Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to judge a book by its cover. I stumbled across The Highest Tide: A Novel by Jim Lynch, when poking around the Concord Bookstop. For some reason, it drew me in.
The Highest Tide centers on Miles O’Malley, whose home nestles along the Puget Sound. Miles – A 13-year-old insomniac, who’s small for his age – is obsessed with the ocean and Rachel Carson. During one summer he comes across a number of unusual finds. It begins with a giant squid. Soon Miles is the center attention from scientists, the media and even a cult.
I found the characters more compelling than the overall plot. To me, it seemed more like a character study with the ocean being one of them. I found the passages about the water and the things Miles finds such as sea slugs, skate egg pouches and sea stars very interesting.
There’s also Miles cohort – air guitar playing Phelps, the elderly neighbor who has visions of the future and the troubled girl next door that Miles has a crush on.
Overall, I thought it was a sweet, engaging story.
************** “Those shells, as unique and timeless as bones, helped me realize that we all die young, that in the life of the earth, we are houseflies, here for one flash of light.”
“I eased toward the door to check on Florence and to step into a night where beauty loitered and the sun took its time setting, as if it, too, didn’t want to miss anything.”
No comments:
Post a Comment