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A carregar... The Ha-Ha: A Novel (original 2005; edição 2005)por Dave King
Informação Sobre a ObraThe Ha-Ha por Dave King (2005)
Biggest Disappointments (228) A carregar...
Adira ao LibraryThing para descobrir se irá gostar deste livro. Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. 3.5 stars Howie was in Vietnam for the war. He was injured and came home unable to talk. He has not been able to since, nor did he re-learn to read and write. His best friend (and former high-school girlfriend), Sylvia, calls on him to take care of her 9-year old son, Ryan, while she is off to rehab. Lucky for Howie, he has three other people living in his house. Laurel lives there without paying rent, but she helps Howie out. Two other rooms are rented out to young men, Harrison and Steve (he calls them Nit and Nat: he doesn’t like them much!). This was good. There was a lot of “guy” stuff in the book, but with Howie and Ryan as main characters, becoming almost like father and son, one should expect that. It was nice how the household came together to help out with Ryan (though none were used to having a kid around the house!). I didn’t like Sylvia much, but then Howie did some stupid things, too. This story explored the themes of family and communication. Howard Kapostash is a wounded Vietnam veteran whose injury has left him unable to read, write or speak, but who is, as the card he's always reluctant to give people points out, "of normal intelligence." After Howard agrees to look after his ex-girlfriend's son, Ryan, while she is in rehab, Ryan's presence profoundly alters the lives of Howard and his three housemates. This was a very touching story and had me crying in a few places, but with a hopefully yet realistic ending. This was surprisingly solid read, with more depth than I had anticipated. The main character Howard struggles out of his solitary existence-- just to get kicked in the teeth for his trouble. But we come to accept that the crappy real world and its disappointments are better than going through life disconnected. The one fault I have with the work is the formulaic method of creating instant depth- add one troubled at-risk child and stir. Poof. Emotional live wire. But when you get into the nitty-gritty angst of the real story, King delivers a degree of emotion that is gut-wrenchingly believable. Just started listening to the audio version (read by Terry Kinney) -- so far (I am only on disk #1) it is intriguing.... And continues so to the end! The story revolves around Howie, who was injured in Vietnam and as a result is unable to speak, read or write -- although, as stated on his personal card, he is "of normal intelligence." Howie's old flame Sylvia ends up in rehab & has to leave her son Ryan (not Howie's child) with him while she "dries out." While caring for Ryan, Howie learns some lessons about building relationships and living life to the fullest despite whatever roadblocks or dis-abilities one encounters. The audio version contains an interview with the author at the end, which was very interesting as well. sem críticas | adicionar uma crítica
Distinctions
Howard Kapostash has not spoken in thirty years. The small repertory of gestures and simple sounds that he uses to communicate lead most people to assume he is disturbed. No one understands that Howard is still the same man he was before his tragic injury. But when he agrees to help an old girlfriend by opening his home to her nine-year-old son, the presence of this nervous, resourceful boy in his life transforms Howard utterly. He is afforded a rare glimpse of life outside his shell ? with all its exuberant joys and crushing sorrows. Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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Google Books — A carregar... GénerosSistema Decimal de Melvil (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyClassificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos EUA (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia:
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