Today is Monday and the first time I’ve touched a computer since last Tuesday. I decided school was out and Thanksgiving was a good excuse to just avoid the world and enjoy my family. I was able to dedicate one day to each parent. It was super nice. Unfortunately, my sister is still in Mexico so the phone ended up being my only connection to her and on one of our chats we were both so incredible sleepy that we just gave up. Turkey does that to you.
While avoiding the world minus Scott, he is always included, I read a great book: This Boy’s Life: A Memoir by Tobias Wolff. Lately I’ve found myself drawn to reading memoirs. There is something powerful in knowing that what you’re reading, although in story form, is someone’s life. Tobias Wolff tells a tale that has readers grabbing a pen to underline life-changing passages that remind us of our lives. At least that’s what I did.
We travel along with a young Toby Wolff as he travels across the country with his mother, escaping one stepfather after another. With every move Wolff searches for his identity, even changing his name to create his own personality. Readers watch a boy who tries desperately to make the world see him for what he is. Not just a wild, outrageous rough and tumble boy with an attitude, but a boy with potential and possibility. Wolff’s story of growing up in the 50’s becomes a tale that spans all generations.
Knowing that everything comes to an end is a gift of experience, a consolation gift for knowing that we ourselves are coming to an end. Before we get it we live in a continuous present, and imagine the future as more of that present. Happiness is endless happiness, innocent of its own sure passing. Pain is endless pain.
As a reader I soaked this passage in, reading and re-reading these words, relating them to my life. Wolff was able to draw meaning out of his life and put it into words that express what all people must learn. Even as I sit here thinking about this book and this passage, I realize that I still have yet to comprehend what Wolff is saying. To live is to experience and that’s what Wolff as taught me.
A lot of Wolff’s travels I couldn’t relate to, but I immediately thought of Scott and of all the times he has had to move and make new friends. Wolff just seems to know the kids that were destined to be his friends. This makes me wonder if people truly know, instinctively, the path that is supposed to be theirs, the people that are supposed to be in their lives. Maybe, maybe not.
Final Rating: Five Stars--- A great read that causes great thought while being very entertained. Wolff is a master at storytelling, even when it’s his own life.
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