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What can I say, to convey how wonderful The Song of Achilles was?  “This and this and this!”

The Song of Achilles stars Patroclus, a peripheral character in The Iliad.  When the story opens, Patroclus is an unhappy, shy young prince.  His father feels nothing but scorn and disappointment toward him, his mother barely knows him, and the sons of the nobles of his father’s court bully him.  Patroclus’s only joy comes from wandering alone and playing with a pair of dice – until he accidentally kills one of the boys that bully him, and he is exiled to King Peleus’ court in the land of Phthia, and his life really begins.  The prince of Phthia is a young boy, about the same age as Patroclus, but who represents everything Patroclus knows he will never be – golden, handsome, gifted, athletic, popular, son of a goddess.  Even Patroclus’s own father says that the prince of Phthia is “what a son should be.”  So when golden Prince Achilles notices Patroclus, befriends him, and makes him a constant companion, Patroclus is – at first – overawed.  Still, he soon learns to see Achilles for what he truly is – a kind, unassuming boy who loves music, who won’t fight in front of other people because he’s too good.  Patroclus and Achilles become best friends and, eventually, they become lovers.  But then word comes that Helen of Sparta has been snatched from her husband by the impudent Prince Paris of Troy, and the kingdoms of Greece must unite to bring her back.  This is Achilles’ moment, as Aristos Achaion – the “best of the Greeks” – he is to play the starring role in this war that he didn’t start and with which he wants nothing to do.  And of course, Patroclus goes with him.

I’ve never read The Iliad, but I understand that the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, who is only a peripheral character is Homer’s text, has been a source of speculation and questioning for centuries.  My sister-in-law read The Iliad for an English class and the theory that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers was mentioned, but not explored.  This is the theory that Madeline Miller takes on in The Song of Achilles, because it is Patroclus who sets in motion the events that bring about the beginning of the end of the Trojan War – and why Patroclus?  What was it about Patroclus that spurred Achilles to the climax of his own story?  It’s never explained in The Iliad, but Miller’s take that the two were lovers rings very true, perhaps thanks to the internal logic of the story or perhaps thanks to her lovely writing.

Yes, the writing is superb.  The Song of Achilles reads like a classic of ages, even thought it was only published last year.  There are parts that are more like poetry than a novel.  “This and this and this!”  I could taste the figs, feel the sand of the Trojan beach under my feet, smell the cooking fires in the Myrmidons’ camp, hear the jangling of Briseis’ bracelets and the screams of dying men on the battlefield.  Miller makes you believe every word.  She makes you buy in, wholly and completely, to Achilles and Patroclus and their love.  She tugs at your heartstrings and she astounds you with beautiful, perfectly-crafted sentences and a plot that marches inexorably forward toward destruction and tragedy.

It was all just so beautiful.  That’s all I can say.  “This and this and this!”  And now I’m going to have to read The Iliad.

The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller – buy it here!  (Not an affiliate link.)

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby.  I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book.  Here are my reads for February, 2013…

A Light in the Window, by Jan Karon (Mitford Years #2) – I read the first book in this “gentle fiction” series last February when life was a little bit overwhelming and it seemed like a good idea to pick it up again after a couple of weeks back at work, and I read it on the plane for my first business trip since returning from maternity leave.  I wasn’t over-thrilled with it, but I’m still keeping an open mind on the series since I’ve heard that it gets better and better.  Much of the time, I was just irritated by Father Tim’s constant dithering about his neighbor – I wanted to shake him and shout “MAN UP!”  The only characters I really enjoyed were the Mayor and Miss Sadie, both of whom are peripheral to the series.  I’m not declaring myself “done” with Mitford, but like last February, I’m going to save the next book for when I get overwhelmed.

 Village Centenary, by Miss Read (Chronicles of Fairacre #15) – Fifteen books into this series, every time I open a Fairacre book these days I feel as though I’m getting a breath of fresh, clean air.  Katie sent me this book some time ago and I sat on it (not literally) because I like to read a series in order (after I idiotically read the first four Harry Potter novels #1 – #4 – #2 – #3 and ruined all kinds of surprises for myself).  This was one of my favorite Fairacre novels.  The village school is turning one hundred years old and Miss Read, as headmistress, is in charge of the celebrations.  With the help of Miss Clare, the new infants’ teacher Miss Briggs, and a host of townspeople, Miss Read will throw the birthday party of the century – literally.  Meanwhile, the school is getting a new skylight and there are rumors that Holly Lodge might be sold and tenant Miss Quinn turned out of her home.  As with all Fairacre novels, the plots wrap up with warmth and good grace.

