Caelum Quirk

The bulk of my day has been spent reading "The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb. I've been reading this book for several weeks, but in my defense I've read it while reading a couple other books at the same time. Generally what I've done is taken Wally's book to work with me, and then had another book to read here at home. I am now down to just reading "The Hour I First Believed", and am about one hundred pages away from finishing it.

I think it's a little simplistic to say that it is about a school shooting, because while that certainly is a facet of the book it is not it's sole plot line. In truth the focal point of the book is the main character, Caelum Quirk. He narrates the bulk of the novel, describing his life in terms of before the shootings and after the shootings.

In the novel he struggles with... life. He recounts the struggles of his childhood, and later adolescence, and then further into his adulthood. We watch as relationships crumble, and ones are established, and later as he comes to realize that some things, particularly people, should not be taken for granted.

"The Hour I First Believed" is an exploration into the inner workings of the human condition. It is a glimpse into the life of an average Joe just trying to get by and keep his head about the tide that seeks to pull him under. At any rate it's been a really exquisite read so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it concludes.