Leif Enger

(56) I am late to the party with reading this novel - has been on my to be read list for close to a decade. Not sure why finally made me make the plunge. This is a story that pulls at your heart strings about a single father and his 3 children. At the outset of the book it becomes clear that the Dad is some everyman turned hero and possibly angelic. It was never quite clear to me who Davy, Swede, and Rube's mother was and why she left - but they are ordinary kids with their own extraordinary ways living life in a midwestern small-town in the 1950's when the oldest brother accidentally but maybe on purpose has a fatal run-in with some small town bullies. Davy becomes an outlaw the run. The narrative told through Swede's poetic odes to Western bandit's and and our sickly protagonist Rube's retrospective reflections and it is poignant, dear, and at times gripping. While I won't ruin the end, it has a storytelling arc than any literature professor has got to admire.

The penultimate chapter that gives the book its name was ultimately where I lost touch with the novel a bit. I was not minding the magical realism at all and while I didn't feel as if this part was out of place, it tipped the whole book over a wee bit into Hallmark movie of the week territory. Overall, the author's fine writing does indeed save it from the melodramatic. I adored Rube, and loved Swede's poems, and their Dad's quiet strength -- The beginning with duck hunting, the scenes in the airstream, Mr. Andreeson. Really excellent well-written details and characters.

I am glad I read and I think I will remember. Not necessarily anything concrete to criticize, but just shy of missing the mark from being really something special for me. Likely because I couldn't buy the God and I guess heaven piece - but that might be a me problems as opposed to the novel's problem.… (mer)

It’s a cliché to say the latest and greatest novel is a modern classic. You can safely place Virgil Wander by Leif Enger in the true masterpiece modern classic category. This rich book that centers on the life of Virgil the recent recipient of an accident that leaves his vocabulary of adjectives impaired is full of treasured metaphors, images, and spine-tingling page turning plot lines. Virgil owns The Empress, an old movie theater in Greenstone, Minnesota. The father, Rune, of legendary missing Alec Sandstrom baseball, surfer and pilot drives the narrative. Rune is obsessed with flying kites and thorough out the novel, the image of the various kites fill your head with mystic beauty. The other recurring theme relates to capturing a giant sturgeon. This abashedly lovely book is a brilliant way to start 2019… (mer)