 Mrs Queen Takes the Train, by William Kuhn – I love reading authors’ imaginative takes on Queen Elizabeth’s inner workings (The Uncommon Reader was my first foray and still a favorite) and Mrs Queen was delightful.  Queen Elizabeth, facing the decommissioning of the royal train, sinks into a bit of malaise and fancies a trip up to Leith to visit the royal yacht, Britannica.  Disguised in a hoodie, she slips out of Buckingham Palace and boards a train.  “Mrs Queen” might be the centerpiece, but the real drama in the story comes with the cast of six different individuals – a dresser, a lady-in-waiting, a butler, an equerry, a stable girl and a cheese shop clerk – who band together in a strange alliance to track the Queen down and bring her back before anyone else notices she’s missing.  A fun, sweet and touching romp.  (And bonus – I tweeted #fridayreads that I was reading Mrs Queen over a salad one Friday lunch hour, and got a charming tweet back from the author, which is always fun.) 

The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings #2) – I’m continuing to work my way through the Lord of the Rings trilogy (I set a goal to do this before my next birthday) and this second installment was a lot of fun.  The excitement and drama are definitely building up to fever pitch after the somewhat slow-ish start to the series in The Fellowship of the Ring (I’m not complaining – I’m perfectly fine with slow plots if the writing, character development and atmosphere are good, and wow, were they ever).  When the novel opens, Merry and Pippin have been kidnapped by a band of raiding orcs, and Aragorn is leading Legolas and Gimli in a chase across Rohan to try to rescue the hobbits (who prove more resourceful than one might have anticipated).  Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam are still trudging toward Mordor to destroy the Ring, helped along the way by an unlikely guide.  The end of the book had me turning pages at record speed, racing ahead to find out what happens.

 A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True, by Brigid Pasulka – In a tiny Polish village called Half-Village, a young man called the Pigeon falls in love with a young woman, Anielica, “the Angel,” and courts her with the only thing he has to set him apart from her other suitors: his “golden hands.”  The Pigeon presents himself at Anielica’s door and offers to renovate her house at no charge.  Stone by stone, board by board, he builds himself into Anielica’s heart and family – but World War II and Communism delay their marriage.  Fifty years later, their granddaughter Beata (called “Baba Yaga” after the nasty witch of Polish legend, because she’s so unattractive) tries to find her path in 1990s Krakow, in a Poland that’s deciding – much like she herself is – what it will be now that the future has arrived.  I loved, loved, LOVED the story of Anielica and the Pigeon and would have been perfectly happy to read an entire book just about them.  I did feel empathy for Baba Yaga and her story drew me in at the end, but it was Anielica and the Pigeon who were the real stars of this book.  Lovely, evocative writing and an ending that is both sad and hopeful.  Highly recommended.

 Summer at Fairacre, by Miss Read (Chronicles of Fairacre #16) – It’s the best season of the year in Fairacre.  The downs are a riot of color, the sun is beating down on a very warm, very happy Miss Read, and everyone has a little extra spring in their step.  Miss Read has plenty to bring her joy this season – not least of all, the wedding of infants’ teacher Miss Briggs.  But no season is without its troubles.  Young Joe Coggs has taken up residence in the schoolhouse while his mother is hospitalized; local ornithologist Mr. Mawne is lonely and is annoying Miss Read and Miss Quinn with his attentions while his wife is away; and most disconcerting of all, Miss Read’s good friend Amy has disappeared.  Plenty of drama kept me turning pages, and the descriptions of summer in Fairacre kept the winter blues at bay during a February cold snap.

