THE BOOK I LEFT BEHIND

When I first began reading THINGS THAT MATTER, I had already begun reading Joanne Harris’s THE GIRL WITH NO SHADOW. Some of my readers may remember my saying I would read them simultaneously. That did not happen, for TTM was too fascinating to switch to another book. But now it’s almost time to resume NO SHADOW, as I shall call it. I do not care for the spirit world or other world or whatever it is that Harris writes about in several novels. This book is a sequel to her CHOCOLAT that made a hit movie. I did not like that very thing that was there, what I’m talking about here, whatever it is. As an example, somewhere in these 47 pages I’ve read in this one, is a scene in which two girls go into a tearoom or café or sweet shop, after school. One has no money. The other seems to have plenty of everything, looks, fashions, and money. But when she pays, the no-money girl hears the other say to the waitress something like “Here’s a fifty. You can keep the change.” But the girl with no money sees the amount proffered is only a five. The waitress doesn’t realize what happened. She believes. I don’t know if this is witchcraft or what, but I don’t like it. That “witch” must be the girl with no shadow. I will perhaps skim the first 47 pages before I really read this one, if I do.

My first attraction to the writing of Joanne Harris was her excellent novel FIVE QUARTERS OF THE ORANGE, with a World War II setting in France. Then I liked her COASTLINERS. The latter of these two has the most nearly perfect first paragraph that I’ve found anywhere; it’s a good one if you’re teaching creative writing. I will draw the line there and not even mention some other titles, for they don’t measure up, in my estimation.

Why do I like the ones I do like? She is a master of the printed word. It seems her delightful paragraphs might have taken a long time to execute. Write and revise, write and revise. But I don’t think that is what’s going on. I think she has written all her life and has learned what sounds right the first time she tries. Her language is so fresh you do not know what is coming on the next line. That’s art.

It will be another day or two to get back to NO SHADOW but that’s the plan. ♥