A new posting assignment from Boss Lady (as opposed to “The Boss”), otherwise known as Cousin Reynalda. She thought posts about Hawaii would be a pleasant change (uh, we haven’t had any of late??).
Linda took it one step further and suggested we write about our favorite Hawaiian author or Hawaiian-themed story. I liked that idea but Rey not so much (she doesn’t read a lot).
It’s JJ, just in case you weren’t sure, and I’ll go first (Rey’s still scratching her head and uttering words best left unwritten). I have to go with Kaui Hart Hemmings’ The Descendants. I loved the movie, as I once posted, so much so I finally read the book. It was everything I expected and wanted—a great character-driven story. The book, as an FYI, is told from a man’s POV, yet written by a woman. It works; it sounds natural and flows well.
The storyline revolves around Matt King, a well-to-do [somewhat self-absorbed, or is that workaholic?] lawyer who is the descendant of a Hawaiian princess. He’s also a husband who finds himself having to play father/parent when his wife ends up in a coma. The two daughters, pre-teen Scottie and seventeen-year-old Alex, prove a handful . . . and make him realize how out-of-touch he’s been with his family.
Parenting skills take time to master, but thrust into the role of mother as well as father, Matt begins to develop as pater and person. Soul-searching accompanies him on the journey for truth and self. Yes, it sounds like it might be a heavy read, but it’s not; there’s humor . . . even during dire moments.
I look at the photo, which looks like those joke snapshots everyone takes of someone sleeping. I don’t know why we think they’re so funny. There’s a lot that can be done to you while you’re sleeping. This seems to be the message. Look how vulnerable you are, the things you aren’t aware of. Yet in this picture you know she isn’t just sleeping. Joanie has an IV and something called an endotracheal tube running out of her mouth to a ventilator that helps her breathe. She is fed through a tube and is administered enough medication to sustain a Fijian village. Scottie is documenting our life for her social studies class. Here’s Joanie at Queen’s Hospital, her fourth week in a coma, a coma that has scored a 10 on the Glasgow scale and a III on the Rancho Los Amigos scale. She was in a race and was launched from an offshore powerboat going eighty miles an hour, but I think she will be okay.
The Descendants is a great, easy read, something pleasantly diverting to hunker down with on a stormy day or evening. If I were giving stars, I’d give five out of five.
Aloha, my friends.
The Writer's Grab-Bag 