the way the crow flies

by anne-marie macdonald

i figured i would try to write about the books that i read here ... seeing as i've been too lazy to do it in my book journal. yes, you heard me, i have a book journal. i am that much of a geek. i will freely admit to this.

i found this book rather interesting - it was set in centralia, which is near the first place i ever lived (sure i moved from exeter area when i was 1 ... but my grandma and aunt remained in the area). also, it was loosely based on the steven truscott story. although, that happened by the military base at vanastra, on the opposite side of exeter.

unfortunately, because it was based on a story with which i am rather familiar, i was able to anticipate what was going to happen. still, it did make me keep turning the pages. and make one hypothesize about what actually happened in the real case. unfortunately, the real perpetrator of the crime has likely passed away by now. no one remains that knows the real story. it will be interesting to see if the courts will re-try steven truscott. they may try to avoid doing that b/c he will be found "not guilty" ... which means they wrongly convicted a 14-year old boy (he's been out of jail for many years .. seeing as it's widely accepted that he did not do it and he was one of those model type prisoners) ... but if he is found not guilty, he can sue the government for wrongful conviction. what kind of price will the court put on the innocence lost of a 14 year old boy who was tried as an adult and kept in jail for so many years? that's something that's irreplaceable, that's priceless .. to even begin to try to make up for it will require astronomical sums of money.

anyways, back to the literature at hand. i don't know if i'm really qualified to "review" this book per se ... it was a good read. it explored many issues - the cold war, the lives of many vs. the life of one, sexual abuse, parent-child relationships, homosexuality, etc etc.

it's quite the heavy tome - over 800 pages. there were many carefully picked quotes from other sources to start and sometimes conclude chapters. i'm the type that tends to skim over passages in italics though (i think it's a habit that i picked up from reading textbooks - if it was in a coloured box it might be interesting, but it wasn't pertinent to what you were learning). i wanted the guts of the story and i found i was skimming the rest. i wasn't savouring the literary beauty that was woven throughout it. i should probably read the book again to try to get that.

sometimes i wonder what's more important though, about a book - the basics (plot, character development, etc) or the artistry with which it is crafted. i think the basics are important. they're what compel you to continue reading the book. i've read some pieces before that i continued to devour voraciously despite me disliking the style of writing. for me that's what the most important part is. but then, i'm not as educated as i would like to be in the way of the word. although, that can be a good thing. i read for enjoyment not to analyse. it's not an exercise for me, it's a leisurely activity.

so in closing - the book was good. great imagergy, good storyline - it didn't feel like you were reading forever to get nowhere (*cough* the order of phoenix *cough*). definitely worth the read.