Have you ever felt alone, ignored, or that you consistently got the short end of the stick through no fault of your own?
Then the first half of this book is going to freak you out.
Did me, in the middle of the night, or morning, however you label 4-7 AM. I was doing the final stage of my colonoscopy prep and...
I'd wasted too much of the day before on TikTok and Instagram and surfing the web and it became unfulfilling so I decided to go deep during this three hour window.
You see they've changed the prep. Well, you can go old school and drink that vile liquid, but now they've got pills. But you've got to wake up seven hours before the procedure and take the rest of the pills over 45 minutes and then spend two and a quarter hours thereafter drinking fluid accordingly.
Ergo my middle of the night hejira.
As for the colonoscopy... I can't reckon how these people do the same thing day in and day out. Oh, it pays spectacularly well, and the doctor has a piece of the establishment, but... Well, maybe the doctors also do something else, but I talked to the nurses, this is their gig, the same thing, every day.
I had "mini polyps." Literally the doctor's words. Not to worry.
But I don't expect any prostate problems, my numbers are low and barely change You see we all get something, you'll realize this as you age. None of us get out of here alive, but if you want to live longer you're going to have to address all kinds of things, like the Big C, one of my struggles. As for those men afraid to go for a colonoscopy... You're too macho? With the pills it's really no big deal. You need to get one.
So I reserved "Demon Copperhead" from the library, even though I couldn't get into any Barbara Kingsolver book previously. And Felice started it before me and talked about the language. You see it's written in the style of someone...let's just say he doesn't have a full education. Didn't bother me so much, but I did note it. And I was reading a few pages a night, the book never called out to me. I wondered if I was going to finish it.
And then there was that three hours in the middle of the night, that hooked me.
It was a bizarre book at a bizarre time. I don't mind staying up until 4 AM, I don't mind getting up in the middle of the night to go on a trip. But to get up and stay home in the quiet house while it's dark out...it disorients you.
So what we've got here is a story set in western Virginia. Poor people. You know, the Oxycontin belt. And Demon is like too many in America, not nurtured but on his own and then fully on his own.
But I don't want to reveal too much. As I've said before, I read for plot, and that's what eventually hooked me. To the point where I spent seven hours straight finishing the book yesterday, I just couldn't put it down, I couldn't stop.
But if you buy "Demon Copperhead"...
It's not that it's hard to read, but the first forty percent or so didn't call out to me, and that's what I'm looking for first and foremost, a book I not only want to read, but need to read.
And then...
There are big themes in this book, but it's not typical literary fiction, caught up in each sentence, so dense it's unreadable.
And the book ultimately does make you think about some of these issues, interesting to get the perspective of those with a different background.
And one could say it's the underbelly of the country, those who are sick of being talked down to and voted for Trump. And that's there, but ultimately "Demon Copperhead" is the story of life, and death.
Where did I read just recently, the key to happiness is relationships?
Which brings me to Bonnie Raitt. I know that's quite a segue, but I've been thinking about this song off "Home Plate" for days now, "Pleasin' Each Other," written by Little Feat and now Doobie Brothers keyboardist Bill Payne and his first wife Fran Tate.
"You don't care about money
You don't care about time
And our love keeps rolling, rolling along"
Wow have things changed since the seventies. Money was not as important then. Then again, life wasn't so hard. The financial equation in relationships, at least at first, was not key. You were just looking for the right fit, someone who got you.
And that's what everybody is looking for in "Demon Copperhead." Everyone is just living their life. Then again, the lack of opportunity causes the younger generation to turn to drugs and...
I usually only recommend books that are slam dunks, that will grab you from the very first page, and that was not my experience with "Demon Copperhead." But there came a point...
And I think you'll get there too.
It is a commitment, 556 pages, but you'll ultimately want the book to be longer.
You could download it right now and make a dent in it during the holiday before the world starts back up on Tuesday.
Or maybe not...
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