The Hollow Middle by John Popielaski
Author: John Popielaski
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Unsolicited Press
Publish Date: December 4, 2018
Source: TLC Book Tours
What's the Story?:
From Goodreads.com: "The Hollow Middle follows Albert Lesiak, an aging English teacher in Connecticut, who receives a windfall in delayed acknowledgment of the government’s complicity in his father’s cancer death and decides that it is time to live a different life on land he owns in Maine.
When his wife Mary suggests that they could foster or adopt autistic twin boys she fell in love with on a website and could use the stipend money in furtherance of Albert’s vision, Albert gradually perceives himself as possibly adapting to the role of patriarch.
A meditation on the curiosity of making sense and the dilemma of becoming true, The Hollow Middle ambles, mostly, and goes still for periods of various duration, acting like it’s not beholden after all to the rhetorical."
My Two Cents:
"The Hollow Middle" is the story of Albert, an aging English teacher, who is looking for a change of pace. When he comes into some family money, he wants to move him and his wife, Mary, to Maine for more space and a romantic ideal that Albert is chasing. Mary seeks a change of pace through wanting to adopt autistic twin boys. This book explores whether or not they will both find what they are looking for.
This was an interesting book - much of it is concerned with Albert's inner thoughts on a variety of topics that often don't seem to have much to do with the matter at hand. The writing of these thoughts give us a good sense of who Albert is and how he relates to the world. I did wish to see more about how Albert related to the events that happen in the book.
The part that most interested me and where the book hits a solid stride is Albert's musings on becoming a father at such a late stage in life when he thought that he would never become a father. It was particularly interesting to see how Albert and Mary figure out how to reach their sons and bring their voices out into the world.
This book is for those looking for a meandering reflection on a variety of subjects from an eccentric character.