Friday, January 25, 2008

Someday this Pain Will be Useful to You

Have I mentioned yet that one of my all-time favorite books is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger? Well, now I have.

One reason I liked Someday this Pain will be Useful to You by Peter Cameron so much was because it was so Catcher in the Rye-ish.

18-year-old James is living in NYC with his mom and big sis. His parents are divorced and he is having a hard time navigating the waters between mom and dad.

I've heard from other readers that James is a cold, unrelatable narrator but I have to disagree. I think he is a very believable 18 year old wanting to shape his life a specific way while trying to appease everyone around him. I love the scenes with his grandmother and in her house. I can see why James wants to move to the midwest through his descriptions of adoration to his gran and her lovely home.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a good read! Maybe I will pick it up for my wife, although I think she may have read it already.

Morgan said...

Smith - if your wife has read this book then she is a very smart woman indeed!

Anonymous said...

Glad to see my fav title of 2007 mentioned here, Morgan!