So Many Ways to Begin

by Jon McGregor

Book Overview

Now in paperback for the first time, So Many Ways to Begin is a potent examination of family and memory, a look at what happens when life forces you to let go of the person you might have been. David... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0747584133
• ISBN13: 9780747584131
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing,
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.9" x 10.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Immerse Yourself in the Ordinary!

The author invites readers to observe closely as a life unfolds, each recollection triggered with reference to a found object. The story moves backward and forward in time, from World War II until the present, to tell a story at once curious and remarkably prosaic. The pace is slow but the writing is beautifully evocative in its simplicity. One feels present to the objects described and the events marking their significance to the narrative. I hesitate to say too much about either the characters or events since it is the unfolding of events and deepening appreciation of the characters that is the stuff of this book. I would say that there is nothing dramatic here, and yet I found myself deeply touched by the humanness of all the characters. Happily ever after has no place in this book, and yet I was certainly not depressed by the "reality" of these characters' lives. If I'm perfectly honest, I saw my own strength, fragility, heroism, cowardess, courage and fear in these men and women. There are no heroes here, only ordinary folks making the best of what life brings them. Through it all I was mesmerized.