the maytrees and me

scott and i each took a book with us on our little mountain get-a-way over spring break.

his choice? redemption ark by alastair reynolds. it is classified as a "hard science fiction space opera novel". despite various conversations about the book as he is reading it, i still can't quite grasp this genre. is it really possible that those 5 adjectives really describe a type of novel? space opera. those two together raise the most questions.

needless to say, marriage continues to open my eyes to many wonders that i previously failed to know even existed. my husband enjoys his read, as he encounters various characters not just of the human persuasion with each new chapter. new words escape his lips for which i require definitions. i learn that a "conjoiner" is a human with technology giving them extraordinary possibilities. (my only term of reference? x-men.) the story also touches on political commentary and a few main characters that have become prominent and caught my husaband's interest. i see the science fiction, and yes the location is space, but where exactly is the opera?

my book of choice? the maytrees by annie dillard. what satisfaction to completely read a book within a week's time. what a delight to spend my time reading something written so well that i am caught up into not only the plot, but the beauty of words, attentiveness to the stars and sea, and the internal worlds of the characters. this story spanning a lifetime reads like poetry. the book initially caught my eye because it was about a marriage; it opens in post-WWII Cape Cod with a couple falling in love and soon marrying then living amidst their artistic friends.

so i bought it, not wanting to know anymore, and saved it for our trip. i happily lingered over the first chapters and halfway through found myself devastated. but hope came, as it often does. the poet-husband toby, referred to as maytree, continually pondered the question of what love is. beauty permeated his wife lou. both maytree and lou came into a more profound understanding of themselves alone and in relationship to each other with the passage of time, need and grace. perhaps a bit like love itself, the maytrees drew me in with its beauty, surprised me with its pain, and challenged me at its depth.

knowing i wanted to finish the book before we returned home, my own loving husband put his book down and read to me the last chapter of mine. and better still than any novel (best science fiction novel of the year or even pullitzer-prize novelist) is the the real-time poetic love my husband offers me.