K had to go into work early. I received a call for a 3 day job at one of the high schools in town to finish out the week, but K needed to be at work by about 7:30am... far too early to show up expecting keys and TOC notes. Since there was the loveliest of Timmy Ho's right across the street from K's office, I stopped in for an extra large and a doughnut and some reading.
Over the past few months I've been reading A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews. I first thought about reading it because K did and really enjoyed it. Then I found out it was one of the most recent additions to the local school district's Approved Literature List for secondary schools. In preparation for the the possibility of getting a job, I wanted to read it. I finished up the Kite Runner at the end of November and picked this one up.
Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. It started off with a tonne of biting wit, was written in an extremely casual, conversational manner, and although it was slow in the beginning, there were enough charming moments throughout the book to keep me coming back.
As I'm sitting in T.H.'s this morning, I'm just finishing up the final two chapters of the book... and I think to myself that I truly know what "having heart" means for a novel. The whole story set up a beautiful and tragically sad (but still triumphant) ending about a girl who just tries to navigate life in small-town, rural, uber-Mennonite Manitoba. And it was great.
I've already admitted that I'm a big sap and I love a good cry from time to time. And although I held myself together in this very busy location, I really thought the ending was suitable, unexpected, and completely appropriate. I know this is close to the ending, but I just wanted to share a few lines from the story...
"... no, I preferred the first story, the one about sacrifice and pain, because it presented opportunities, of being reunited, of being happy again, somewhere in the real world, our family, and because it was about everlasting love and that's what I like to believe in... I've learned from living in this town that stories are what matter, and if we can believe them, I mean really believe them, we have a chance at redemption."
- Miriam Toews, from A Complicated Kindness
If you haven't read it, I give it a hearty thumbs up. Sure, it may be considered a "girl" book, but when was I ever the type to embrace only the macho? For those who don't know me, the answer is, well, never... the James Bond good looks and my machismo persona aside. ;)
T
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