my very first Goodreads recommendation, Ive waited for a truly good read, and Ive found one in Ink: A Memoir by Kathleen Pfeiffer, the latest nonfiction work in a series published by the Michigan Writers Cooperative Press, which maintains the high quality of the series.
The memoir is short and focused, divided into three chapters beginning, eighthgrade graduation middle, junior year in high school and end, midlife its unified, of course, by Pfeiffer, our protagonist, but also by a pop music motif, by the “ink” of the title in various forms, and by a sustained contemplation of the way that people come into and go out of our lives.
The writing is lean and direct, but not without colorful detail or humor, Pfeiffer takes us along with her younger self through a series of events, beginning with the death of her older brother, and we are swept up quickly, not just because of the surprise of some of the twists of the narrative, but because of the young Pfeiffers struggle to come to terms with her loss.
Catholicism is not unimportant to the narrative, but, in spite of my own Catholic upbringing, I may be missing some of whats going on here.
The narrators grade school and general social milieu is
Catholic and, at least at the outset, thats the context in which she necessarily tries to understand her brothers death.
As I read, I felt that the narrative was becoming less parochial, but it does concern itself with something like faith and fortitude all the way to the end.
Still, I think its possible to read this from a secular perspective as a narrative about the ineffable and to find it rich in material for reflection.
Engaging, entertaining, and lifeaffirming, Homey says check it out,
This slim memoir packs a punch, Everything appeals to me as a reader from the word choice to the vulnerability the author shows in every line, I was lucky enough to attend a reading by the author and it was as emotional and riveting as the memoir itself.
This short read captured my attention immediately, Having lost my own younger brother just a few years ago, I felt a kinship with the author and recognized those questions, moments, wanderings, and aches that come packaged with the gift of grief.
Despite its sad subject, this memoir left me feeling hopeful and ready for my own epiphanies about life, death, loss and reaching into the past to try to understand the now.
A worthwhile read for sure! I sincerely hope Pfeiffer writes a followup to INK, or extends the narrative of her life in some way, or some form.
It is not my intent to diminish the impact she achieves in justpages, because it sufficient and effective with the form she consciously chose, but Im a selfish reader who craves more when Im particular affected by good writing.
Im lucky to have been a student of Kathys and I remember her reading an excerpt of a chapter in, and even then, I was intrigued and I anticipated the release of her memoir.
The parallels and beautiful synchronism stamped throughout INK flow through the pages and the currents of her memories, They feel fresh and new, and seem just as poignant today, for Pfeiffer and for readers alike, as when they were first formedbefore they were immortalized in ink.
The comingofage story traces Pfeiffers grief following the death of her little brother Gerry when he wasand she was, “Ink” meditates on the meaning we find in lifes losses, But its also a story about particular times and places: about being an earnest Catholic school girl in small town Connecticut about the transition to college life in mids Boston and about how we all revisit the past to make sense of where we are today.
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