Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Garnett Walker

I am listening to "Prodigal Summer" by B. Kingsolver, the audio version of the book. I listen to a lot of audio books while driving or working. Today, on the trip to visit my mother, I listened to chapter nine. It was the first chapter about the character Garnett Walker. First person narrative, Garnett talking about his day, and suddenly it hits me, he has dementia! The world is becoming blurred and confused around him. He wakes up disoriented, and his excuse is because he's widowed and she's not in bed beside him. (But she's not been there for years.) He drives to town and sees the landscape on the side of the road as it use to be... and not attentive to his driving. He gets to town and sees the Saturday Farmers' Market all set up, when he knows it's Friday. He's goes into town on Fridays especially for the fish special at the diner. He is fixated on his neighbor and her business and their neighborly battles. BK has written the wavering perception of an intelligent man, I wonder how his story develops.

No comments: