost no rumblings seconds before. Did you ever watch the movie 'That Thing You Do?' It's set in 1962 or '63 and there's a scene at a talent show where you can see all these musical trends converging and splitting and representing tides in the greater culture. It's such an unassuming flick but I love it for the moment in time I believe it accurately captures (with tremendous sweetness.) There is an innocence, there. It's tenuous and those forces which would always seek to ravage that innocence are as predatory as ever but I love a book or a film that manages to keep them at bay. ('Luminous' or no.)

    Enjoy reading it again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I might fall for anybody named Benedict Cumberbatch...that name alone!

      I wish they'd find another adjective besides luminous & I hate it that I often like "luminous" books.

      Must now see That Thing You Do. I wonder if I can find it stream-able on Netflix.

      Stories set in the early 60's hold a sort of fascination for all of the reasons that you describe: so much going on then, in the months before the country lost its innocence and then plunged into Vietnam. Wow.

      Delete
    2. Not streaming on netflix, damn.

      Delete
  2. i adore Benedict .. cant wait to see him in Star Trek and i await the next Sherlocks with great anticipation .. he is hot

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't he an amazing Sherlock??? So weird and intense.

      Delete
  3. That Benedit crush is a potent thing...

    Nothing hooks the reader quite like a great opening sentence and a great story can withstand the foreshadowing. Right now, I'm quite deeply involved in a student production of Romeo & Juliet. The entire story is given away in the opening prologue. The glory is left to the execution, be it Shakespeare or, I take it, Charles Simmons.

    Thank you for participating, Kerry! I'll hope June's link list up tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks AS, this was fun.

      I didn't realize you were involved in theater. How true it is that Shakespeare let's us know right off the bat what's about to happen and then pulls off an amazing story. I've seen several renditions of Romeo & Juliet, and this play never fails to rivet me.

      Delete
    2. I'm a music teacher by training but I've gotten much more closely involved with our middle school drama program over the past two years. Technically, I'm co-director for this show. It's amazing to see students come to the material for the first time. Naturally, they're bewildered at first but helping them unlock the mysteries within the language has been most gratifying.

      Delete
    3. If you were anywhere near here, I'd come and watch. Heck, maybe even help with props. I'm a retired middle school art teacher.

      Delete
  4. It sound both spare and emotionally lush: nice choice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All wrapped up in a small package, a pretty good trick.

      Delete
  5. Squealing with glee! I've got to download a sample of this one. Yikes, hope it's available as an e-book. :/ Sounds delightful and I love the way you described it, especially the part about no unnecessary words. Some of these authors go on and on describing one simple little scene, then I lose patience. I'm a get-to-the-point kinda gal! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The simpler the writing, the more quickly I find myself drawn in. Oh I hope you like it!

      Delete
  6. Yay! It's still $1.99 and is an e-book. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. That is a very nice book review and I like Gail Dixon telling us it is $1.99 in an e-book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, thanks Gail! I forgot to say that I read it as an e-book for $1.99 myself!

      Delete
  8. This is a fantastic book review. Now that you did it, I think all book reviews ought to contain the first sentence: it tells you so much, doesn't it? Will definitely add this to my reading list.

    I am a Benedict fan, too. And since y'all will appreciate this, he is a friend of a friend. (Two degrees of Benedict separation: squeeee!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A friend of a friend! No way. Does that make me just 3 degrees away?

      I keep a list of the books I read & always write down the 1st sentence. It helps me remember things in a way that the title by itself doesn't, dunno why.

      Delete
  9. um...what does it say about me that i have zero idea who benedict cumberbund is? i'm a little afraid...

    lovelovelove new book ideas. just finished a re-read of gatsby so i can see the movie (still here in small town appalachia. wait - does that maybe have something to do with my aforementioned ignorance???)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :)Cumberbatch. Benedict Cumberbatch:)

      It just means you aren't watching enough tv ("Sherlock") or going to enough movies ("Atonement," "Star Trek: Into Darkness") I haven' seen most of his movies either!

      Did you like Gatsby? I read it sooo long ago. I'd like to see the movie.

      Delete
  10. It sounds intriguing AND it's short....I'm adding it to my summer reading,list!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Books that are intriguing and long end up further down my list. :)

      Delete
  11. Benedict is so dreamy! This book sounds really good and you can't beat the price for an e-book.

    Melissa Ann at My Creatively Random Life

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. $1.99 is hard to beat for a good read. I still prefer "real" books, but the eReader is great for traveling & overindulging in books for which there is no shelf space.

      Delete
  12. Ok, you sold me, too. I love good, spare prose, except it makes me jealous that I can't write that well :-) Thanks for the recommendation.

    Jenny at Choice City Native

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha Jenny, I know what you mean. Writers who can do this make it look so easy, and it isn't, not at all.

      Delete
  13. I'll have to look for it at my local library.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know I was too lazy to look into the library option. For $1.99 it seemed easier to download it. But I still prefer to read real books. Time for a visit to the library.

      Delete

Talk to me.