Book Review: These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

 

Book: These Precious Days 

Author: Ann Patchett 

Pages: 336

Read on: Kindle 

Read in: ~4 hours

Plot Summary: The international bestselling writer Ann Patchett has been described as 'one of the foremost chroniclers of the burdens of emotional inventory and its central place in American lives' and 'a master of her art' (Observer). In her new collection, with her trademark blend of wryness, intelligence and wisdom, she explores family, friendship, marriage, failure, success - and how all these forces have shaped her as a writer. 

Ranging from the personal - her portrait in triptych of the three men she called her fathers, to unexpectedly falling into a friendship with Tom Hanks, to how to answer when someone asks why you don't have children - to the sublime - exploring the Harvard Museum of Natural History before its doors open, or the perfection to be found on a single page of Eudora Welty - each essay shows Patchett's strikingly original perspective, and the magical sleight of hand with which she transforms the particular into the universal. 

Illuminating, penetrating, funny and generous, These Precious Days is joyful time spent in the company of one of our greatest living authors.

General Thoughts: Ann Patchett is one of my favourite authors. I first read Bel Canto by her and fell in love with her writing. After that, I think, I've pretty much read everything she's ever written. Patchett's ability to get under the skin of her characters, to humanise them even when they are monsters is simply stunning! If you'd like to start reading Patchett, then I'd recommend Bel Canto or even this collection of essays if you don't want to commit to a novel but sample her writing at the same time. 

Things I Liked: 

1. These Precious Days is a collection of essays and is, therefore, a literary non-fiction book. I hadn't read literary non-fiction in a LONG, LONG time and so, when I learnt that one of my favourite authors had published a collection of essays, I simply had to grab it and start reading. This is a very personal collection of essays and it delves into the lives of people in and around the author's life, which made this book filled with love and gratitude- something that I really took away from and enjoyed reading. 

2. The essays are, mostly, focused on people- the three fathers in her life, her best friend, a new friend she'd made about three years ago, a favourite nun, her favourite author and so on. Each of these essays look into the impact of these people in her life with such honest and kindness (yes, it is possible to be both) that it took my breath away. Ann Patchett does not shy away from the heavier burdens of balancing the expectations of a father with that of a demanding, but so loving stepfather. Neither does she shy away from being unapologetically unsentimental about possessions or being blunt about her graduate school experience at the much feted Iowa Writers' Workshop. I loved how raw and honest her writing was. 

3. I am so excited to try out two authors mentioned by Ann Patchett in this book- Eudora Welty and Kate diCamillo. They both sound wonderful and interesting and I don't think I have read anything by either!

4. I also loved the different people in her life that were profiled in this collection of essays. Kent, her best friend- Tavia's father- who loved collecting kitschy decor and art, her three fathers, her best friend- Tavia, her new friend- Sooki- who she met through work a few years back, her husband- Karl and her friend, who is also a pastor (I forget his name now!). Such interesting, wonderful, flawed, kind people, who leapt off the page and stayed with you because that's how beautifully they were written. With love and kindness and honesty. 

Rating: 5/5