06.26.03
Probable Future
“Anyone born and bred in Massachusetts learns early on to recognize the end of winter. Babies in their cribs point to the brightening of the sky before they can crawl. Level-headed men weep at the first call of the warblers. Upstanding women strip off their clothes and dive into the inlets and ponds before the ice has fully melted, unconcerned if their fingers and toes turn blue. Spring fever affects young and old alike; it spares no one and makes no distinctions, striking when happiness is least expected, when joy is only a memory, when the skies are still cloudy and snow is still piled onto the cold, hard ground.”
Oh my God. When I read this first paragraph from Alice Hoffman’s new book, The Probable Future, I just about crapped myself it was so good. I’m only on page eleven but it has only gotten better and better. I’m so excited about this book I’m going to wet myself.
June 27, 2003 at 8:20 am
You know, if you like this book, you might want to read “Witching Hour” by Anne Rice. Now I know what you’re going to say…her writing can be too rambling, too detailed, too…”Anne”…but when I started that book, albeit doubtfully( I’m not really a fan of her Vampire nonsense), I was whisked away to a world of witchcraft, incest, murder, and pain that I wanted to continue to live in, long after the trilogy was over. PS-If you decide to read all 1500 pages of Witching Hour, you may as well buy “Lasher” while you’re at it, it’s the sequel and you will literally want to pick it right up after the last word of its predecessor.
Beau said,
June 27, 2003 at 8:34 am
Actually Marianne, I read Witching Hour when it came out, once again trying to circle in on the elusive Anne Rice I so desperatly wanted to ‘get’. I liked the premise of it but from what I remember, it was again long-winded and dripping with too much writer stuff for me though I did finish it. What can I say? I’m a sucker for witches more than vampires. You do give me pause to pick it back up and maybe take a look at it again, though. That being said, Alice Hoffman who authored my favorite Practical Magic (the book, not that horrible movie)has such a fairy-tale way of telling a really rich story, I just love her. Though honestly, some of her books since Practical Magic left a litte to be desired for me though I suspect it was more because I wasn’t a woman more than anything else.
June 27, 2003 at 3:08 pm
I’m going to read it, at your recommendation, just as soon as I’m done with James Patterson’s “2nd Chance”- yes, I know I’m late. I don’t have as much time to read anymore like I did…but I can’t WAIT to get my hands on Running With Scissors, because after all the hype, it sounds like a “don’t miss”.