Skip to main content

Book 12: Brian's Return, by Gary Paulson

Finished April 16, 2002


I love that feeling of complete integration when I'm listening to a podcast or audiobook and I get so fascinated that I have to pull over and park, and listen with all my being. It's like a feeling of falling in, but pleasantly so. 

That happened today with a sequel to a book in which it had happened before. The first book, Hatchet, concerned a 13-year-old boy named Brian who must survive in the Canadian Rockies when his small plane crash lands. Hatchet contained several scenes in which I "fell in." The sequel (one of several sequels), Brian's Return, contained a poignant scene in which Brian has an experience reading Shakespeare that changes his life.

In the story, Brian's friend had recommended that he take a few -- just a few -- books with him when he went back to his beloved forest. He recommended Shakespeare and told Brian to read slowly and out loud. Feeling a little silly, Brian does one day, as he waits for his clothes to dry. 

Anyone who has experienced the wonder of being taken by surprise by a book knows the feeling described in this scene. I've experienced this when trying to wring the meaning from a difficult passage, or being overcome by a description or a scene, or finding a special connection with a story, a character, an author. A light suddenly comes on in Brian's head as he reads. New understanding dawns in his mind, connecting him to the author, another human who lived hundreds of years before him, and the deeper meaning of the text touches Brian profoundly. 

I parked the car, riveted to the story. Peter Coyote, the actor who narrates Paulson's Brian stories, strikes me as someone who knows this feeling. There ought to be a word for it. Absorption isn't quite right, because it misses the emotional quality that's key. Anyway, he read this magical passage with the tenderness it deserved. Listening with reverence, I let the scene wash over me. I cried, blew my nose, and cried some more. It was glorious. 

Paulson is a vivid and engaging author, and I have enjoyed the three books of his that I have read. I look forward to reading them to my grandchildren, and weeping again. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book 40: A Higher Call, by Adam Makos

 Finished October 29, 2022 The subtitle of this book is, "The Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II" and the book does not disappoint.  Painstakingly recreated by author Adam Makos, this story is lovingly told, introducing new generations to the miraculous story of an American pilot and his German savior.  A Higher Call   tells the story about  Franz Stigler , a German  fighter ace  of the  Luftwaffe  who flew a  Messerschmitt Bf 109 , and  Charlie Brown , a 21-year-old American pilot of a  Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress  named 'Ye Old Pub'.  Five days before Christmas in 1943, the Ye Old Pub was involve in a bombing mission over Germany. It was a mission that experienced severe casualties, and the Ye Old Pub took on extensive damage. One engine was out. The tail was missing parts which made navigation very difficult. The nose cone was obliterated, which brought the frigid win...
Post a Comment
Read more

Book 44: Live Not by Lies, by Richard Dreher

  Date Finished: December 6, 2022 One of the most powerful and life-changing books I've ever written.
Post a Comment
Read more

Book 10: The Less People Know About Us, by Axton Betz-Hamilton

  Finished March 14, 2022 This memoir chronicles the author's identity theft story, which involved a dysfunctional childhood, a passive yet faithful father, and a self-absorbed mother who sacrificed everything and everyone on the alter of her own self-involved fantasies.  This poor girl managed to emerge fairly normal (other than the fact that she doesn't live with her husband for large chunks of the year). She managed to forgive her mother, stay close to her father, and finish her education. Sadly, she does not plan to have children, which is understandable, given her mother's attitudes toward her own child (her mother went to her 30th high school reunion and never mentioned she had a daughter; and mentioned in a Facebook message that the worst day of her life was the first day her husband left her in the house with the baby). This is normal for narcissistic personality types, because raising a child with love requires that you put the child first, which is hell for people...
Post a Comment
Read more