#6Degrees of Separation for May 2, 2020.

adult, autobiography, biographical, Commentary, contemporary, fiction, historical, literary, Memes, mystery, non-fiction, women 6 Minutes

From “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy to “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter” by Kim Edwards.

This is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. Each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the other books on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain. The rules are:

  • Link the books together in any way you like.
  • Provide a link in your post to the meme at Books are My Favourite and Best.
  • Share these rules in your post.
  • Paste the link to your post in the comments on Kate’s post and/or the Linky Tool on that post.
  • Invite your blog readers to join in and paste their links in the comments and/or the Linky Tool.
  • Share you post on Twitter using the #6Degrees hash tag.
  • Be nice! Visit and comment on other posts and/or retweet other #6Degrees posts.

THANKS FOR PLAYING!

This month we start with “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy!

The RoadThis month we start with “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy.  On Amazon, it says that “The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,” are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.” This is a post-apocalyptic novel, which Kate chose because she says she feels like we’re living through a type of apocalypse with COVID-19. I haven’t read this book, and I probably won’t read it. This isn’t really my thing, to be honest – Pulitzer Prize or not.

First Degree. 

91804-the_cats_table_ondaatje-1Since I don’t generally read these types of books, I was worried how I’d start this chain. However, something else in the blurb made me think – “Attempting to survive in this brave new world, the young boy and his protector have nothing but a pistol to defend themselves. They must keep walking.” So, how about a journey? The first one that came to mind is my second favorite Michael Ondaatje novel “The Cat’s Table” which is a semi-autobiographical story about a young boy who travels 21 days on an ocean liner from Sri Lanka to London, much like Ondaatje did himself when he was also only 11-years-old. This is such a beautiful novel; I encourage everyone to read it.

Second Degree.

c26dd-lillian2bboxfishAnother book that’s also about a journey, although not on an ocean liner, but one undertaken totally on foot, is “Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk” by Kathleen Rooney. This story uses an extended late-night walk on New Year’s Eve (with some stops at familiar places along the way), through the streets of New York as a catalyst for Lillian Boxfish to look back on her life. Much like the walk itself, this book meanders along with just gentleness and tenderness, it is bound to touch your heart. Plus, it is based on the life of a real woman, which makes it a semi-biographical novel, that links nicely with the first book I chose for this chain.

Third Degree.

cd6d0-haroldfryA similar type of journey takes place in Rachel Joyce’s debut novel “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.” In this book, Harold Fry gets a letter telling him that an old work colleague of his, Queenie Hennessy, is dying. In her letter she says that she wrote to say goodbye. Instead of writing back to her, Harold impulsively starts walking because he feels the need to see her once more. The problem is, he lives half way across the country, and he ends up having to walk 600 miles across England to get to her. Of course, along the way, he recalls their relationship (and no, he didn’t have an affair with her). This was the book that made me into a Rachel Joyce addict, and I can hardly wait to read her upcoming novel, “Miss Benson’s Beetle” which is due out in June.

Forth Degree.

14c98-instructionsAnother book that includes a journey of going towards something is “Instructions for a Heatwave” by Maggie O’Farrell. In this book, similar to Harold Fry who goes out to get the mail and walks away, Robert Riordan goes out to buy a newspaper and doesn’t come home to his wife Gretta. When Gretta realizes he’s not coming home, she starts out on a journey of her own, taking her three grown children with her to Ireland to find out where Robert has gone. This, of course, leads to all of them to not only travel in search of someone, but also on their own personal journeys to investigate the truths of their own lives, past and present. Of all of O’Farrell’s stories, I think that this one struck me as being the most complex and in-depth in how she portrays each of the characters. My personal sympathies were drawn to Aiofe (pronounced EE-fah, Irish for Eva), the youngest of the children who suffers from severe dyslexia – something I know too much about from my own personal experience.

Fifth Degree.

keeping lucyOf course, not all journeys that include self-discovery are ones that take a protagonist towards something or someone. Some of them are made to take a character away from something or someone. That’s why my next book is “Keeping Lucy” by T. Greenwood. When Ginny Richardson finds out that her husband has put her Down’s Syndrome daughter into a horrible institution, she kidnaps her and goes on a road trip to Florida with her son in tow, to find a way to save her daughter from a fate worse than death. This physical journey is also an emotional one, for both Ginny and her husband. Aside from the fact that I enjoyed this book, I also really love the cover art they used, which I think is actually perfect.

Sixth Degree. 

