Yong (10/26): Be Near Me by Andrew O'Hagan

Grey. Grey is the color of the cover, of the story, of the economically depressed and narrow-minded small Scottish town of Dalgarnock in which it's set, of the air, of the mood, of the life of the visiting Catholic priest David Anderton at its center. This is the first book I've bought for myself since...since college, I think, because one of my kids gave me a book store gift card. And just when did paperback books surge in price from six bucks to fourteen??

The first book I ever read for this blog was about a Catholic priest from England. And so it seemed rather appropriate that my last book for this third go of it was also about a Catholic priest from England. But they couldn't be more different. The other was a fable written sixty-six years ago. This one is undeniably a product and a reflection of our modern times, a psychologically tortuous journey into the depths of one man's soul, sifting through layers of self-deception and self-denial in order to clear away the lies, find what's true, and resurface from years of murk to breathe clear air once again. As life is a choice, so is it one we can turn away from. And as solitude--loneliness--is usually a burden that must be borne, sometimes a choice accepted out of duty, so can it at times be a refuge, an escape, from life.

You know how there are books and movies that you love in the moment but quickly lose the taste of even when you try to hold on? And others that you're not quite sure you even liked when you were done with them, but then they stay with you, dance at the fringes of your thoughts for days? This was one of those. And I'm glad I bought it, because its lessons are ones I need to hold on to.