Beginnings ~ of a writer

Home Safe ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 2009, fiction, 8/10 (a very good book)

"One Saturday when she was nine years old, Helen Ames went into the basement, sat at the card table her mother used for folding laundry, and began writing.  She wrote about the flimsy heads of dandelions gone to seed, about the voices of her parents drifting from their bedroom at night, about the nest of coins she once found in a field of grass; then, finally, about the drowning death of one of her fourth-grade classmates in a pond thick with algae.  She had witnessed the attempted resuscitation, and certain images would not leave her:  the boy's striped shirt, his waterlogged pants, the yellow-green gunk in his hair, the Davy Crockett watch on his wrist still ticking.  From her vantage point, Helen could see the second hand going round and round, measuring something different, now, than the hours of a boy's life."

According to the next page, nothing helped "until the day she took a tablet and pencil into the basement and moved the event out of her and onto paper" (p. 4).  Helen becomes a writer -- and later teaches a writing class where she wants to tell one of the students that "moving her experience out of herself and into the open" (p. 223) is helpful.  And the same idea appears a third time, about another student:

"She had put into words a truth she needed to move outside of herself, in what she believed was a secretive way" (p. 233).

So the opening shares one of the book's themes with the reader, that putting words on paper helps a writer get past whatever is bugging her.  I liked even more the main character's feeling that she had to share things.  Here's why:

"For her, the taste of the ice cream, the red of the sunset, the humor in he movie must be shared to be" (p. 189).

I'll close this book-beginnings-turned-book-review by quoting my favorite line:

...books educate and inspire ... they soothe souls -- "like comfort food without the calories" (p. 229).

If you want to play along, this meme is hosted by Katy at A Few More Pages.  Share the first sentence or two of the book you are reading.  (Sometimes it takes several sentences to get the full thought.)  Then, share your impressions of that beginning.  Click this link to see what others say about the books they are reading this week.

Library Loot ~ and one library patron's choices

A library patron is someone who patronizes, or uses, a library.  When I check out books, the librarian tucks the list of books and due dates inside one of the books.  I keep finding these lists, left forgotten inside books I later check out.  When I checked out Until the Real Thing Comes Along, I discovered that its previous reader had checked out fifteen (15) books last August.  From her list (yes, I'm pretty sure the patron was a "she"), I could tell she is a mother and likes Elizabeth Berg's novels.  Here are the books she took home that day:

Home Safe ~ by Elizabeth Berg
Until the Real Thing Comes Along ~ by Elizabeth Berg
Durable Goods ~ by Elizabeth Berg

and a dozen (12) children's books, including

Toot and Puddle
Little Rabbit's New Baby
Arthur's Back to School
Arthur's Christmas Cookies

I'm guessing that patron has a couple of children, one barely in school and one preschooler.  And because of those three novels by Elizabeth Berg that she got for herself, I'd invite her to join Sheila's Berg Fest, if I knew who she was.  Here's my library loot I have not yet reported:


Welcome to the USA ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 1999, children's NF

An overview of the United States of America that includes information on geography, history, government, lifestyle, language, customs, and current issues.

Until the Real Thing Comes Along ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 1999, fiction

Patty Murphy is facing that pivotal point in a woman's life when her biological clock ticks as insistently as a beating heart. Will she find Mr. Right and start a family? But Patty is in love--with a man who is not only attractive and financially sound, but sensitive and warmhearted. There's just one small problem: He is also gay.

The Art of Mending ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 2004, fiction

It begins with the sudden revelation of astonishing secrets—secrets that have shaped the personalities and fates of three siblings, and now threaten to tear them apart.  Unearthed truths force one seemingly ordinary family to reexamine their disparate lives and to ask themselves: Is it too late to mend the hurts of the past?

Library Loot is a weekly meme co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.  Marg has the Mister Linky this week, if you'd like to share a list of the loot you brought home.

Open House ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 2000

I'm always interested in how a book gets its title, but some of Elizabeth Berg's novels are still mysteries in that respect, even after I've read them.  I look at the list of titles and can't remember what some of the books are about.  However, I have a vivid image relating to an open house, based on this:

"Back in the bedroom, I stand by the window, arms crossed, looking out.  No one is on the street.  No one is ever on the street.  Everyone stays inside.  I wonder what they're all doing, if anyone is acting as lost as I am.  What would happen if you could lift the roof -- make for a real open house -- and look inside?  What would you see?  Surely some of the behavior would be no odder than mine" (pp. 195-196).

Can't you see it?  No people are in the photo I found to illustrate this idea, but it gives me ideas about the people who live there.  I do like the way Berg writes, like this, for example:

"I save his confidence in me as though his words were silver dollars, knotted in a silk scarf and kept hidden in a dresser drawer" (p. 99).

And I learn things from this author.  This one also makes me laugh.

"Stress hormones get released when you cry, that's why it works.  It's amazing how smart the body is.  Though maybe we could do without loving.  I think it's overrated, and I think it's too hard.  You should only love your children; that is necessary, because otherwise you might kill them.  But to love a man?  It's overrated, and it's too hard and I will never, ever do it again" (p. 14).

It does make you want to keep reading, doesn't it?  Open House ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 2000, fiction, 7/10 (a good book).

Berg Fest

 

Sheila of Book Journey has invited us to join her in a Berg Fest between February 10 - March 11, 2011.  I've already started.  Here are Sheila's rules:

• Read (or listen to) a book by Elizabeth Berg.
• Link your reviews to her Mister Linky, so others can read them.
• Each review counts towards a drawing on March 11th, where one Participant will win a Berg book of choice, as long as it is available on Amazon (three reviews mean three entries).

I read several books by Elizabeth Berg long before I had a book blog, so I plan to re-read as many as possible in order to write reviews.  Sheila says old reviews of books by Elizabeth Berg count, so I already have two links on the list of Berg's books.  (I wonder how many I can complete in a month.)

BOOK LIST

1992, Family Traditions. nonfiction
1993, Durable Goods, fiction
1994, Talk Before Sleep, fiction
1995, Range of Motion, fiction
1996, The Pull of the Moon, fiction, 8/10
1997, Joy School, fiction
1998, What We Keep, fiction
1999, Until the Real Thing Comes Along, fiction
2000, Open House, fiction
2000, Escaping into the Open, nonfiction
2001, Never Change, fiction
2002, True to Form, fiction, 7/10
2003, Say When, fiction
2004, The Art of Mending, fiction
2005, The Year of Pleasures, fiction, 9.5/10
2006, The Handmaid and the Carpenter, fiction, 8/10
2006, We Are All Welcome Here, fiction
2007, Dream When You're Feeling Blue, fiction, 6/10
2008, The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted, stories
2009, Home Safe, fiction, 8/10
2010, The Last Time I Saw You, fiction, 7/10