2003 Year in Review

Three Junes

Dear Readers:

I read a lot and it is sometimes difficult to "nail down" my favorite book of the month. This month I have two recommendations: fiction and non-fiction.

My fiction "favorite" for November is the Three Junes by Julia Glass. Ms. Glass was awarded the 2002 National Book Award for this book and she well deserves it. Unlike The DaVinci Code, last month's "favorite", this book is character-driven and not plot-driven. Set in various locales, Greece, rural Scotland, Greenwich Village in NYC, and the Hamptons, Julia Glass's tale is a narrative of the McLeod family during "thee Junes" within a decade. Many emotions run through this novel, which essentially deals with human complexity and how people shape one another, deliberately and sometimes by chance. Depicting the mysterious twists of fate and coincidences that bring people together and lack of communication that can keep them apart, Ms.Glass's book demonstrates, through her vital and very human characters, love in its many forms: between husband and wife, between lovers, between people and animals, between parents and children. Always this love is the force that moves her characters, the McLeods' lives.

The novel is broken into three segments. Paul McLeod, the widowed father of the family, travels to Greece where he meets a young American artist and tells her the secret sorrows of his marriage. Six years later, Paul's death reunites his sons at the family home in Scotland, where Fenno, the eldest aloof son, must make a choice that places him in the family's future. Fenno, who had escaped to America, runs a book shop filled with books and birdwatching gear. He believes himself free from all emotional entanglements. During the last June, Fenno meets Fern, the young artist his father had met in Greece.

I greatly enjoyed this book and became attached to the characters, their lives, hopes and fears, as they learned to live and overcome overwhelming grief and betrayal. Paul, Fenno, his brothers, and Fern were all deeply detailed. This truly is a tale of family ties, both those we're born into and those we make.

The non-fiction recommendation is Harold Bloom's Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds. Bloom is a prominent and best-selling literary critic who looks at the concept of genius through the ages in a celebration of the greatest creative writers. Bloom defines the genius and "fleshes out" this writer through his discussion. Authors are in groups of five with a brief introduction explaining why the writers are associated with one another. From the Bible to Socrates, Shakespeare, and Hemingway, Bloom offers revealing excerpts from their works. His analysis of the poetry, drama, and narratives, expands the readers' mind into thinking about literature and an appreciation of these great works of art. I think this would be a great discussion book and a great coffee table book to pick up and read on occasion.

Lastly, a friend from the Quad Cities who has read The DaVinci Code told me there have been discussion evenings centered on this book and the questions it raises. A great idea!!

by Anne Frame, Guest Columnist
October 28, 2003