The River Why

I wrote a post and didn’t post it because this blog is not so much a diary to me, but a social place. The post I wrote talked a lot about a book I was excited to start and why I was excited to finally start it. And this made me realize, in not posting, that I forgot to tell you that I’m starting a new book! I started the book The River Why by David James Duncan. This is a favorite pick of Sister #2 who has been suggesting I read it for years. I don’t know what my initial hesitation was – maybe I thought it was too complicated – but I am absolutely loving it so far. And I just found out there is a movie so now I can read the book and then see the movie! You know how I love doing that. Popcorn for dinner anyone?

Back to the book, I am loving a few things about it that I think are important to note. First I have to say that I’m not too far into it yet, so most of the things have little to do with the actual book. However, I can already tell that I love the author’s writing style. He challenges his readers to stay engrossed and uses a vocabulary that I can only dream about having one day. What I also love about this vocabulary challenge is that I get to see Sister #2’s annotations and definitions. I think there is something very powerful in recognizing someone’s handwriting, especially in a book that she lent you years ago declaring it as one of her favorites. I get to wonder what she was thinking about when she underlined something and which definition she chose to use as explanation. I love it. (And I also think I would miss this feeling if I use an electronic book).

Another thing I already love about this book is the poetic way the author wrote it. I haven’t read anything else by him, but I looked up some quotes and figured out that he always wrote and talked this way. His writing is very poetic.

For instance, today I found this quote and thought it was a good one to share before the weekend. I hope this weekend you can see the world as a gift and allow it to open your heart wider even when it’s scary.

“[There is a] kind of all-embracing universality evident in Mother Teresa’s prayer: “May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in.” Not just fellow nuns, Catholics, Calcuttans, Indians. The whole world. It gives me pause to realize that, were such a prayer said by me and answered by God, I would afterward possess a heart so open that even hate-driven zealots would fall inside... [My] sense of the world as a gift, my sense of a grace operative in this world despite its terrors, propels me to allow the world to open my heart still wider, even if the openness comes by breaking—for I have seen the whole world fall into a few hearts, and nothing has ever struck me as more beautiful.” ― David James Duncan