 The Midwife’s Tale, by Sam Thomas – Another page-turner (I’ve had some good ones this month).  It’s 1644 and the city of York , held by the King, is surrounded by the rebel armies of Parliament.  Lady Bridget Hodgson, the midwife of the tale, is doing her best to attend to the city’s mothers despite the siege when she receives distressing news – her good friend, Esther Cooper, has been accused of murdering her husband and is destined for the stake.  Convinced that Esther is innocent, Lady Bridget sets out to find the real killer.  She is joined by Martha, a housemaid with a checkered past, and together they must untangle the web of political intrigue that surrounds Cooper’s death.  The Midwife’s Tale could get quite violent in parts, but I never felt the violence was gratuitous (a complaint I’ve had with other historical fiction, such as The Pillars of the Earth) – in this case, it simply rang true to the times and added to the story, which is all I ask.  Some of the plot twists were a little obvious, but I’m glad to say that the resolution to the main mystery surprised me (and the clues were there, so it wasn’t a case of the author dropping only red herrings and then making the reader feel like an idiot by “revealing” the true culprit without any buildup in the story – a whodunit pet peeve of mine).  I appreciated the historical details and will definitely be seeking out more by this author.

Mrs Pringle of Fairacre, by Miss Read (Chronicles of Fairacre #17) – Mrs Pringle is one of those characters that we love to hate.  Grouchy and dour by nature, she is nonetheless a fixture in Fairacre and the town – and school – wouldn’t be the same without her.  Her verbal sparring matches with Miss Read, Mr Willet, and everyone else in town are some of my favorite Fairacre scenes, and her devotion to the school stoves is touchingly comic.  In this enjoyable interlude, Miss Read looks back on the history of her own long war with Mrs Pringle, complete with reminiscences by other villagers, which go far to explain why Mrs Pringle is the way she is.  Since the “old misery” is one of my favorite characters in the series, I had fun with this one.

 The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller – After seeing this on Booklust, I knew I was going to have to check out this re-imagining of Homer’s The Iliad.  Patroclus, a peripheral character in The Iliad, becomes the central focus as The Song of Achilles explores his relationship with the Greek hero.  I enjoyed the entire book, but the ending was mind-blowing.  I was flipping pages at furious speeds and wiping away tears.  That’s all I’ll say for now – full review coming next week.

The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Emmuska Orczy – What a fun romp this was!  The year is 1792 and amidst the bloodbath in Paris, there is one shadowy figure who seems to flit in and out of France, plucking aristocrats practically out of the jaws of the guillotine – and doing so with style and “demned” cheek, I should say.  That figure is the Scarlet Pimpernel, a “swashbuckling rescuer of aristocrats.”  By day he is Sir Percy Blakeney, icon of the stylish Briton, London man-about-town, and widely regarded by everyone to be a funny, but lazy, moron.  Sir Percy’s mask is so opaque that even his own wife, Marguerite, can’t see through it.  So when a former acquaintence, and a member of the bloodthirsty Committee for Public Safety, presents her with the option of helping him track the Scarlet Pimpernel or lose her brother, who has been helping aristocrats to escape, she feels a little badly about the gallant stranger but there’s no question – she’ll save her brother.  Until she realizes that by capitulating, she has unwittingly sent her husband into a trap.  It’s up to Marguerite to warn Percy before it’s too late!  I don’t know why I waited so long to read this.  Fun, hilarious, and quite the page turner (warning: it was a little racist in parts, but take into account the fact that it was written in 1902).  I’m glad I finally made the time for The Scarlet Pimpernel – it’s well worth a read.

What a February!  Excuse me while I pat myself on the back, because I’m really happy with the reading I did this month.  (And yes, I do congratulate myself for making the time to do something I really enjoy.  It’s not always easy.)  I had a couple of page-turners this month – The Two Towers, The Midwife’s Tale, and The Song of Achilles come to mind – and the Fairacre books are always quick reads.  So that accounts, to an extent, for my extravagant book total this month.  But for a short month, I don’t care what gets me there – I’m psyched that I was able to read so much, and so many books that I really enjoyed.  The Song of Achilles was the highlight of the month, but The Scarlet Pimpernel was fantastic too, and Mrs Queen, The Two Towers, A Long Long Time Ago, and the Fairacre visits kept me happily turning pages, too.  Plenty of reading, AND I enjoyed all of it?  Recipe for a good month, indeed.

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Harold Fry is an old man.  He’s retired, without any hobbies, trapped in a marriage with a wife who seems to despise him.  Harold and Maureen haven’t spoken in years, except to exchange small talk and the occasional barb.  Then one day, out of the blue, a letter comes for Harold from an old colleague, Queenie Hennessey, who tells Harold that she is dying of cancer in a hospice some 600 miles away.  Harold dashes off a quick note in response and walks to the post box to send the letter.  When he gets to the box, he can’t seem to drop the letter in.  He walks to the next box, and the next, until an encounter with a young woman in a garage convinces him that he should walk all the way to the hospice to see Queenie in person.  Harold believes that all that Queenie needs to survive is someone to believe in her, and that if he keeps walking, Queenie will live.  And that’s how Harold’s journey begins – in a light jacket and a pair of yachting shoes, with an idea.

As Harold walks, he reflects back on his past – his love of and marriage to Maureen, his difficulty expressing the depth of his love for their son David, and Queenie, who once did him an incredible favor.  He doesn’t really believe that he can walk 600 miles, and he struggles on, knowing that no one else really believes it either, until he meets a young immigrant woman who helps him.  Over the course of the walk, he begins to face his own fears and to learn not to cut himself down:

Harold believed his journey was truly beginning. He had thought it started the moment he decided to walk to Berwick, but he saw now that he had been naive. Beginnings could happen more than once, or in different ways. You could think you were starting something afresh, when actually what you were doing was carrying on as before. He had faced his shortcomings and overcome them, and so the real business of walking was happening only now.

As Harold continues on his way, he encounters a cast of characters, each of whom shares his or her story, and some of whom start to walk with Harold.  Harold feels protective toward these people, wondering if they are able to share their broken selves with him because he is in and out of their lives.

He had learned that it was the smallness of people that filled him with wonder and tenderness, and the loneliness of that too. The world was made up of people putting one foot in front of the other; and a life might appear ordinary simply because the person living it had been doing so for a long time. Harold could no longer pass a stranger without acknowledging the truth that everyone was the same, and also unique, and that this was the dilemma of being human.
He walked so surely it was as if all his life he had been waiting to get up from his chair.

Harold slowly covers the English countryside and stops in familiar places – such as Bath, where he watches a homeless man dance outside the Abbey Church.  Meanwhile Maureen, left at home, at first schemes to bring Harold back without the neighbors finding out he ever went missing, but as his journey becomes national news she reflects on their broken marriage and the weight of the blame she has placed upon Harold.  And she begins to realize that there are depths in Harold that she has not yet reached, and that there was more to the story of their dysfunctional marriage than she had thought.

Amal recommended this book to me as a fellow Anglophile and Cotswold-appreciator, and I loved it.  I started reading for the descriptions of the English countryside and for the places that Harold visits which are familiar to me (Devon, where he starts his journey, Bath, the Cotswolds).  But I really loved this for the characters – the human, broken characters, each of whom Harold touches in some way on his journey.  The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry really speaks for the truth that there is something broken in everyone, and something fixable if we try – and that sometimes, the unexpected thing is the thing that will lead to the greatest happiness.

Buy The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce here (not an affiliate link).

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby.  I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book.  Here are my reads for November, 2012…

Arcadia, by Lauren Groff – This novel traces the rise and decline of a hippie commune through the eyes of one of its littlest residents.  Bit is the child of two of the founding members of the Arcadia community.  He spends his childhood within the folds of community, but by his adolescence the group is showing strain.  As an adult, Bit tries to live by the values he learned in Arcadia, but he must contend with the external world he never knew as a child.  I really enjoyed Arcadia – and not just because I once considered running off to join a commune, but decided not to because I was pretty sure they didn’t like lawyers much.  (True story.)  Fully reviewed here.

Miss Clare Remembers, by Miss Read (Fairacre #4) – The Fairacre books are fun, light, sweet reads.  This interlude tells the life story of Miss Clare, the retired infants’ teacher and friend to Miss Read, and also sneaks in some commentary about rural socioeconomic issues of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.  It lacks the dry wit of the books told from Miss Read’s perspective, but it was nice to learn Miss Clare’s backstory and spend a little bit of time in the Fairacre of an even simpler time.

