LitPicks - July '07 

Male Friendship: a literary theme reaching back to Homer’s Iliad and beyond. But as each of these 3 books reveal, rarely is friendship without conflict. Reading about friendship opens up insights into our own capacity for love, companionship, and loyalty.

A Lighter Touch | Wonderfully Written | Great Works       




A Walk in the Woods
Bill Bryson, 1999

By Molly Lundquist
Think of your favorite buddy movie, combine it with City Slickers, and you’ve got the idea behind Bryson’s book. Two urban hetero’s, both out of shape and on the pudgy side (one woefully so), tackle the hardships of the Appalachian Trail. That’s the set-up for what follows, and much of it is very, very funny. 

Title aside, this is no walk in the woods. The AT is unexpectedly, gaspingly rugged. The men, with 40 pounds on their backs, begin their journey at the southern-most tip of the 2,100-mile trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. Bryson eventually finds his stride, but his friend Katz struggles every step of the way, usually a good 45 minutes behind. Katz is the butt of much of the humor: he’s whiney, inept, usually hungry, sometimes devious, but always loyal. 

Interspersed with frustrations over Katz and his own obsessive fear of disease and wild beasts, Bryson provides valuable lessons in history, geology, botany, zoology, meteorology, and bureaucratic failures. He’s a "walking" encyclopedia and endlessly fascinating.

Some have commented that Bryson’s jeremiads on politics, commercialism, and rural southerners are unreasonable and unfair. They may be right, but Bryson’s love for wild spaces is genuine. What he fears most is the glacial-like inevitability of sprawl encroaching on these precious spaces. It’s hard to blame a man for his passions—or find fault with his fears.

See our Readers' Guide for A Walk in the Woods.

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The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini, 2003

By Molly Lundquist
This book is a top club read, many claiming it as one of their favorites. And for good reason.

The story follows the plight of two Afghan boys. Raised without mothers, the two were fed at the same nursemaid’s breast, creating a bond of brotherhood that was to last a lifetime. Of course it doesn’t.

The story hinges on Amir’s eventual betrayal of Hassan, whose father is the family servant. Years later, when living in the U.S., Amir receives a call to return home, where he must atone for the past—and find a way to regain his basic goodness. 

The first third of the book gives us a world of enchantment. We see Afghanistan in the 1960's and early '70’s, a long-lost land of brilliant skies and lushly cultivated gardens. Once the storyline moves to the U.S., the book takes a more prosaic turn. Amir’s father, formerly a comanding figure, is sadly diminished. And Amir’s inner struggle—which makes the earlier chapters so compelling—gets put on hold. Still, we're given an intriguing glimpse into traditional family rituals as Amir courts and marries a young Afghan, also in exile.

Unfortunately for readers, the story hits a wall on page 202. With a single revelation, the narrative becomes contrived and heavy-handed with coincidence. The story ends well, as you certainly want it too, though I wish Hosseini had taken more care.

Yet despite my bickering, this book is easy to love and hard to put down. It’s particularly apt given all that is happening in Afghanistan today—a reminder of how easily lives and societies are shattered by the brutality of war. Don’t miss this one.

Be sure to check out our Reading Guide for The Kite Runner.

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain, 1885

By Molly Lundquist
It's a mistake to think of Huck Finn as a children’s book. It's anything but. Scholars consider it one of the Great American Novels (alongside Moby Dick and The Scarlet Letter). 

Granted, Huck Finn is a ripping good “escape story”—a young boy and run-away slave make their way by raft down the Mississippi toward freedom. Along the way they meet up with all sorts of adventure and an array of flamboyant characters, mostly shady but a few honest. 

Despite all the fun, Twain presents a stinging satire on the antebellum South, and like most satires Huck has generated considerable controversy. Even today you're likely to find it on some list, somewhere in the country, of banned books. Criticism has come from both left and right, either side charging the work with racism or anti-religious bias. Of course, neither is correct.

Jim, the slave, is the moral center of the book—while every fool, hypocrite and criminal met along the way is white. Young Huck struggles mightily with his divided conscience. On one hand, he is profoundly aware of Jim’s humanity and nobility; he understands the depth of their friendship and loyalty to one another. On the other hand, Huck’s society not only condones slavery, but preaches that abetting an escaped slave would send Huck straight to hell. The book takes aim not at religion, but at religion practiced falsely.

Twain’s ability to paint memorable characters is second to none. Brilliant, complex, and funny, this book is a vital part of America's literary history.


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