A Certain Slant of Light
Registered by redhot-brat of Delavan, Minnesota USA on 10/24/2007
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
3 journalers for this copy...
Helen died 130 years ago as a young woman. Unable to enter heaven because of a sense of guilt she carried at death, she has been silent and invisible but conscious and sociable across the generations. Her spirit has been sustained by its attachment to one living human host after another, including a poet and, most recently, a high-school English teacher. While she sits through his class one day, she becomes aware of James and he–unlike the mortals all around them–is aware of her as well. James, who also died years earlier, inhabits the body of a contemporary teen, Billy. James and Helen fall in love, he shows her how to inhabit the body of a person whose spirit has died but who still lives and breathes, and the two begin to unfold the mysteries of their own pasts and those of their adolescent hosts. Jenny, whose body Helen now uses, is the only child of strict religious parents who controlled her beyond what her spirit could endure. Billy's spirit left his body after a string of tragedies resulting from drug abuse and domestic violence. James and Helen court in both modern and old-fashioned ways; here is a novel in which explicit sex is far from gratuitous or formulaic. Whitcomb writes with a grace that befits Helen's more modulated world while depicting contemporary society with sharp insight. In the subgenre of dead-narrator tales, this book shows the engaging possibilities of immortality–complete with a twist at the end that wholly satisfies.
Ex-Library Copy
Ex-Library Copy
reserving this for the Nov. PUFS swap at Bookobsessed.com
This was won by Catsalive in the Nov. PUF Swap. It will be out on it's way soon.
Thanks redhot-brat.
A bit too adolescent at times - they are supposed to be adults in their late twenties. Given the times in which our ghosts grew up I find it very difficult to believe they'd have jumped straight into a physical relationship, however, I suppose the sudden jump into corporeality might overwhelm the senses, common or otherwise. I also think Helen acted more like a 15-year-old than a mature woman on several occasions with no thought for the consequences - one could say this is an intended juxtaposition between adolescent & adult, but that doesn't quite ring true. It felt like the author wasn't quite sure which character she was writing. Also, I can see why Billy was empty & understand why James took the chance of jumping into the remaining shell, but Jenny is another story - she may have been cowed, dispirited & despairing but I don't see that she'd be absent.
Even with a few inconsistencies, it is very easy-reading & I enjoyed the tale.
Even with a few inconsistencies, it is very easy-reading & I enjoyed the tale.
Released 4 yrs ago (9/30/2019 UTC) at Laverton, Western Australia Australia
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Sent to mattandandy75.
Received in a fabulously full book box from Catsalive. Thanks so much!!
Will pop aside for release at a later stage. :)
Will pop aside for release at a later stage. :)
Journal Entry 8 by mattandmandy75 at Pakenham Lakeside Little Library in Pakenham, Victoria Australia on Thursday, October 10, 2019
Released 4 yrs ago (10/11/2019 UTC) at Pakenham Lakeside Little Library in Pakenham, Victoria Australia
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
To the finder of this book:
Please journal that you’ve found me, read and re-release. I’d love to follow the book’s journey. Bookcrossing is free & fun and let’s face it, not much is these days! :)
Please journal that you’ve found me, read and re-release. I’d love to follow the book’s journey. Bookcrossing is free & fun and let’s face it, not much is these days! :)