Week 45: Tinkers - Paul Harding (191 pages)

This book opens on George Washington Crosby laying in his living room in a hospital bed preparing to die. A very heavy topic. George sees the walls cave in around him and he starts the process of moving back and forth in time remembering and re-living seven decades of his life. 


Though this is a beautifully written book - I found myself reading some sentences over and over again to get at the author's meaning. This is Paul Harding's first novel (bravo on the Pulitzer) and it was great effort, I think it was a bit too dull for me at times to fully commit. I don't need a book to have bells and whistles, but this one was almost too laid back and somewhat contrived. I felt that the book was oftentimes trying to prove that it was much smarter than I could ever be. That is unfortunate, because the premise was intriguing. 


Many of George's memories were witty and there were many lessons to be learned - but Harding wrapped so much "other" around those stories that oftentimes I no longer cared. Many, many people love this book and offer rave reviews - I am not one of those people, but there were some moments of greatness here, too bad there weren't enough to sustain me.