Waterland Book

This may be one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. A lot of my favorite books, some of which I enjoyed even more than this one, have some combination of good plots, good themes, or good characters, but the quality of the writing leaves something to be desired. This is one of those novels that is so expertly crafted that it makes you remember what great writing is. The premise of a history teacher who is about to involuntarily retire due to the principal's decision to eliminate the history program makes it plausible that the narration is the main character's last lectures to his class. It gets extremely personal, and at times inappropriate for a class lecture, but because he no longer has anything to lose, Tom Crick speaks uncensored, ultimately teaching the class not only his personal history, some of which is pretty grizzly, but also how history is valuable because it is a part of everyone. Every life has become and will become a part of history. Because of the style of narration, it is almost a stream of consciousness. You get the feeling that his words are almost floating out of him of their own will, and that he just lets it happen. As a result, the stories of his life jump around rather than happening chronologically. One moment he'll be talking about his brother and him during the war, then he'll jump to the history of his family in the 18th century, then to his own marriage, and then back and forth again. It can get a little confusing at times because he never tells you which part of his life he is returning to; the reader just has to have patience and then it will be revealed. In short, I recommend this book to anyone who is craving writing as art.