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Chargement... Possessed by Shadows (2005)par Donigan Merritt
Aucun Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. 2   dchaikin | Mar 11, 2009 |  aucune critique | ajouter une critique
Possessed by Shadows is the story of two climbers who spend a year traveling from the rugged desert of Joshua Tree National Park to the Alps, the Himalayas, and the High Tatra mountains of Czechoslovakia. Philosophy professor Tom Valen narrates part of their story: the time he spent climbing with his wife, Molly, as she fought cancer. He also explores the journal she kept during the emotional period before her death, which occurred in the weeks before the Velvet Revolution in late 1989. Told in alternating voices as Tom relives that year, Molly's journal reveals compulsions that he never suspected, her romantic life from adolescence into adulthood, and a shocking revelation about Stefan, a fellow climber who had once saved Tom's life. In the final scene of the novel, the three old friends climb the highest mountain in the Tatras one last time, where they find a kind of redemption in the face of impending death. Possessed by Shadows is a tribute to selfless love and the bonds of friendship forged in the extremes of high mountains. It confronts us with the ultimate philosophical challenge: since we must die, how do we choose to live? Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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 Google Books — Chargement...GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne: (5)
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Recently I picked up Possessed by Shadows, the author's previous book. I have the only copy on LT. I can't predict whether this book will stick in the same way, but it had me mesmerized throughout. The story is about a married couple who are obsessive rock climbers. A climbing accident leads to the discovery that the woman, Molly, has a terminal untreatable brain tumor and about a year to live. We hear Molly's story of her life from herself, and the story of her last year from her husband. The two narratives are intertwined. I wouldn't call this a tearjerker or oppressively depressing (as a review on amazon.com did), because we're given the bad news up front. Instead this book is more about exploring the characters and mortality, and about a lot of rock climbing (something I'm not personally familiar with). Like the previous book there is a lot of self-reflection, and again it's very cleanly drawn. There are other similarities between these two books, actually in some ways they are echoes of each other.
It's interesting how a book so obscure can have such a meaningful effect on us. I can't say whether or not this is truly a great book or whether it would effect anyone else as it has me. My reaction may be a very personal reaction. I could probably say it's well written, although I don't feel qualified to judge. Part of it's attraction to me may have been in the discovery, and in the lack of expectation. A nice surprise. I'm not sure.
2009
http://www.librarything.com/topic/54129#1136824 (