Friday Book Avenue

BookBeginnings is a weekly meme, hosted by Rose City Reader. To participate, share the opening lines and your thoughts about a book you're reading, or about to.


Beginning: P1

What Juan Diego always maintained  was that, in his mind - in his memories, certainly, but also in his dreams - he lived and relived his lives on "parallel tracks". A dear friend of Juan Diego's - she was also his doctor - teased him about the so-called parallel tracks. She told him he was always a kid from Mexico all the time or a grown up from Iowa all the time. Juan Diego could be an argumentative person, but he agreed with her about that.

My thoughts:

This is a book in which Juan Diego's memories and his real life experiences, as a fairly famous author, combine to tell a story. John Irving is a great story teller. Quirky, and full of really quotable passages, I'm about halfway through and really enjoying this book.

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice every Friday. 

How it works is you...Grab a book, any book. Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that's ok.) Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it)

Here's my P56

Juan Diego wrongly surmised that he was alone in noticing that the Christ Child was missing from the creche - or buried, perhaps smothered, in the hay. "The baby Jesus - " he started to say.

"Someone kidnapped the Holy Infant years ago." Dorothy explained. "I don't think the Hong Kong Chinese care."

Dorothy and her daughter, who Juan Diego meet on his travels, go on to debate whether the Baby Jesus is getting (or needs) a facelift, and then Juan Diego weighs in with his views on the Catholic Church cosmetically enhancing itself. I found it all highly amusing.

Here's the cover:

I'm sure I'll finish this weekend, if not tonight.

Tell me what you're reading, and I'll pay you a friendly visit. Happy reading everyone.

P.S. I've finished - here's my review.