And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

 

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer – by Fredrik Backman

I confess that I’m never thrilled about the idea of a book publisher releasing a novella that’s about 75 pages in hardback form that costs the consumer around $16.  Take the illustrations out of this book, you’ve got about 50 pages of a story that can easily be read in about 30 minutes. Gripes aside, this was a very sweet, touching, and somewhat sad story. It packs a lot into those 50 pages.  I imagine that this would be a good book for people in book clubs to read and discuss.  I’m betting those discussions could take hours. There’s a lot to unpack in this brief, wonderful tale. In many ways, one wishes the story could have been fleshed out a bit more, but it works just fine as is.

This is a story about a grandfather and his young grandson, Noah.  They have a special relationship that many other grandparents have with their grandchildren if they’re lucky. “Grandpa” is getting old, and things aren’t as clear as they were before his brain started to wither. This makes our story a bit unusual since we’re reading the story from the point of view of someone who isn’t quite all there anymore.  Some have argued that this story is confusing, yet I didn’t feel that way at all. It should be a given that when one is losing some of his senses near the end of his life, “confusion” is more or less the norm.  So, yes, we’re viewing the world from Grandpa’s point of view, but I never once felt lost.

In many ways this book is a gentle reminder that we should never take our life, or the ones around us, for granted. We don’t really have much time here on Earth, and sadly, most of us don’t realize that until we’re in our twilight of life. We actually learn a lot about Grandpa’s life and those who he was closest with during his days.  Like most, Grandpa made some mistakes, yet managed to hold on to the people that he loved and who loved him in return.  I can’t help but wonder that when and if I’m in the same predicament as Grandpa, what will my memories be like?  Will I be able to look back at my years with comfort? Sadness? Shame? Happiness?

I think this is really the point of such a short, yet fascinating tale. Whether or not it was Fredrik Backman’s intention, he seems to imply somewhat subtlety that while we’re alive on Earth, we should make the best of what we have and love all of those around us because time is short. We shouldn’t be angered by silly things and be thankful in the areas where we truly have been blessed.  Grandpa, my guess, is probably average in terms of how he lived and loved during his life, and his current state of mind seems to be able to allow him to forgive himself for the times where he probably should have been a bit more kind and loving.

You just might shed a tear while reading this.  And, yes, find a group of friends to read and discuss; especially if you’re in the fourth quarter of your life.

 

Beartown

 

Beartown – by Fredrik Backman

I’ve never quite understood how some people can be so fanatically devoted to sports. I guess it’s one thing to be a major sports fan of a professional team with a lot of visibility like the New England Patriots or the New York Yankees, but I’ve seen rabid parents go ballistic watching their 6-year-olds playing soccer.  Not only does it seem quite puerile to me, but it pains me to feel what some of these poor kids’ lives are like at home. If these parents are that idiotic and demanding in public, what are their attitudes towards their children behind closed doors?

Beartown is one of those towns where every single person is obsessed with a sport. In this case, hockey. Beartown is a fictitious blue collar town somewhere in Sweden (where the author is from) that is in the middle of a “forest”, yet this story could have easily taken place in Canada or the Northern U.S. The town of Beartown is pretty much dying. There’s a factory that employs most of the town, yet it seems every year that more and more people are being laid off. The only thing this town ever looks forward to is Junior Hockey. We’re talking 15–17-year-old boys. No, the adults don’t play hockey anymore, but just about all of them did during their younger days and they all now religiously follow their sons and grandsons. The obsession with hockey is unbelievable. You get the feeling that toddlers learn how to ice skate before they can spoon feed themselves.  You know it’s bad when many of the kids (players) and adults have to repeatedly throw up on the day of the big game.

One night after the “big game”, the tension essentially boils over. A crime is committed by one of the players causing the whole town to reel. The theme of this story is, sadly, not too foreign: If a star player or a renowned celebrity commits a crime, can’t everyone sort of look the other way?  Or proclaim his innocence even though most probably know better?  If a star player can’t play hockey anymore in a hockey town like Beartown, is there anything for anyone to look forward to ever again?

The story itself isn’t too rosy. It seems like everyone in this town, kids and adults, aren’t very happy. Even those who succeed in the town’s sport have so much pressure on them, that they never feel as though they’re good enough. There’s an awful lot of unemployed adults in this dying town, and it seems like even though jobs aren’t available, alcohol certainly is. I lost track of how many suicides and/or alcoholics were in this story. Author Fredrik Backman, though, tells a great story and keeps his readers interested. I would guess there are about 30 “regular” characters in this story (about half kid and half adult) yet Backman does a stellar job ensuring his reader can keep track with who is who.

After I finished this book, I learned the author has penned at least two follow ups.  As I’m writing this, I just started the next “Beartown” book titled “Us Against You”. From what I can tell, it picks up almost immediately where this book ends. So if you come across that one, I would advise you to read this one first.

I’ve loved the few books I’ve read by this author, and this was a very well told story even though the subject matter was a bit depressing. It also makes me thankful that I never pressured my kids too much to be too “great” at sports.

Show Me the Way

 

Show Me the Way – by Henri Nowen

Not much to say about this one. This was recommended to me as a devotional for Lent. I’ve never read anything by Nowen before. One of my favorite Christian authors, Catholic Priest Father Ron Rolheiser, quotes him quite often, so I thought it might be worth it to check Nowen out.

To be honest, this was a rather skimpy book, and I was hoping for a bit more bang for my buck for $9.99. This isn’t a slam against the author. I’m sure his other works are probably worth the hype that Rolheiser and others heap on him.

I read two different devotionals for Lent 2022, and this one was quite a bit shorter and didn’t have much of an impact on me as the other one.  The Kindle edition had a lot of printing errors as well.

I remember the points and illustrations being somewhat profound, I just thought they were a bit too short. I also can’t honestly remember any of them as I write this about one month later. Each day’s devotion consisted of a page or two along with a prayer. So it was definitely thin. I’ll reserve judgement, though, after reading one of his “bigger” books.