Harbor Lights

Rating:
Summary: Actually 3 1/2 Stars
Review: Harbor Lights sheds light on feelings harbored too long that need to be expressed before the filiment gets too hot and something has to blow. Mr. Weesner characters are well drawn and we come to know them or can find poeple we lknow just like them. Revealing parts in the book occur when Warren's wife, Beatrice, laughs and then becomes ill when her lover, Virgil, wonders if Warren will rename his fishing boat "Cuckold," and Virgil reliving a time in high school when he lifted money from the pocket of a boy who had an older brother that beat Virgil up becuase of Virgil's inability to face up to his actions.
The beauty of the story is Marian, daughter of Warren and Beatrice who collects the lights that her parents neglected and relaizes she must leave her shallow husband before she too runs out of choices and chances.
A nagging moment that needed more revelation was Warren's insistance in meeting Beatrice in a public place to part as friends before his cancer consumed him, and her insistance that they meet in private. The inability of their agreement seemingly led to the tragic, yet not unexpected ending.
One of the few books that stays with you after putting it down.

Rating:
Summary: All New Englanders will recognize the setting and love it.
Review: I loved this book, the descriptions of places and events were easily visualized. The format of each character giving his or her view of events was interesting. And most of all the stunning turn of events, all the while keeping you sympathetic to the book's main character.

Rating:
Summary: Four part anarchy......
Review: The Author describes a morning of harvesting lobster, and depicts the water where they live as fields, and how a female is released on her back so that the eggs she is laden with are less likely to pull away as she settles back through the water. With that piece of writing you know you have picked a winning work.

I had never read the work of Mr. Weesner before, but with that start, my hopes were quickly raised and I was never disappointed. I was however totally unprepared.

When Warren Hudson learns he has one of the fastest spreading cancers a person can contract, he simultaneously reviews his life, his regrets, and most importantly how he will leave his life. The manner by which he contemplates what may lie beyond life here leads him to a startling series of decisions.

This is a fairly brief work so it is difficult to say very much without giving away the plot. The story is related almost exclusively through 4 characters, with quite minor roles played by approximately 4 more.

The story is about emotions at there most severe ranges, and the finest of lines that separate them, and finally how little it may take to breach that thin barrier. There was only one part that I didn't feel comfortable with, but to say more would be to spoil the read. Mr. Weesner creates memorable characters that are as extreme as the emotions and passions they are made of. The work is taut, powerful, and extremely well constructed.

Enjoy Mr. Weesner's bit of New England.