Over the Gate, by Miss Read (Fairacre #5) – This is almost more of a short story collection than a novel, as Miss Read recounts several local fables and legends related to her by Fairacre residents, over cups of lemonade and garden gates.  The story of Sally Gray is particularly amusing, and the tale of the Fairacre Ghost is heart-wrenching.

The Fairacre Festival, by Miss Read (Fairacre #7) – The sixth Fairacre novel is a slim volume (only 103 pages!) but packed full of action and tension.  A fall storm wreaks havoc on the town and, most distressing of all, severely damages the roof of St. Patrick’s Church.  When the repair estimates come in at nearly two thousand pounds, the town must band together to raise the funds to fix their beloved church.  The resulting Fairacre Festival is an example of the town at its best – everyone works together, from the schoolchildren to the local gentry, to gather the needed monies.  But will their efforts be enough, or will the church be forced to supplement by selling a cherished piece of church silver?  I read this little book in a day and enjoyed it very much.

Seating Arrangements, by Maggie Shipstead – This debut novel kind of reminded me of a modern Gatsby.  In a sense.  With a bit of Wendy Wasserstein’s The Elements of Style thrown in for good measure.  Winn Van Meter is preparing for his daughter Daphne’s wedding.  Or, to be more precise, Winn is trying to stay out of the way as Daphne and her mother Biddy prepare for the wedding.  But it’s easier said than done: Winn has a lot on his mind.  For one thing, the bride is pregnant.  For another, Winn’s younger daughter Livia has recently broken up with her boyfriend, the son of Winn’s old rival Jack Fenn, and Winn is convinced that the breakup is why his application to the Pequod Golf Club is languishing.  (Well, it could be that, or it could be that Winn once had a hand in preventing Fenn from joining a collegian eating club… or that Winn once dated Jack’s wife.)  Livia continues to pine for her ex even while she falls into a rebound fling with the best man, and Winn’s eyes stray toward one of the bridesmaids.  I felt a bit like a cultural anthropologist, watching Winn and Livia go off the rails and toss a social hand grenade into Daphne’s very correct (well, except for the baby bump), very WASP wedding plans.  Seating Arrangements read like chick lit, but a bit more complex.  I can see why it was the book of the summer.

Emily Davis, by Miss Read (Fairacre #8) – Another interlude in the Chronicles of Fairacre, this volume examines the long, full life of Emily Davis, headmistress of Springbourne School and lifelong friend to Miss Clare.  Although Emily is not a character in most of the other Fairacre books, it’s clear that she left her mark on the residents of Fairacre, and of Beech Green and Caxley too.  A sweet read with plenty of subtle lessons about how to live a good life.

Growing a Reader from Birth, by Diane McGuinness – This was an impulse buy at the Book Bank in Old Town Alexandria.  It caught my eye because I’ve been pondering Peanut’s language development recently.  My mom taught me how to read (she had an advantage; she was a first grade teacher) and I’ve always dreamed of teaching my own child how to read, too.  This was an interesting book that set forth research into babies’ and children’s path to language, included some hilarious anecdotes from the author’s own experience as a mother and, my favorite part, concluded each chapter with concrete strategies for parents to use while interacting with their infants, older babies, toddlers and preschoolers.  I’ve already started to put some of McGuinness’s suggestions for newborns into practice when I talk to Peanut, and I’m more inspired than ever to help her along the path to literacy.

Young House Love, by Sherry and John Petersik – I am a huge fan of the Petersiks’ blog, Young House Love – I can’t get enough of their fresh, modern decor projects and the heaping helping of house inspiration Sherry and John serve up on a daily basis.  So obviously I was pumped when they got their book deal and I pre-ordered ASAP.  Young House Love the BOOK is Sherry and John at their finest: more of the same dorky wit, cheerleading, and great ideas to spruce up your space that their blog readers have come to love… BUT none of the book projects have been featured before on their blog.  Yep, they secretly whipped up 243 never-before-seen projects and avoided falling into the “rehash of the blog” trap that other blogs-turned-books are prone to.  The ideas in YHL the book range from quick and easy craft projects that take an hour and cost ten bucks or less, to big room upgrades.  But whether the project is large or small, Sherry and John are encouraging and inspiring.  I’m going to be taking on a few of their ideas, adapting some others to make them my own, and I’m super-inspired to get back to putting my own stamp on my builder house (a plan which went off the rails when ye olde pregnancy test came up positive).  Highly recommend!

