At long last, my review of "The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb

I think it's my fault; I built it up so much in my mind, that there was no way it could live up to my own hype. It was great, but it was no "I Know This Much is True."

Here's the thing about Wally Lamb: He can be difficult to read, because his books are kind of depressing. Okay, they're a lot depressing. (The man has been called by one critic "a modern-day Dostoyevsky.") His characters face trials that you can't even imagine. Just one thing after another, terrible tragedies. But you have to press on; the end is completely worth it. (My sister borrowed "I Know This Much is True" once, and gave it back saying she couldn't finish because it was so dark. The funny thing was that she marked the last page she read with a fortune cookie fortune that said, "Don't give up, the best is yet to come!") His books don't necessarily wrap up in a neat, convenient, cheesy little package with a bow, but few things in life do. However, the end of each one provides beautiful testimony to how we grow through adversity. Delores Price overcame a lifetime of every form of abuse imaginable to find happiness and love in "She's Come Undone." Dominick Birdsey came to terms with his intense rage and found peace with his family, his circumstances, and even God (in a strange way) in "I Know This Much is True." It's a pattern with Lamb's books, and this one was no exception.

[By the way, both Delores and Dominick have cameos in "The Hour I First Believed." It was nice to catch up with them.]

As I mentioned in a previous entry, over ten years have passed since Lamb's last book. Think about all that has happened in the last ten years. Pretty tumultuous times. And through it all, "The Hour I First Believed" was coming into fruition.

The book opens with the tragedy at Columbine, and touches on 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the war in Iraq, etc. What's interesting is how Lamb was writing about all these events as they unfolded, and not in hindsight. I thought it was intriguing to read about all these things years after the fact, but from a fresh perspective. Interesting how our attitudes change with the passing of time, and how desensitized we become to such catastrophe.

Another thing I love about Wally Lamb is his incorporation of history in his novels. Through the journals of Caelum's great-grandmother Lydia, we read fascinating accounts of post-Civil War New England society. My favorite part of the book, by far, is her account of a dinner party in none other than Mark Twain's Connecticut home; how she formed a friendship with his daughter Suzy, who died a few months later. (Also present at the dinner party was a charming, life-of-the-party type named Mr. Booth. Only when someone mentions the 'bad seed' in his family does Lydia realize she's dining with the brother of Abraham Lincoln's assassin!)

So in conclusion, while the book didn't quite live up to my expectations, it is still an exceptional read. I just hope that I don't have to wait another ten years for the next one. I mean, Wally's not getting any younger. Nor am I, for that matter...