Peace Like a River

This is the second book suggested by my pastor that made to my 2020 reading list. It was also suggested by another friend I made this past year - Greg Wilbur. I have a book written by both of these men on this year's reading list.

C.S. Lewis once said that Phantastes by George MacDonald was a “voice which called to me . . . I knew that I had crossed a great frontier . . . my imagination was, in a certain sense, baptized.”

Though not to the degree of Lewis with MacDonald, I had that similar sentiment about this book - my imagination was...baptized. Amidst tremendous pain and suffering in the story of Peace Like a River, there is courage, faith, and strength. I found myself wanting to emulate Jeremiah, the father in the story.

Author Leif Enger did a fantastic job describing the scenery. I felt like I was in Minnesota while reading the book. I grew up in Minnesota and spent the first 14 years of my life there, and so this book opened up a lot of memories. There is also a scene which takes place in the afterlife and it was very similar to another book on this year's reading list, The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis.

Here are a few quotes from the book that stood out to me:

"Hope is like yeast, you know, rising under warmth." "She said it was such a true story it needed recurrent tellings so as not to fall out of circulation completely." "The firelight had restored his face to healthy color and she, all Frenchbraided, scarf unslung, resembled an opportunity missed by Rembrandt." "I remember it as October days are always remembered, cloudless, maple-flavored, the air gold and so clean it quivers."

I read Peace Like a River right after reading Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory. Graham Greene is actually referenced in Peace Like a River, so that was neat and I love when that happens. The writing styles between these two authors were starkly different. Graham Greene is staccato and Leif Enger is legato.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable novel. It brought me right back to my early days in Minnesota, a place that I long for more and more as I get older. This was my first book by Leif Enger and it made me want to read more.