Emrah Kara Kara itibaren Texas itibaren Texas

I have read this a couple of times over the years and it is still a beautiful book! To carry the past when no one else does makes this book so unique!

Great book. Highly recommend it.

** spoiler alert ** I really enjoyed this book more than I thought I would and especially liked the anecdotes about life in San Francisco around 1849 as well as the character's struggle between "proper etiquette" and mercy and grace befitting a Christian. However, I found the ending a little too simple and not all that complete. I got tired of the variations of the phrase "clasped her hands" and that the only description of Johnie's love for Rachel was her physical beauty that occasionally peeked out of her skirts. And my biggest pet peeve I think was that there was not a convincing enough explanation for why Johnny didn't want to get married or had lost his faith.

** spoiler alert ** I'd like to know if others think he dies out there at the end, or gets rescued. A very strong case can be made either way, for the helicopter pilot's "We will not forget you" and Richard's final line meaning. Most moving final line of recent memory -- whether he meant "not even my imminent death can sever my love for you [Ben]" or "even though I haven't been and won't always be physically there for you, yet I am in mind and spirit" -- and what an onrushing apocalyptic ending -- I already expect the image of the Ferris wheel to haunt me for some time to come. Some of her turns of phrase capture LA better than anything else I've ever read. Unexpected bursts of humor, both narratively ("one of those balloon men who dance by the side of the road on account of having a fan blowing up his ass") and in Richard's blithe out-of-touch (particularly so as a longtime resident of LA -- emphasizes his disconnection, I guess) cluelessness about celebrities/famous people (the Fords).