The Chaperone, by Laura Moriarty – This one was rather hyped in the blogosphere a few months back, and I finally decided to reserve a copy at the library.  Usually when a book is hyped I’m at least a little disappointed, but I really wasn’t.  The Chaperone was wonderful!  I loved the period touches (most of the action takes place during the Roaring Twenties) and witnessing the character development of the main (and title) character, Cora Carlisle, who acts as a chaperone to a willful future starlet during one fateful summer in New York City.  Cora’s moral awakening is wonderful to watch.  She begins the book very set in her judgmental attitudes about everything from drinking to sexual orientation to birth control, and through her experiences in New York and then back home in Wichita, she comes to realize that not all is as it has always seemed to her and that there is much more ambiguity in life than her rigid moral code previously allowed.  Lovely writing and wonderful characters.

Tyler’s Row, by Miss Read (Fairacre #9) – Peter Hale, a soon-to-be retired schoolmaster from Caxley, is looking for a summer cottage with his wife Diana.  They discover Tyler’s Row, a house that has been converted into four cottages that have held some of the scrappiest citizens of Fairacre.  Two ne’er-do-well families, the Coggs and the Waites, have moved to council houses and left their cottages vacant, so Peter and Diana move in and begin renovating.  In the process of renovations, which are frustrating in and of themselves, they must deal with their two remaining neighbors, the loquacious Colonel Burnaby and the sour Mrs Fowler.  Peter and Diana’s trials and tribulations have only begun when they sign the deed!

Farther Afield, by Miss Read (Fairacre #11) – I think this might have been my favorite Fairacre book yet.  Miss Read, looking forward to a relaxing and productive summer vacation, is dismayed when she falls and breaks her arm.  But her old friend Amy steps in to nurse her back to health.  Later that summer, Amy asks Miss Read to accompany her on a trip to Crete while she ponders how to fix her failing marriage.  To be honest, I never understood why Miss Read was friends with Amy, who first appeared in Village Diary and who always struck me as a colossal pain in the neck.  But Farther Afield gives the reader a glimpse into Amy’s life and a better understanding of why Miss Read continues to socialize with Amy, who turns out to be a loving, caring friend.  The descriptions of Crete were luscious, too!

The Partly Cloudy Patriot, by Sarah Vowell – Something happens to me in November and I get this urge to read Sarah Vowell.  Last year it was The Wordy Shipmates, which I liked, and this year it was The Partly Cloudy Patriot, which I think I loved.  Vowell’s essays are smart, witty, funny and warm.  Her letter to President Clinton about how to structure his Presidential Library was slyly intelligent, and her essay “The Underground Lunchroom” was a stealthily informative hoot.  I don’t think I’ll be waiting for November, 2013 to pick up my next Sarah Vowell.

The Happiest Baby on the Block, by Harvey Karp, M.D. – I’d been meaning to get to this well-regarded book about how to calm a crying baby and promote good sleep, and when I finally did I found it well worth my time.  The book is primarily geared toward parents of infants with colic, which (thank goodness) Peanut does not seem to have.  I guess the baby gods figured they’d already dealt us a bad enough hand, what with the NICU and all, so we seem to have been spared colic.  Yay!  But even though Peanut is not a colicky baby, we still have found the Happiest Baby techniques useful for soothing her when she gets into her relatively mild fussy moods.  I’ve also used them to buy another hour or so of sleep during the night.  Intellectually, I found the book’s discussion of the more hands-on style of parenting in other cultures fascinating, too.  I’d definitely recommend this to parents of young babies, regardless of whether the babies are colicky.  And once Peanut gets older, I’ll be seeking out Dr. Karp’s other book, The Happiest Toddler on the Block.

Ummmmm, whaaaaaa?  That’s what I imagine you’re saying right now.  How on Earth did I manage to read thirteen books with an infant in the house?  I was sort of wondering that myself, until I looked back on exactly when I was doing most of my reading this month.  You see, Peanut is at a stage where she really only likes to nap on Mommy.  (She sleeps at night, thank goodness, but during the day she likes to be held.)  So we’ve spent most days this month lounging on the couch, Peanut napping in my arms while I lose myself (most of the time) in Fairacre.  These long afternoons of reading and cuddling are going to be one of my favorite memories of Peanut’s early childhood, I can already tell.  And there’s the fact that none of the books I read this month were particularly long or taxing.  But they were good!  I have been loving my time in Fairacre.  I just can’t get enough of Miss Read and the gang.  Other than the Fairacre books, I particularly enjoyed The Chaperone and The Partly Cloudy Patriot – both smart, fun reads.  A good month indeed!

