The English Major
1 journaler for this copy...
I was over the moon to find a Jim Harrison novel that I haven't yet read, in the Valentin bookbox
I had actually seen this in the library but avoided it because I thought it was something military... Well no, I suppose it is obvious to American readers that we are talking about someone who has majored in English.
Cliff's ex-wife Viv, whose personality and affection towards him changed after she became involved in selling real estate, cheated him in their divorce settlement, leaving him with only 10 per cent of the proceeds from their farm, 10 per cent to their son Robert and the rest for herself. With nowhere to live, and barely enough to live on, Cliff decides to go on a road trip through the all the US states, inspired by an old jigsaw puzzle with each state as a piece. As he leaves each state he throws away the corresponding piece. At the start of his journey, he hooks up with one of his old students (he was a teacher for 10 years), Marybelle, who accompanies him part of the way, before she joins her husband and daughter on an archaeological dig. But Cliff is happiest when he's on his own, walking in the forest, watching the birds, taking photos of cows, reminiscing about his parents and his brother Teddy, who drowned when a boy.
The style is breezy, and bawdy, and I laughed a lot, and his thoughts about his beloved dog Lola sometimes made me feel weepy. I would have liked to travel with Cliff: I wouldn't have been as demanding as the appallingly controlling Marybelle and I wouldn't have forced him to have a cellphone, and I would have sat quietly beside him drinking in the sight of the ocean.
About halfway through, I thought he was never going to make it through all the states - and of course he doesn't (the southern ones are too hot, for a start) - but he does complete his project of finding new names for them all.
There is a lot of wisdom in these pages.
Cliff's ex-wife Viv, whose personality and affection towards him changed after she became involved in selling real estate, cheated him in their divorce settlement, leaving him with only 10 per cent of the proceeds from their farm, 10 per cent to their son Robert and the rest for herself. With nowhere to live, and barely enough to live on, Cliff decides to go on a road trip through the all the US states, inspired by an old jigsaw puzzle with each state as a piece. As he leaves each state he throws away the corresponding piece. At the start of his journey, he hooks up with one of his old students (he was a teacher for 10 years), Marybelle, who accompanies him part of the way, before she joins her husband and daughter on an archaeological dig. But Cliff is happiest when he's on his own, walking in the forest, watching the birds, taking photos of cows, reminiscing about his parents and his brother Teddy, who drowned when a boy.
The style is breezy, and bawdy, and I laughed a lot, and his thoughts about his beloved dog Lola sometimes made me feel weepy. I would have liked to travel with Cliff: I wouldn't have been as demanding as the appallingly controlling Marybelle and I wouldn't have forced him to have a cellphone, and I would have sat quietly beside him drinking in the sight of the ocean.
About halfway through, I thought he was never going to make it through all the states - and of course he doesn't (the southern ones are too hot, for a start) - but he does complete his project of finding new names for them all.
There is a lot of wisdom in these pages.
