|
Review Summary: Great research done for this book. Well-written. |
Date: 2008-12-27 |
|
| |
|
Details: Born and raised a stone's throw from the ninth ward, I was very happy with the research that went into making the book credible. Although not many readers may notice, the names, streets, and neighborhoods were detailed accurately, for the most part, which made it a wonderful read for me. Sadly, many of the grim details about the storm's effects are true. However the focus of this novel is all about healing, recovery, and renewal. Truly an interesting and emotional reading experience. |
| |
|
Review Summary: wow |
Date: 2008-12-23 |
|
|
| |
|
Details: Recovering Charles was a wonderful story about a man who found out what his father was truly like. It also gave a real eye opening account of New Orleans during the recovery of Katrina. More people should read this. |
| |
|
Review Summary: Second Chances, Second Verses |
Date: 2008-12-13 |
|
| |
Details: "Recovering Charles," Jason Wright's fourth novel, is about second chances, those who need those chances, and those asked to provide them. It is a reminder that the second verse of a person's life does not have to be a repeat of the first and that the second verses of our lives, in fact, might just turn out to be the ones for which we will be remembered.
Luke Millward, a young New York photographer, has seemingly overcome his mother's suicide and his father's inability to recover from her loss. He is doing well in a career of which he is proud and he has a girlfriend who loves and admires him. Over the years, though, he received numerous phone calls from his alcoholic father asking for loans and, despite knowing that he would never see the money again, Luke always sent what he could, no strings attached - until the last time.
That last conversation, during which Luke told Charles, his father, that he was fed up with their relationship and never wanted to hear from him again, is the one that will come to haunt him because Charles took him at his word and has not called in over two years.
And then it happens - a stranger's phone call changes Luke's life forever.
As a photographer, Luke is intrigued by the television coverage of Hurricane Katrina, drawn to the images coming out of New Orleans, in particular, finding that he cannot shut down his "photographer's inner lens." But the last thing Luke expects is to receive a stranger's phone call asking him to come to the city to help in the search for his father who has not been seen since the day before the storm. Reluctantly, so reluctantly that it seems to take him forever to actually reach New Orleans, Luke agrees to help find Charles, be he dead or alive.
What he finds in New Orleans is not what he expects. Nothing, of course, could have prepared him for the devastation and chaos that is post-Katrina New Orleans. The utter destruction, the smells, the dead bodies still waiting to be carried away, and the militarization of the city are almost overwhelming to him. But he finds something else: a little community of self-sustaining friends, including his father's fiancé, into which he is welcomed with open arms, a group of people that loves his father dearly, something that Luke, who remembers his father primarily as the out-of-control alcoholic he last spoke to, can hardly believe.
Luke hardly recognizes the Charles described to him by his new friends: a man well on his way to making a success of his life's second verse, a man loved and respected by everyone who knows him and is missed by all of them. As his new friends help him search for his father, Luke gradually comes to see Charles through their eyes and begins to hope that he will be given a chance to put things right with his father.
"Recovering Charles" is a reminder to families everywhere that lives do have second verses and that the things said in anger, and those words left unsaid in the aftermath of anger, do not necessarily have to lead to a lifetime of regrets. People can, and do, change, and oftentimes life's second verse is the sweeter of the two. This is another inspirational Christmas season offering from Jason Wright, one with the potential to change lives for the better. |
| |
|
Review Summary: Not my favorite of his books |
Date: 2008-11-22 |
|
| |
|
Details: While I LOVED Christmas Jars and Wednesday Letters this book didn't really "move" me as much even though it is really well written. I would recommend reading it and it did help remind me of the horrors those in New Orleans went through, but its ending didn't leave me on the same emotional high as his first two books. |
| |
|
Review Summary: Couldn't put it down |
Date: 2008-11-22 |
|
|
| |
|
Details: I was surprised at how much I loved this book. I found the mystery of Luke's father intriguing and wanted to read more about both of their journeys. I stayed up much later than I should just to finish reading it and even thought about it much the next day. Very enjoyable read and a very thought provoking story and message. |
| |
|
out of 32 Reviews
