Warning: This review contains no spoilers. Viewer discretion advised.
[I’ve got that summertime, summertime sadness…]
It’s 8:54 AM on a Thursday in July and I’m standing in a Hudson Book Sellers at Chicago Midway Airport.
In 25 minutes I’ll be departing for Las Vegas.
In 25 minutes it will be me and Lana Del Rey cruising Southwest Airlines, eating hard shitty pretzels, and wondering why this Bachelors Party had to be in Vegas.
But for now it’s me and Cindy. Cindy, who is working the morning shift at this Hudson Book Sellers.
Midway Airport is like the Mos Eisley of Airports. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. One must be cautious when flying.
But here I am, with a bag of McDonald’s Hash Browns, looking for a book to read before I lose myself to Sin City.
I should have known better.
Why I would find a book worthy of a 4 hour flight? What good can possibly come from a Hudson’s Book Sellers?
The usual players are displayed neatly in the window:
Now Boarding:
James Patterson: Row 1, Seat A.
Elizabeth Gilbert: Row 1, Seat B.
Nicholas Sparks: Row 1, Seat C.
John Green: Row 1, Seat D.
Paul Asta Row 26, Seat E.*
*In reality I am B46, because Southwest does that weird non-assigned seats thing.
I am taking coach to a whole new level of sadness, and we’ve been sad for a long time.
The Fault in Our Stars is flying off the shelves at a record pace. It’s the paperback of the summer, and I’ve seen at least 6 copies as I walk to my terminal.
But then, in the darkest corner, behind a cardboard standup display for Trident Gum, I see it:
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST.
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER.
Friends, I tell you, even in darkness, there is hope: The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
In truth, I have never read anything by Jhumpa Lahiri before, so I cannot speak to how the Lowland compares to her other work.
But I will say I find her prose engaging, face paced, and lively. And it is perhaps for this reason I am willing to overlook certain points where things don’t add up.
I am a sucker for coming of age stories and stories that concern brothers.
I am a sucker for character driven narratives as opposed to plot driven ones.
I appreciate characters that can show emotional complexity over a span of time and represent a full spectrum of feelings as opposed to having singular drives.
In this way, I believe Lahiri is successful.
If you’re looking for an emotional, character driven novel, The Lowland is for you.
Also, possibly The Fault in Our Stars, but I don’t know.
All I can say is If you’re looking for book at Hudson’s, look in the corners of the bookshelves. There’s something for everyone.
The fault is you not looking hard enough.
