It was a seemingly long drought between books...but when I looked at the various New Year's resolutions on Thursday Thirteens this week and saw resolutions to read one book a month, I guess it wasn't all that long. But for me, if I'm not enthralled with and ensconced in a book, something is off. Reading a book is what grounds me. No matter what else is happening in my life, I can throw myself into a book and know it will be there for me day or night whenever I need it.
Sensing this, Vicky perused my Amazon Wish List and surprised me with Little Children and You're Not You (which Amy guest-blogged about a few months ago). I was aching to read Little Children because I had read excellent reviews of the movie and Vicky and Donnie had actually seen it and raved about it. Now, the movie Little Children is no longer available at any theater in the state of Florida...so we just hope that, as expected, Kate Winslet gets nominated for an Oscar, prompting a wider release of the film so those of us who do not live in California, the Northeast, two sites in Washington and inexplicably, Great Lakes, IL can actually see the film before it comes out in DVD.
It turns out that I actually read Little Children in November 2004 at the behest of Entertainment Weekly, but it didn't stay with me and resonate with me as it did on this reading. What was curious to me was that on the blurbs on the back of the book were phrases like, "Poignantly funny", "made me laugh so hard I had to put it down", and "sidesplitting scenes". Now poignant I get, but I can't help but wonder from what perspective came the rest of the words.
Main characters Sarah and Todd are stay-at-home parents with toddlers who frequent the park and the pool while their respective spouses work. When Sarah, in a bold act of revolt against the judgmental, competitive park mommies, kisses Todd at the swings, sparks fly, setting in motion a series of events enveloping them, their spouses, their children and assorted people from their town who are united against an ex-convict who had been imprisoned for child molestation. The unmitigated candor with which the characters are explored is undeniably poignant and sadly realistic...but funny? side-splitting? Not from my perspective.
The book delves into the hot underbelly of suburbia, disabusing the reader of the notion that Moms take kids to the park while Dad works and they all come together in an Ozzie and Harriet-esque evening of dinner, bath and bed. Perrotta somehow manages to capture the mind-numbing ennui of suburban parenthood without reducing the characters to victims of their own choices.
Sarah is so, yes, poignantly described that her very nature is carved into the reader's soul...whether you are Sarah, you are married to Sarah or you just "get" Sarah...there can be no argument that you don't KNOW Sarah as you read Little Children. This book is making me rethink my dismissal of Joe College and consider adding Election to my TBR list.
Di
P.S. Get ready because it is time for BAFAB Week (that's Buy a Friend a Book Week) beginning at 12:01 a.m. on January 1. So, as soon as you are done kissing and toasting, be sure to check out Di's Book Blog, etc. and get in on the fun. As a hint and to start you thinking, start now mentally reviewing what you have read this year.
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