Friday, December 20, 2013
The Risk Pool
Overall,
I really liked this book. I thought it was very well written, and I never found
myself bored at any point during the novel. I liked the way the book ended the
way it started. It ended with Ned Hall’s son being born, and it started with
Ned Hall being born. It was a unique way to show the circle of life. I would
definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good, quick, and
easy read, and I would definitely read it again.
Part IV: Winter
I
just finished the book, and over all I thought it was a great book. In the last
couple of chapters, Ned tried to visit Sam as often as he could. Sam had a
cancer relapse and when he ended up in the hospital, Ned went to visit him. On
his arrival, Sam asked Ned to sneak him out of the hospital. Never actually leaving
the hospital, Ned returned to New York City. Not for long though. Soon he was
back in the hospital being notified of his father’s death. The book ended with
Leigh giving birth to a son.
Part IV: Winter
I have
currently read through chapter forty-two. In the decade after Ned moved to Manhattan,
he scarcely visited Mohawk, and Sam rarely visited Manhattan. Ned got a job as
a junior editor at a publishing company. Claude left his wife, family, and job
and took off. Ned is engaged to Leigh, who is also pregnant with his child. When
Ned goes back to Mohawk to visit Sam, Sam is doing really well. He is the
residential manager at luxury apartment homes and has a newly furnished
apartment. However, he is battling lung cancer. I still have about twenty pages
left in the book, but I really liked this book.
Part III: Eat the Bird
I
have finished the third part of the book, and Claude and his mother have once
again made an appearance. Claude is married and has a job at the post office,
so it seems that his life is once again back on track. Tria and Ned were “lovers”
and spent a majority of their free time together. Sam is once again working and
has gotten his drinking problem under control. Ned was staying with Jenny. Ned
and Sam and Sam’s friends continue to go out drinking at nights, however not
much trouble ever happens. One big that is different is that the Wards have
managed to go broke. Ned once again leaves Mohawk and went to New York City.
Jenny also moved, to San Diego, and married F. William Peterson. Things seem to
be coming to end, so I can’t wait to see how everything ends in part four.
Part III: Eat the Bird
Thus
far I have read up to chapter thirty-five, and a lot has changed. For one, this
section starts ten years later. Ned is in graduate school in Arizona, Sam is
back in Mohawk, Jenny is almost fully recovered and is dating her long-time lawyer,
F. William Peterson. Ned leaves Arizona and graduate school, where he has
mostly stopped attending classes and is broke due to excessive gambling, and goes
back to Mohawk to visit his mom and check on his dad, who apparently has a
severe drinking problem. Ned immediately gets a job bartending and has a run-in
with Mrs. Ward and Tria. After attending brunch at their house, Ned agrees to
help Mrs. Ward with a project based on the history of Mohawk. Sam has once
again faced legal charges, but both Sam and F. William Peterson, who is also
representing Sam, think the charges will be dropped. The topic of “the risk
pool” once again made an appearance, however this time was not in reference to
a pool table. The risk pool is referred to in reference to Sam’s insurance rate
and debt. I made the wrong assumption when I assumed the title referred to a
pool table. I’m almost done with the book, and I’m excited to see how
everything ends.
Part II: Mohawk Fair
Having finished
Part II, I really like this book so far. Jenny is out of rehab, and although
she isn’t living in her old house, she and Ned are once again living together in
a new house. Sam has been in and out of trouble, mostly financially, only once with
the law. Sam has left town once again, not to be seen for ten years. Claude and
Ned are friends again and Ned seems to be Claude’s only friend. Ned had saved
up a lot of money to buy himself a car, but Sam took it when he needed help
getting himself out of jail. In this section the pool table was mentioned, which
has some relation, I’m not sure what yet, to the title of the book. Sam gets
Ned a pool table for the apartment and Ned gets really good at playing pool.
Ned sees Tria once more. However, when Jack Ward dies of a heart attack, and
Ned goes to the Ward house for the viewing, he can’t bear to see Tria so upset
and he leaves without saying hello. Ned is now entering high school, but Tria
doesn’t attend the same school – she goes to a public school in Connecticut. This
book is really interesting to me so far, so I’m anxious to see what happens in
the next section.
