Brooks and Koontz

Brooks and Koontz are two unlikely bedfellows - in the literature sense.  But having just finished a new book from each, I thought I would report on them together. 

I first "met" Geraldine Brooks through her book "People of the Book" - an incredible good read that followed through different people from a Jewish, Christian and Muslim point of view in their historical settings.  It showed the connections that each had to the Bible (read "early chapters of the Old Testament") and gave a context for their faith and culture in beautiful written overlapping stories.  It made their lives real and highlighted the connections between them (the book!) rather than the differences.  A "must read" really in this increasingly fragmented world of faith.

So I was more than happy to download her new book "Caleb's Crossing" onto my trusty kindle.  This was set in the 1600's in the early English settlement in America of religious groups and their contact and interaction with the indigenous people. The "crossing" referred primarily to the journey of a young Indian to the English faith and culture and completing his degree at the very early Harvard.  It is based on some basic facts about a Caleb who did just that!  This book was also beautifully written - and told through the eyes of a girl/woman who met Caleb on his island prior to his starting on this journey and then travelled with him on the learning and assimilation pathway.  At a deeper level it captured the loss of indigenous culture, the loss of land and standing and the new faith (and a very legalistic one) replacing the old.  There was a moment of recognition that the old gods may not actually have been very different from the new God - reinforced by Caleb "crossing at the end" to the hereafter of his history rather than the English heaven.  A good book.  It lost a little towards the end when it went from day to day experiences to a very rapid reflection from the memory of the now aging story teller about what happened post graduation..... but in the end, it did satisfy.
 
Now Dean Koontz - a very different genre. Horror....Supernatural...Whimsical (now there is a little overlap with Brooks!)...good versus evil (a universal theme)......What I like about his books is the rappartee between characters, the intelligent dogs (mainly golden retrievers) and the way the evil is defeated - but only after they have a left a little trail of horror on the way.  I also like the way in which he never lets biophysical rules stop a good story!  He also goes out of his way to use unsual and rich words - and often I have had to go to a dictionary to grab the full meaning!  Nice in a book - where normally they keep it at 12 year old levels.  I have read most of his books - and enjoy them - even if they are a tad spine chilling at times.  The rest of the family don't go for them even though we generally have a very strong overlap in the books we read. 

The last offering "What the night Knows" started with a young boy having had brutally murdered his family - in a similar fashion to how the central character's (now a police officer) family was killed 20 years before.  His (the policeman's) house and family then becomes the target of the impending horror as the presence from before seeks to repeat the performance again now.  The kids are characterised nicely - with that easy interaction - and the family dog that had died some years previously entering the family domain again (this is quite possible in Koontz's books!) to shepherd them against the evil.

So two different books - but both good reads in their own way.  I think the common element for me is the wonderful grasp of language and human insights that both authors show.  They capture our minds with their words and give us imagry and feelings and empathy for their characters and circumstances.  They give us insights into ourselves, our beliefs and those around us.  So now on to the next book!  Happy reading.