Two Books

I read 2 quick and easy books this week. The first book was "Body Surfing" by Anita Shreve. I have read several of the Shreve books and I liked this one too. Shreve writes in a manner similar to the progress of a rowboat. Her paragraphs are apart and distinct from each other. There seems to be extra space between each paragraphs. The writing in each paragraph thrusts the story forward like a rower propels a boat. Then the reader glides along in their own head for a short time before another paragraph comes pushing along. I find myself being very relaxed when I read her writing. This story is about a woman who is tutoring for the summer and how her presence innocently upsets and turns around the lives of everyone in the family. It's a good book. I always like stories about people and relationships. After all, aren't our relationships the most important thing in our lives?











My next story was a classic by a most manly writer, Ernest Hemingway. He writes about relationships too but these people are carrying guns and shooting wild animals in Africa about a hundred years ago. His stories contain dialogue but what is said is less important than what is not said. His descriptions of the savanna, the trees, and the riverbanks brought me right back on my trip to the Masai Mara park - across the Mara river from the Serengeti. Where I stayed in a van or a fenced lodge, never once stepping into the nature preserves, Hemingway stayed in tents and jeeps and walked in the wilderness. I can't imagine the danger and the excitement. Sometimes, when walking around my neighborhood, I get a little freaked out coming upon a group of white-tailed deer. If Bambi can scare me, I can't imagine walking in the African savanna. Hemingway of course, carried a manly gun but even that wouldn't be enough for me. He describes shooting a African buffalo and the bullets striking the horns and glancing off leaving little chips of horn to fly in the air. According to Hemingway, when you shoot a buffalo, you should aim up the nose because the horns protect the brain pan better than a helmet protects the armed forces. I do not enjoy shooting wildlife but I did enjoy this collection of short stories.