Book Review: Peace Like a River

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So many books, so little time. But not just that there are so many books is the fact that there are so many books that are no good.

This is a good book. 

I've included the preview up there so that others might get a taste of what the writing is like in the book and decide if it is one that might be worth picking up. The first I heard of this book was in the Literature Reading List put out by The Institute of Reading Development (2010). It didn't sound like a book I'd want to read. {Looking at it now, I do see I put a dot by it; meaning I wished to at least have a look at it.} Here's how the Institute describes the book:

In this tale of family tragedy and redemption, Reuben recounts the remarkable events of his 11th year, telling us to "Make of it what you will." When Reuben's big brother Davy commits a crime and flees his Minnesota home, Reuben, his sister Swede, and their father set off in pursuit of him, as does the law. Reuben's father is no ordinary man, and the family's trip to retrieve Davy becomes a spiritual quest with a surprising outcome. ~p. 11

It just doesn't grab my attention, that simple annotation.
The back of the book is a bit better:

Leif Enger's best-selling debut is at once a heroic quest, a tragedy, and a love story, in which "what could be unbelievable becomes extraordinary" (Connie Ogle, The Miami Herald). Enger brings us eleven-year-old Reuben Land, an asthmatic boy in the Midwest who has reason to believe in miracles. Along with his sister and father, Reuben finds himself on a cross-country search for his outlaw older brother who has been controversially charged with murder. Their journey unfolds like a revelation, and its conclusion shows how family, love, and faith can stand up to the most terrifying of enemies, and the most tragic of fates.

The reviews under the description are so accurate. Here's one that sums up what we find in the book:

Once in a great while, a book comes along that has such wonderful characters and marvelous prose, that you read it as much for the pure joy it offers on every page as to find out how it ends. ~Tom Walker, The Denver Post

On the front cover it has a simple statement by Andrew Roe from San Francisco Chronicle:

Peace Like a River serves as a reminder of why we read fiction to begin with.

I cannot tell you how the book ends, of course, but there are many twists and turns in this that are not expected. But what really captured me from the start was the writing. My favorite book {to this point} is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I love that book so much because of the writing: It takes you to the place; it puts the feelings of the characters into you. But at the same time, the writing is easy going, it takes you by the hand and gently leads you along.

It is the same with this book.

Based on the back cover, and that bland description by the Institute, we are made aware of four main characters, which is right. But the secondary and tertiary characters are just as important to this story, I think. There is one that we only see once, a six-year-old boy who has a snotty nose. And others that are brought in every so often (like Bethany Orchard and Lurvy) that lend life to these characters for us the reader.

Well, this turned out to be a rather shallow review. "It's a good book, you should read it." I feel I can't really tell much of what's in the book without giving away the joy of finding it for yourself when you read it. This book lifted my heart from a gloom I didn't even know it was in. The way the boy, Reuben, adores his father, his brother, and his sister is so real. The way the every day bits are described is so real. But also, the way the faith of Reuben's dad is portrayed is so real. It is the kind of faith I have seen in just a couple people in my life. To read of Reuben's view of his father's faith and his thoughts on it, reminds me of what it is to be, shall I say, on the outside of such faith. But it wasn't in a way that made me feel ashamed to not have such a faith. Rather it made me want that kind of faith. It is something to strive for.

What allows Peace Like a River to transcend any limitations of belief and genre is its broad, sagacious humanity... ~Dan Cryer, Newsday