This book is a commitment. It's 627 pages long. But I read on the Kindle, and I go by percentage, and I read it at the rate of six percentage points per hour, which means...it took me 16 hours to finish it. Are you up for that?
And I'm not exactly sure why I read it. Something caught my eye. Maybe a review in the Sunday "New York Times," I don't remember. But I reserved it at the library and I got an offer to skip the line, to have "Great Circle" for seven days, and I took it.
I finished just in time. As a matter of fact, the loan ends in twenty minutes.
Now there are two narratives in the book. An old one and a new one. One set in the early days of the last century, and then one set in today, in Hollywood, in the film business, it's completely up to date. And I preferred the modern story. But there was more of the old story. And I was chugging along, evaluating if the book was highbrow enough for my audience, after all it was a Read with Jenna pick, but then I became truly immersed in the story and I was drawn to reading it, I had to clear the deck, change my schedule just to finish it. That happened about halfway through.
Now most novels today are 240 pages. There's some kind of rule. Occasionally you get books that are longer, but they're rare. And I'm talking about fiction here, nonfiction is a whole different animal. And some people love "A Little Life," which is 737 pages, a little longer, but except for the subject matter, that's an easier read.
Now if you want family drama, mixed in with Alaska, I prefer Kristin Hannah's "The Great Alone," but her new book, "The Four Winds," doesn't hold together the same way. And Alaska is only a component of "Great Circle." "Great Circle" is an epic. In Hollywood. In Montana. In Seattle. Vancouver. World War II London. Antarctica. It's a journey. A full life in itself, ultimately the story of Marian, who's infatuated with flying.
Not that I was so sure it was so focused on Marian at the beginning. There was a lot about her twin brother Jamie and...
The set-up was almost a book unto itself. How Marian and Jamie came to be.
And Jamie's story is fascinating itself. Do you do what's expected or what you desire?
But...I don't want to give away the plot. Because that would ruin the book.
But let me just say at one point you'll be reminded of Erik Larson's "Dead Wake."
And at another, Daniel James Brown's "The Boys in the Boat."
And, of course, "The Great Alone."
There's a boat on the high sea.
There's activity in Seattle prior to the city's explosion as a tech center.
And there's bad weather and family issues, just like in "The Great Alone."
Oh yeah, I have to reference another Larson book, "The Splendid and the Vile," it's hard not to read "Great Circle" and think of it, but somehow, despite being a novel, "Great Circle" is even more rich and alive.
That's the power of fiction.
Now they talk about summer beach reads. "Great Circle" is not one. It's not a light book you read in the sun, stain with suntan lotion. Rather it's a book you read on summer vacation on a rainy day. The one you stay up all night reading in the rented summer cottage. The one where you skip vacation activities just to finish.
The truth is we live in a very disconcerting world. I'd delineate the issues, but you're fully aware. Reading the news is depressing. And other than politics, everything's a silo with much less cross-pollination than ever before. It's easy to be discouraged, become despondent, wondering how you fit in and how you'll go forward.
If you feel this way, "Great Circle" is for you. Because it's about life, something we're all living. The experiences. The choices. The blind alleys. The mistakes. Life is not linear, nor is "Great Circle."
What I mean here is "Great Circle" creates a whole world, and you become engrossed in it, happily, it's a respite from today, yet it's not fantasy, you'll relate to the experiences, you'll wonder about your own choices, but...
You'll have to read it. You'll have to make the aforementioned commitment. And when you're done, it's not like you'll be more educated, be able to pop off facts at a party, rather you'll end up with something internal, an inner flame that's part of your identity.
It's your choice.
P.S. Not that the book is full of wisdom, it's not written self-consciously, it's not so highfalutin' that the metaphors get in the way of the story, but there were passages that stuck out, I'm going to quote some here:
"Closure doesn't really exist, though. That's why we're always looking for it."
I couldn't agree more, then again I've stopped looking for closure, it's a fruitless endeavor.
"In her experience, proximity to other humans did not really diminish solitude."
Or as Emitt Rhodes sang, "You don't have to be alone to feel alone." It's one of the worst experiences, you're there, with people, you want to connect, but there's no entry point.
"In a new city, anonymity fostered silence."
You're excited about the change in venue, it's just that you're starting all over again. Which is why if you don't move in your twenties, you're probably never going to move at all. It's hard to give up your friends and comforts, but you've got a chance to reinvent your life, find people more aligned with your interests, change is hard, but worth it.
"If you change one thing, you change everything."
My shrink says this all the time. It's important, when you see the problem as insurmountable, oftentimes it is not.
"One thing I learned is that you don't just love a person, you love a vision of your life with that person."
Sharing, that's what it's about.
"I'd only be doing it for the dopamine hit, to feel important, to create a bond."
This is about knowing a secret and realizing if you reveal it, you're only doing it for the status. We all want to feel important. But we deliver the info and then...the feeling fades, we were just a vessel, and now we no longer hold the secret.
"'You know that's probably the right response to meeting your heroes. Just run away.'"
How many times have I done this? I'm working on it...
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