Usually, when I finish one of the Pulitzers I’m reading, I’ll announce it by moving on to the next.
Not so with The Orphan Master’s Son. While I began with a bit of reluctance, I end by saying it was the best by far of the Pulitzers I’ve read; and has become, perhaps, my favorite book of all.
I must say though, the it wasn’t of standard Pulitzer fare. It was more of a page-turner — a thriller in some cases — and the closest I can come to it so far in this run is probably Faulkner’s The Reivers (my number two during this project). I’m not used to that in Pulitzers. Yes, they’re excellent books — very well written, of course. But they’re not exactly gripping. They tell great stories, and beautifully so. But they haven’t necessarily kept me up half the night reading them and wondering through the characters and their stories.
The Orphan Master’s Son did. There were times I would put it down for a break, but never really for long. It captured my imagination and kept me reading until I finished it’s 400-plus pages in about a week. And here I am (especially since it was a Kindle loan and I had nothing more than the percent completed to guide me), done on a Monday night with no plans to start the next one. And no real desire either. Sure, I might look through the list to see what else is out there, but actually getting started will have to wait until tomorrow.
Of course, I recommend the book.