Monday, May 27, 2013

Four Courners of the Sky: Chapters 10-14

This is installment 3 of my Big Library Reading diary, covering chapters 10-14.

Putting tape on windows does NOT do any good if in a storm, OK?

These 5 chapters were a bit of a slog for me. I realized that I consistently have trouble with time shifting. The cognitive load of keeping multiple timelines straight distracts me from enjoying the narrative. And it makes me think: "They're STILL eating sushi?"

Just to confirm that I'm not imagining this, I'm going to list all the timelines in these 5 chapters:

  1. Chapter 10  Brad is calling from Charleston: "the present":.
  2. Chapter 10 Annie's career at the Naval Academy: 5 years ago?
  3. Chapter 10-11 Annie's wedding: 3 years ago?
  4. Chapter 11 in Emerald: a few months after the wedding.
  5. Chapter 11 Annie leaves Brad: a year later?
  6. Chapter 11 Annie's neighbor Trevor: a few more months later, maybe one year ago?
  7. Chapter 11 Brad's calling again: the present.
  8. Chapter 12 Is Annie in Emerald or is she on an aircraft carrier?: 2weeks after leaving Brad
  9. Chapter 12 On the phone with Georgette: sometime later.
  10. Chapter 12 Emerald: a bleak March weekend. I need the Sam-Brad relationship explained.
  11. Chapter 12-13-14 after a review of Annapolis, we're back to the present.
  12. Chapter 14 flashbacks to Annie's 3rd, 5th and 7th birthdays.
Maybe it was the twister.

Rafael Rook is a fantastical character. I'm pretty sure nothing he says turns out to be true. But I think we're supposed to pay attention: El camino no está en el cielo. El camino está en el corazón. (The road is not in the sky. The road is in the heart)

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2 comments:

  1. Yes, the hopping about in time is distracting. I think Sam is definitely hiding something. Do you think she knows who Annie's mother is? And why is she so determined to get Annie and Brad back together? Is she just a soppy romantic, or is there something else?

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