1f3f9-memory_keepers_daughter1In my review of that last book, I made a connection between it and a book that was a huge sensation when it came out, but which I didn’t care for all that much (because of the plot holes, not because of the writing). I’m talking about “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter” by Kim Edwards. Although I don’t like to include books in these chains that I haven’t received at least 4/5 stars, the link here is so strong that I really couldn’t avoid it in this instance. The story begins when Dr. David Henry’s wife Nora gives birth to twins. The boy is fine, but the girl Phoebe has Down’s Syndrome. David gives Phoebe to his nurse, Caroline, to take to an institution, but tells Nora that the girl died. However, Caroline can’t bring herself to put such a sweet child away, and instead, kidnaps her to raise on her own. There are many reasons why this book only got three stars from me, but one thing it has in common with the previous book in this chain, is really good cover art. Also, who knows but you might be willing to overlook my niggles and enjoy this book.

There you have it – a chain of books that all contain some kind of journey. So… the question is, does this last book connect in any way back to our starting book?

Well, both were highly popular when they were published, both came out in the first decade of the 21st century, and both were made into movies, so there are those things. Plus, Caroline moves to Pittsburgh to raise Phoebe, and the film of “The Road” was partially filmed in Pennsylvania. Yes, these are tenuous connections, but that’s the best I can do this time!

If you don’t know any of these books, I hope you’ll click on the links to my reviews and check them out!

#6Degrees 05 2020 May 2 2020

If you decide to join in on this meme, I hope you’ll give me the link to your post in the comments below, and/or put your link on the linky page that Kate has on her blog for this meme.

Next month (June 6, 2020), we will start with Normal People by Sally Rooney.

 

Published

43 thoughts on “#6Degrees of Separation for May 2, 2020.”

  1. This is a wonderful chain! I think every book on here is on my wish list or TBR shelf. Except for two. The Road and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, both of which I’ve read. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. #Snap! I’m with you Davida on both The Road and The Memory-Keeper’s Daughter, and also a fondness for Ondaatje. I haven’t read that one yet, but it’s on my wishlist:)

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  4. Really enjoyed participating in this meme! Can’t believe it took me so long. Loved seeing your links. I do remember The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. I like it but could have been a fantastic book.

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  5. Nice job. I really enjoyed Harold Fry but not the second book in that series. I wasn’t taken with the Cat’s Table or Lilian Boxfish [I sound so crabby today! lol I’m not]. I like the way you pulled them all together!

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  6. I’ve read/own a couple in your chain, most notably I bought Cat’s Table after I read an interview with John Irving where he gave the book high praise (that’s enough to sell me!).

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  7. Loved Ondaatje’s The English Patient, the only book by him that I’ve read. Miss Benson’s Beetle is on my wish list. I liked how you found links from your last book to The Road.

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  8. I really enjoyed Harold Fry, but still haven’t read any other Rachel Joyce books – I’m not sure why! That Michael Ondaatje book sounds interesting, but I have Warlight to read first.

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  12. Great chain! I still have read the Harold Fry book but I have read the Maggie O’Farrell book, which I loved. I’m not too keen on reading The Road at the moment either.

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  13. Ive read three from your chain: I loved Lillian Box Fish, didn’t get on with the Maggie O’Farrell, and enjoyed The Cat’s Table but can’t really remember what happened in it 🤷🏻‍♀️

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  16. I haven’t read any of these, but I like that they all include some kind of journey. Most of them sound quite interesting, not at least the Michael Ondaatje – I’ve noticed his books often appear on your blog! 😉

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  19. Pingback: #6Degrees of Separation: From The Road to… | Reading Ladies

  21. The only one I’ve read so far is The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, which was a book that at one level I found rather fascinating (I was researching representation of disability and motherhood at the time), but I did wonder about some of the plot holes. My aunt has loaned me The Cat’s Table, and is still sitting on my to-read pile – perhaps it’s time I picked it up!

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  22. I don’t read this genre either!
    Ha! I also started with the theme of Journey…..and of course I included Harold!!! I need to put the finishing touches on my post yet tonight.

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  23. Great and interesting chain as usual, Davida. I’ve heard of your 1st, 2nd and 6th books, but haven’t read them, though have often thought about the Ondaatje, and I gave Lilian Boxfish to someone as a gift last year. I’m particularly interested in your 3rd and 4th books as being potentially good for mr Mum to read. I’ll check them out.

    I’m sorry you are not interested in The road, but understand why not. I loved the writing.

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