"But if I say, "I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." - Jeremiah 20:9 NIV
Fire in the Bones is a wonderfully written coming of age novel by Mark R. Harris centering on main character Luke and his undying quest for love. Harris had a special way of using his third person narrative yet still allowing the readers inside Luke’s head, or rather in his heart feeling every bit of his frustration, sadness or happiness. You root for Luke to succeed and you feel for him when he doesn’t.
Harris provides an exceptional soundtrack as Luke’s favorite musicians are the
Beatles. I was able to identify with Luke several times throughout the book,
especially the way he would lose himself to the music. I remember
those quiet moments spent lying awake in bed listening to Delilah over the radio and I would think the same things Luke would think, he fantasized about the
person each song was meant for. Luke's character felt so real that I wondered if
Harris had written this book based on his own life. I noticed early on in the
book Luke had issues with abandonment. Whenever someone came in and out of
his life he seemed to cling more to the things that would never leave him,
music and television.
Harris goes though many popular Beatles's
songs giving his own interpretation of each though the eyes of Luke. I
anticipated his review of Here Comes the Sun, Rocky Raccoon, Julia and
Let it Be to name a few, all of which Harris allows you to rediscover. The one
thing I will say, while I did enjoy going over the Beatles's songs I do feel it
got to be too like when Luke references The White Album, which understandably was a large album, however this doesn’t take
up a lot of the chapter and if that’s the only thing stopping you from reading
this book you can skip 2 pages.
Without giving way too much of the
book, my favorite part was
the last half where Luke meets Lonnie. Again I
relieved moments of my adolescents through the eyes of this boy thinking it funny
how much boys and girl actually do think the alike.
When the book came to an end I
had that same feeling I had after reading Revival by Stephen King. You feel like you are saying
goodbye to a friend. This speak volumes Harris’s ability to capture the reader. Check it out for yourself and the other great reviews on Amazon
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