Book review: Red Rising by Pierce Brown
One of the great joys for a bookish father is to have a son who’s willing to read your book recommendations – and most of the time he’s even liked the books I’ve suggested he read.
So when Matthew asked me to read a book that he had read, I obviously had to read in kind. The book was Red Rising and he had loved it.
Reading it myself, I could see why he loved Red Rising so much. It is the perfect book for a young man setting out in life and ready to take on the world. But for an old man beaten down by the world, it resonates somewhat differently. For me, it’s a book suffused with regret for the passing of the vigour and energy of youth which, at the time, I thought was mine forever rather than loaned to me at my start. Now, the energy I have left is leavened with thought; something to be held onto and spent wisely.
The struggle of Darrow is the struggle of a young man against a foe that he does not even realise yet can never be beaten; it gave me great satisfaction to read and be, for a while, young again.
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Really interesting book review. I will read the book and I suspect will have the same ‘looking back’ reaction. I love your comment ‘leavened with thought; something to be held onto and spent wisely’. I am trying to learn to see the experience of my current age as simply a new and different way of experiencing and understanding life which is difficult (and perhaps not appropriate) to achieve when you’re younger, although the temptation to look back in sadness and regret sometimes (often!) gets the better of me!
What a joy to be able to share thoughts on a book with your offspring!
Hello, Rachel. I know what you mean. It’s easy to slip into sadness and regret for all the things not done and the chances not taken. But that’s life: it’s the choosing of particular paths, not every path, and the map of the journey is the story of our lives. I have really enjoyed talking books with Matthew and I hope you might have the same opportunity.