a good book

i am reading a book called 'Empire Falls' - by Richard Russo.  i am almost halfway through the 493 page hardbound book.  i checked it out at the library a week ago, after i returned Russo's 'Bridge of Sighs'.  That was a good book, and my daughter said this one was good - (she read all of russo's books before interviewing him for her magazine) - so i thought i'd try it, especially since it won a pulitzer prize. 

i really like this book.  i can feel this main character.  he sees himself as a self induced failure;  perhaps by martyrdom, perhaps foolishness, perhaps combination of circumstances.  he knows he is a failure and as he stumbles through life we see that he is a nice guy, a quiet, guy.  if he were not living in a little town i'd bet he would be invisible.  mr cellophane.  he is also an enabler.  he is too nice to make the hard decisions.  his niceness appears to be governed by his spiritual innerds - but it is really caused more by the love and protective pride he has for his dead mother; a woman who tried to live close to the book; a catholic who lived a loveless marriage.

sounds pathetically depressing, doesn't it?  it's not.  russo has managed to portray this man and his life in a dynamic that is very alive, albeit depressed.  his daughter, his brother, his soon to be ex-wife and her lover, and the town matriarch all have their own stories that intertwine and seem to hold up a basic thesis of this story. 

can't wait to get back to reading it...