The Book High

Oh, this was lovely! Just absolutely lovely. Not at all like what I was expecting, and around 50% became thoroughly off-putting (I'll explain in a minute) but in the end spectacularly lovely.

I go into books expecting certain things. We become used to the formulae for certain genres, don't we, and anticipate certain things? I'd been expecting to get to know Dave and Nicholas better. That I would get to see them get to know each other better. And that just kept NOT happening.

I still would like to know things like why Dave and his father became guides, what exactly happened with Dave and Denise, how exactly Alonzo (or whatever the Italian husband's name is) managed to come onto the scene and how things ended up how they were when we first meet Dave.

And there's SO much I'd like to know about Nicholas. If he went to school, what he studied, if he'd had any significant relationships before his diagnosis, if anything happened to make him avoid relationships after or if that's just Nicholas being Nicholas.

And not knowing these things when their relationship became more and more physical made me more and more uncomfortable. Like I was becoming more of a voyeur instead of them sharing their story with me.

Once Nicholas revealed to Dave what the medication is for, however, and shared his approach to life, everything clicked like I finally GOT it and I no longer felt like I needed to know. And suddenly everything about the book fit and it went from being well-written and nicely paced if increasingly frustrating to perfect and lovely and beautiful.

Nicholas tries to live in the moment, and to appreciate each one and savor it... to "wallow in it," as Dave says at one point. And Dave is learning more and more to do that just from being with Nicholas. So, I think I understood that the point of the book is to offer us a glimpse into the lives of these men. Like one of the snapshots they took of the butterflies, or like looking at one of the preserved specimens. We're not shown their past on purpose. We're given instead three weeks and an epilogue-ish sort of chapter made up of some of the most spectacular moments of their lives.

And once I looked at it like that, I no longer needed to know what had brought them to where they were, all I needed to do was live in the moments with them and marvel with them at the loveliness of each one. Beautifully well done!

Some favorite quotes:
"Even ugly creatures feel love, you know. Even ugly creatures can create beauty."

"Nicholas's smile grew so overwhelming that Dave scrambled for refuge in words."

"'You matter to me. If not to the sky.'
'It's not that so much. I got dizzy there. Just for a moment.'
'Like you'd fall up into it?'
'Yes. And float away.'
'I'll keep you grounded. It's alright."

"What does a pupa dream of while becoming fabulous?"

"Nicholas had made a better guess, and was almost quivering with anticipation. 'Is it ... ?'
'A scrap of the sky. Yes. On your Akubra.'"

"Nicholas did at last turn to go stumbling off, skipping off after his butterfly, his happiness radiating from him, singing from him."

"he was nothing but yearning and dread."

"Nicholas, so strong and yet so fragile. So unexpected and yet so necessary."

"It's not my land. More like I'm its human."

"Nicholas flashed him a grin which was the visual equivalent of answering peals of laughter."

"Nicholas became nothing but grin."