Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Book Review: Truth & Beauty

Today’s book review is on a book that I consider to be one of my favorites: ”Truth and Beauty,” by Ann Patchett.

As you may have read, I posted an article written by her during my first couple of weeks of writing. I really like her as a writer, and I was reminded of her by a friend who had asked me if I read “The Magician’s Assistant.” I have read most of her books, not all, but my favorite is still the first one I read, “Truth and Beauty.” It was this book that made me go out and search for her fiction.

The book is a memoir written by Patchett about her friendship with Lucy Grealy. It’s a complicated story of friendship and writing, and more importantly, it’s a story that’s real. Because it’s a memoir, you expect it to be about real life and experiences, but Patchett doesn’t sugarcoat anything. Their friendship is complex and not always perfect and so moving. She talks about the real effects of what life circumstances can have on relationships and how friends can be such a huge part of your life, as Lucy was hers, both as a person and writer.

My sophomore year I took one of the best classes of my college years, Women in Literature. The professor made the class what it was, as she was not only passionate about her subject but also nurtured every student’s talent and made everyone interested in what she was teaching. We read books such as "The Color Purple," "O Pioneers," and "Their Eyes Were Watching God." We discussed the books in terms of how we felt about them, what we learned, and what the books said about women. It was one of the few classes I actually felt comfortable talking in and really learned a lot about English and who I was.

We had to give a presentation on a book by a woman author as a speaking requirement, and I talked about Truth and Beauty. For the assignment, you had to provide background information about the author and read a passage. It was really interesting to research both women and learn about who they are outside of the book, and I also hope to read Lucy's memoir. I'll have to add it to my list.

No comments:

Post a Comment