The Quest Continues...

A couple of years ago, I realized that I was in a rut in my reading habits. I had gotten consumed with reading Christian fiction, and that was pretty much all I read. And while I still like Christian fiction, the truth is that most of it is pretty flimsy stuff -- not a lot of meat and quite predictable plots. Every now and then a book or an author would surprise me, but for the most part, you know what you're getting when you read Christian fiction.

So, I decided that I had allowed my brain to turn to mush long enough, and decided it was time for a challenge. I decided to improve my reading habits by reading every single fiction book that had won the Pulitzer Prize. Knowing that reading "heavy" literature might be onerous (remember school?), I set some rules and allowed myself some flexibility in my quest. First, I could read the books in any order I wanted -- I didn't have to read them chronologically. Second, I could intersperse my Pulitzer Prize books with other types of fiction, including Christian fiction, but I could read no more than three non-Pulitzer books without having to read another. Third, I put no time limit on my quest but relied on my rules to propel me forward. And, finally, I couldn't just read the books and stop with that. I had to try to make an effort to understand them, and if that meant I turned to Cliff's Notes or Spark Notes or some other commentary for assistance, then so be it. The goal was to read all the books and to be able to speak about them intelligently if the situation demanded it.

The Pulitzer Committee started giving out Fiction awards in 1948, with James Michener being the first receipient for his work, "Tales of the South Pacific." No award was given for the years 1954, 1957, 1964, 1971, 1974, and 1977. So, since 1948 there have been 57 novels which have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

Since I began my quest, I have read a total of 10 novels or 17.5%. Some of the novels have been outstanding and deeply affected my heart and soul. Others were excellent, well-written and well-crafted examples of the best of the best. While others were as onerous as I remember, and it was labor to read through these books, all the while hoping that this author never won another Pulitzer Prize and I would never have to read another book by them again.

A great example of these two extremes is found in the last two books that I read in my quest, "March" by Geraldine Brooks and "Tinkers" by Paul Harding. "March" was a sequel to "Little Women," by Louisa May Alcott, which followed the little women's father who was absent in the original book. For this reason alone, I thought I would not like this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. Following Mr. March through his early days as a salesman, on into his ministerial career, and then as a chaplain for the Union Army during the Civil War, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its refreshing take on this subject. This was easily one of the best books I have read in a very long time, and I have several other non-Pulitzer prize winning books for Geraldine Brooks on my wish list.

"Tinkers" on the other hand was difficult for me. I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't. I obviously missed the point of the whole affair, other than that it was a story about a man's relationship with his father, but if that was the intent, the author missed his mark. I found the book disjointed and confusing and honestly had no idea what was going on or where the author was headed most of the time. It was well-written. The sentences were complex and the use of descriptive language was novel, but glimmers of expertise within the overall confines of this narrative could not make up for the short-falls of this novel.

Still, I pressed on and finished the book and the quest continues. At this rate, I will be done with my goal within three years. So, what shall I read next???