Sep 14
Something never done
So, today I did something I’ve never done before… I read an entire book in one day. I’ve stayed up a few nights to read a few books, but I’ve never read an entire book from early morning to early evening.
I’ve been a fan of Jonathan Carroll for a long time. Way back in 2006ish he was kind enough to send me a copy of one his books, White Apples, when ebooks were kind of, not really, but maybe, a thing. Of the not a bunch of ebooks available, White Apples wasn’t among them, I’m not one to wait around for an industry to catch up with my desires, so I asked and he sent. A few writers have done the same for me over the years, I’m always a little surprised and a lot grateful.
Anyway, this morning I was looking for something just to start reading after finishing Maplecroft (which was spectacular, review forthcoming) last night, and I decided on Kissing the Beehive by said Jonathan Carroll. I went a few pages and I just didn’t stop, I read until it was done. I think part of it was because for Carroll, it was such a strange book, strange in that it had absolutely no elements of magic realism. His books start out real enough, then all of a sudden the main character’s dog starts talking to a ghost, yet the talking dog and some ghost don’t make the story feel any less “real.” He writes with such confidence, the introduction of the weird is so matter-of-fact that you just accept, oh, of course, dogs talk… to ghosts. In Beehive, there’s a found corpse, a grouchy dog, but the corpse’s ghost doesn’t show up to have a conversation with the dog. Some odd things happen, you think, the dead girl’s coming back, just a few more pages… but no. I’m not saying it was a bad book, I was obviously engaged, I was simply surprised that it was really just a small town mystery. A solidly, sometimes beautifully written story about a thirty year-old small-town mystery.
At any rate, if you’re looking for an entertaining Sunday read, try Kissing the Beehive.
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You always say how you can’t write anymore, but your book reviews are awesome. Your reviews of books I wouldn’t think about reading, make me want to read them. 🙂
First and only time I have ever done this was back in junior high with C.S. Lewis’s “The Great Divorce.” Started reading it that morning and used every waking moment of the day to just keep plowing through; it completely captivated me.
Oddly enough, I remember all these moments from that day even though the weeks and months surrounding it have all blurred together. Midway through the book, I would look around at, say, the way the sun diffused through that one tree’s leaves and branches, utterly amazed at what I was reading yet unaware that now I was going to take that glimpse of a tree along with me through the years just as surely as the memory of the thrill of reading that book all in one day.