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Arcadia, by Lauren Groff, is the story of the rise and fall of a hippie commune, examined through the perspective of one of its residents.  Bit is a child of Arcadia, the first baby born after the community was founded.  Called “Bit” because of his tiny size – he was three pounds at birth – he is loved and petted by the entire community as a child.  But the community is diseased from within – Handy, the founder and leader, becomes corrupt and controlling and feuds with Bit’s father Abe.  Arcadia is a Utopian dream during Bit’s childhood, but is already beginning to crumble by his adolescence.  In adulthood, Bit must reconcile the memories he holds of the loving community of his early years with the outside world that he now is forced to join.

There were many themes in Arcadia, but what I found most interesting was the book’s discussion of the choice between freedom and community.  In one scene, the adult Bit muses over the “fragile social contract” that governs both Arcadia and his current home of Manhattan:

It leaves him breathless at times, how much faith people put in one another.  So fragile, the social contract: we will all stand by the rules, move with care and gentleness, invest in the infrastructure, agree with the penalties of failure.  That this man diving his truck down the street won’t, on a whim, angle into the plate glass and end things.  That the president won’t let his hand over over the red button and, in moment of rage or weakness, explode the world.  The invisible tissue of civilization: so thin, so easily rendable.  It’s a miracle that it exists at all.

Haven’t we all contemplated that from time to time?  The same idea (less eloquent, though) often comes on me when I am approaching a green light.  I have to put my trust in the likelihood that the drivers coming in the opposite direction will respect that red means stop and green means go, and that they have red and I have green.  Such a basic concept, so many lives riding on everyone accepting it and agreeing together that green means go and red means stop.  And that was part of the problem with Arcadia: they lived by their own set of rules, but not everyone accepted or abided by those rules.

And then, Bit and his daughter talking about freedom and community with an elderly Amish woman:

She stands and shrugs.  It is lonely, she says.  Five years, I was lonely.  Then I realized that I was not happy, and would do anything to be taken in and loved.  It seems a give-and-take, you know?  Freedom or community, community or freedom.  One must decide the way one wants to live.  I chose community.

Why can’t you have both? says Grete, frowning.  I think you could have both.

You want both, Glory says, you are destined to fail.

Glory goes on to describe the Amish reaction to Arcadia when it first arose: horrified by the free-living hippies, the Amish gathered together and decided to help the community only to the extent that they would keep them from starving.  When Arcadia began to disintegrate – as the Amish knew it would – they would stand back and let the commune fail.

Reasonable, and probably more than most would do anyway.  But there are casualties when Arcadia fails: mostly Bit’s peers, the children.  They didn’t join Arcadia because they necessarily agreed with its aims and philosophies.  They were either brought along when their parents joined, or like Bit they were born into the commune.  Bit comes out better than most, but he carries his own wounds from his years in Arcadia.  As he grows old, Bit is closest to his old Arcadia friends; while he likes his life in New York he has not truly made friends “on the Outside.”  The Arcadian children catapult through life in vastly different directions: they become one-hit-wonders, moguls, Suburbanites, drug addicts.  Bit cautiously builds himself a life in New York until family tragedy forces him back to temporarily resume his residence in the overgrown ruins of Arcadia:

He will miss this quiet full of noise: the nighthawks, the way the woods breathe, the things moving unsuspected through the dark.  But he will take with him the canisters full of blasted images and have the pleasure of living them again.  They are not nothing, the memories.

In the end, Arcadia reads like an elegy to idealism.  Little Bit never loses it, even as the world changes around him.  It’s a beautifully written, sad and sweet book full of heart and a little rebellion.  The characters – even the peripheral characters – are three-dimensional and memorable.  And Bit himself is heart personified.

Recommended.

Get the book!  Arcadia, by Lauren Groff (not an affiliate link).