Part II: Mohawk Fair
I
have read up to chapter nineteen so far, and the story is continuing to
progress. Jenny has been moved from the hospital into a care home, essentially
rehab, and seems to be progressing well. She talks to Ned about how soon they
will be back in their old house; however she doesn’t know that her house is
being sold, which is what caused Ned to believe Jenny was dead. Sam is once
again working, and Ned finished his seventh grade year. Eileen and Sam are
still seeing each other, and everything seems to be going well. Two new
characters that were introduced were Jack Ward and his daughter Tria Ward. The Ward
family is extremely wealthy, but Sam and Jack fought in World War II together.
Tria is the same age as Ned, and Ned has convinced himself that he’s in love
with her. It’s now summer and Ned is spending most of his time at the library
to escape the heat. One major thing that happened was that Claude, Ned’s friend
who hasn’t been mentioned in a while, attempted suicide. I am anxious to see
how Ned reacts to this news about his friend and can’t wait to see what he does
and how the story progresses.
Part I: Fourth of July
I have
finished Part 1 of the novel, and so far there are lots of unanswered
questions. For one, Claude and his family haven’t been mentioned since the
beach trip. Also, Fathers Michaels hasn’t been mentioned. Ned tells Sam about
Jenny’s problems, which encourages Sam to ask Ned to live with him. Ned agrees,
and they pack his stuff from Jenny’s and take it to Sam’s. Upon arriving at Sam’s,
Ned promptly earns a job from one of Sam’s neighbors who owns a beauty parlor.
Many of Sam’s deadbeat friends are mentioned, and Ned considers them as some
more dads. Sam and Ned eat out for every meal. Also, Eileen, who is assumed to
be Sam’s girlfriend, and her son are introduced. Ned is making a large amount
of money at his job, but his morals have significantly declined. This is seen
when Ned continuously steals from the department store underneath Sam’s
apartment. Things take a turn for the worse, yet again, when Jenny is
hospitalized due to a nervous breakdown. Part 1 ends with Ned stealing the most
expensive things he could from the department store and putting them in Jenny’s
house.
Part I: Fourth of July
Thus far, I
have read through chapter eight. Ned and Jenny have started attending church on
a regular basis, and Ned is trying to set up Father Michaels, a young priest at
the church, and his mom. Things appeared to be taking a turn for the better for
Jenny and Ned. Jenny and Father Michaels seemed very happy together, Sam had
not made any unannounced appearances, and Ned was spending a lot of time at the
church, helping out in any way he could. However, things took a turn for the
worst when Father Michaels disappeared. Jenny got very depressed, lost her job,
and stopped leaving the house. Ned befriended a neighbor two years older than
him, and during that summer, Ned spent most of his time with the neighbor,
Claude. When Claude’s family goes to the beach one weekend during a heat wave
in October, Ned goes with them. At the beach Ned sees Sam watching him and ends
up leaving with him. I hope the mystery of why and where Father Michaels went
is answered soon, and I also hope Jenny manages to pull herself out of her
funk.
Part I: Fourth of July
I have read
the first three chapters so far in The
Risk Pool. I didn’t really like how Russo began the book because the first
chapter was purely background information, which made it difficult for me to
get a sense of what the book was like and really get into the book. However, in
the first chapter, I learned that the family lives in Mohawk, and the father,
Sam Hall, has not been present in his son, Ned’s life. When Ned was a child,
his father “kidnapped” him and took him on a fishing trip, without telling Ned’s
mother, whom he lives with. On this fishing trip, Ned realized how much he wished
he had stayed home with his mom. Jenny, Ned’s mom, was not happing that Sam had
taking Ned and shot his car when he dropped Ned off. This really showed how
much Jenny hates Sam and doesn’t want him in their lives. I think Ned is also
starting to realize that his dad isn’t a good, influential person to have
around.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)