jakorte's blog

I've just finished reading my first James Patterson book. Beach Road.

A short book, I’m not entirely sure it represents him or counts fully as a Patterson book since it’s a co-write. In any case, I loved it the style and the sheer complexity of writing the same story from different viewpoints. My original idea for the one self-horrifying horror story I wrote as a class project centered about a center-room fire place and four points of view. The characters would all be the same person in the end, but it was too complex for the short-term story assignment I was working on, and I couldn’t quite imagine how I could make that work in any short-story way that would make sense. I appreciate Patterson’s novel demonstration that it could work. I’d still like to try that someday.

The other thing I absolutely loved about Beach Road was that it did not have a happy ending. At first I wasn’t sure why I was so excited about that, then it occurred to me I’ve only been reading books with happy endings. Sure these softly written, un-intellectual books have fair amounts of self-identifying angst, unsureity, and betrayal, but in the end, the stories all wrap up nicely and happily ever after for the usually unlikely heroine and her somewhat of a price uncharming. Ridiculous, yet addicting in short order. Drivel, really... still an ok occasional route for escapism, because happy endings are the exception rather than the norm. I can’t really accept the fact that my opportunity for that type of happy ending is past. Of course, life isn’t really about those types of happy endings, anyway. It’s more about the promise of heaven. Yet, in this suddenly capsized moment, that usual comfort seems to fall a little short; and does absolutely nothing to dissuade an irascible, inevitable, and entirely disappointing, rain of tears. Which, of course, I plan on shorting, shortly...

Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you... 3 John 1:2