My summer was filled with family vacations, college visits, and basketball camps. During the travel time and usually before sleeping, I choose to read Leif Enger’s novel, Peace Like a River.
Peace Like a River is about the Land family’s journey across the northern United States. Reuben Land, also the narrator, and his family are searching for his older brother Davy, who was being delivered to a state jail after killing two intruders in the Land’s home. The Land’s journey is filled with unexpected events and happenings.
Leif Enger included many religious connections throughout her novel. This common theme was most present in the father of Reuben Land, Jeremiah, who was apparently given the ability to perform miracles, which he does many times. The most detailed of these miracles was the birth of Reuben in the first ten pages. Rueben’s lungs had failed to work for over twelve minutes before Jeremiah revived him by saying, “Reuben Land, in the name of the living God I am telling you to breathe.”
This wasn’t the only time in the novel that Jeremiah saved Reuben’s life. After being shot with a fatal wound to the chest, Reuben lays over his father’s body, who had also been shot, but not fatally. It is then that Reuben visits heaven, or described as the “other country,” which is peaceful and beautiful. He then awakens next to his dead father, and realizes his father, Jeremiah, had sacrificed his own life to save him. Reuben is ever so grateful to his father for that very last miracle.
These miracles were definitely dramatic, but in my eyes, were a little over the top, and not to mention predictable. Most of the obstacles that the Land’s faced ended up with Jeremiah using his divine power. Early in the book, I believe Enger wrote a message through Reuben, the narrator, directed to readers like me who are bothered by Jeremiah’s miracle working. Reuben said, “Real miracles bother people. Lazarus obeying orders and climbing up out of the grave -- now there's a miracle, and you can bet it upset a lot of folks who were standing around at the time.” To counter this and defend Enger’s work, Reuben said, “People fear miracles because they fear being changed -- though ignoring them will change you also.”
As a whole, the book was quite good. The characters were entertaining and sometimes witty. My favorite was Swede, the nine-year old sister, who was very intelligent. In fact she had written and epic poem series with the hero, Sunny Sundown, and the villain, Valdez. I loved how unique the events that the family went through were, just sometimes not how the events unfolded. Despite a few disagreements between the book and my liking, I am willing to read another Leif Enger novel, and hopefully connect the two by finding common themes. (483)
(Phew, first of many blog posts)
Matt, apparently I can leave comments now. Good. I haven't read any other of Enger's novels, so I can't say much about them. I agree with a couple of things you said about this one. That the little sister is a lively, bright character. Also that the supernatural element of the novel was a little hard for me at times. I'm so much a fan of really good realism, of which there was so much in this book, that the other was a little distracting to me at times.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks for the entry.