On the plane to the west coast, I finally had time to finish my book club selection, The Stone Diaries. Our meeting was last Sunday and due to the craziness of getting ready for the trip, and not finishing the book on time, I decided to skip it. I’m sorry I did. I would really like to hear what everyone else thought of the book.
I couldn’t decide if I liked this book or not at first. Like the Daughter of Fortune, I found the book to be mostly exposition, told from varying points (but mostly the author’s point of view). But like Daughter of Fortune, after I read it, I found it is staying with me, certain images etched in my head. Normally, I don’t like exposition. Normally, I like the author to show me what she means not tell me what she means. I want to make up my mind about characters based upon their actions, not their story.
This was different though. I find my mind wandering back to the story, a biography of basically an ordinary woman (though she did come into this world through an extraordinary birth). Yet, somehow the author managed to make her ordinary life interesting in the end. I guess that’s why she won the Pulitzer prize, huh?
So if you’re looking for anything but a quick read, something that will capture you (give it time) and hold on to you, if you like the sensation of someone sitting you down and telling you a story with multiple threads that somehow come together in a tapestry of interesting design at the end, read the Stone Diaries.