Wrap-Up: May 2013

Lots of great reads this month! Though my favorite was definitely Beautiful Redemption, the fourth novel in the Beautiful Creatures series. =) 

And the Soft Wind Blows

Timmy Enosh is a peculiar, small man: fivethree, onehundredandfifteen pounds, and is a pharmacist in Ashton City, Tennessee.


He finds himself at fortythreeyearsold as his life starts to fall apart: his threehundred pound wife disappears, his romantic interest has lost interest and has gained hatred toward him, his coworkers harass him, customers verbally assault him, and he has the strange urge to adopt his foulmouthed, eighteenyearold coworker, Alex.

When things start to pile up, Timmy must find a way to deal: he turns to Alex to supply him with marijuana, starts sewing an elaborate Mr. Mistoffelees costume, finds solace in the wild, etc., etc., etc.

And the soft, constant wind of change blows him on, on, and on.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Lance Umenhofer shares a character study in his novella, And the Soft Wind Blows. The main character, Timmy, is a middle aged man whose wife is nothing to be proud of and his life is, to say the least, not a full one. He lacks the love that we all desire, the pride that we all strive for, and the strength to reach for more. 

The entire novella covers a very small section of Timmy's life. The reader gets an in-depth glance at a man who settled for a woman who doesn't love him and a job that doesn't make him happy or proud. As the life he tiptoes around crumbles, Timmy succumbs to nothingness, choosing to erase his entire life and pharmaceutically invent another one. Readers will be able to connect with Timmy based on his hope that someday he may achieve what he dreams of. But by that same token, I think readers will wonder if Timmy's choices actually align with those dreams, or if he takes the easy way out of a difficult situation. 

It asks the question: how easy or difficult would it be for the average person, whom I think Umenhofer based Timmy on, to mentally re-create the life they've always wanted. If you could take a pill that would let you forget your life and replace it with one you've made up, would you do it? I think the spur of the moment answer would be yes, but in all reality could you so easily give up what you've spent your entire life building? 

And the Soft Wind Blows is a study of the character that lives inside of everyone. The character that bargains for more. The character that we all can connect with and never understand.

Rating: 3/5 Cups

And the Soft Wind Blows

WWW Wednesday (50)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

01. Currently Reading:
Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Continuing the Beautiful Creatures series. Totally absorbed! Only one more to go after this!

02. Recently Finished:
Benevolent by Devon Flaherty. Wonderful coming of age novel full of deep character connections. A must read for this summer! Let Flaherty take you around the world with her do-gooder characters trying to find their way to love.

03. Reading Next:
And the Soft Wind Blows by Lance Umenhofer. Tim's life is falling apart and he doesn't know what to do other than let the soft wind blow him through his problems. Back to the author review list with this one. =)