HOW TO READ A BOOK

HOW TO READ A BOOK by Monica Wood

All truth be told, this is a book that I quit two times, and then picked back up. It's not because Monica Wood is not an amazing writer. She is. The content pushed me further than I like to go, but I have to say I held on, because I find some books to be so revealing about an author and also about ideas in our current culture. This is one of those books. If you are familiar with Lessons From Chemistry, this book is a little reminiscent of that one. However, where Lessons From Chemistry was very blatant and in your face on the author's views, I find How to Read a Book softer in its tone.

How to Read a Book is a story that circles around the bad decision of 22-year-old Violet Powell. She's about to be released from prison after serving 22 months for killing a local kindergarten teacher while driving drunk. Violet's world shattered with that decision. Incarcerated alongside murderers and about any other crime you can think of, she joins a book club led by a retired English teacher, Harriet Larson. All of the women who attend seriously need saving including the book club leader, widow Harriet. They bond together over books, initially starting with classics they remember from high school when life wasn't so complicated, but then move to poetry. These women find release for their souls and a window out of their barred walls. Then Violet gets released early for good behavior, and Harriet is fired because she shared personal information and accepted a homemade gift from the women. Violet struggles on the outside of the prison. Her Christian family hates her. She no longer knows how to function on her own, let alone get a job with a felony on her record. One day while wandering around she steps into a local bookstore and runs into Harriet and Frank Daigle, the husband of the woman she killed in the crash, who happens to work there. After an emotional encounter of pain, Harriet takes Violet home with her and a friendship/mentor/parental relationship forms that eventually includes Frank. This book will leave you stunned by some of the plot twists and turns.

So as I close the book I find myself addressing Monica Wood mentally and asking her what she wants me to walk away from this book with? I really think there are several things she says. 1.) I think she tells us that when people get out of prison they have paid their debt to society and deserve to be allowed to live again. She doesn't pull any punches that there are consequences to what happened. Violet still has a felony that she has to explain at every job interview. She mourns over the loss that she caused both to the family and to the community (school), and as stated before, she lost her family. 2.)Forgiveness- This was the kicker. Her family, who clearly attend church, are unable to forgive her. They are the bad guys of the book. Yet the man whose wife she killed is able to forgive and honestly, comes to accept her as almost a daughter.

Overall, I think what is so revealing in this book is prison life and the reality of it, and also the way people are viewing the church and Christians. The Christian faith is founded on Christ's death for our sins which offers us a forgiveness we could never earn. However, Christians are viewed as hypocritical, because they are often thought of as not turning and offering that same depth of forgiveness to others even when they are seeking it as Violet does in this story. We are called to forgive, and we are called to share the gospel which could bring about the new life that Violet desires. The gospel teaches us to follow Christ which means a turning away from our former sins and following Christ and His commands/way of life. It is tough that Christians are considered the bad people when Christ offers such an amazing gift! Obviously, there is a lot more that could be said, but I'll leave it here.

HEADS UP- There is a lot of language including many f-bombs as it is a prison read. There are a lot of references to sex. Some are crass as these women are counting on that being the first thing they want to do when they get out of prison. No intimate details. There is the mention of lesbian encounters/rape while in prison. No details, just an acknowledgement that it happens. After prison you know of some sexual relationships that occur, again no intimate details. It is mentioned that the pastor of the church solicits sex from the girls in his congregation. We find out he approached Violet, but she denied him when she was in her teens.