Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Shall Never See So Much

So there's this book I read recently. It was good.

Really good.

I had exact pictures of the characters in my head right from the beginning and I got attached.

Really attached.

So much so that I even shed a tear or two at certain points on their behalf. That's when you know it's a good book.

It's 1968. There's Tom. He's a young Marine in the midst of Vietnam. I've always liked Marines. Guess because my dad was one.

Tom's got a little sister, Kate. I like Kate because I know what it's like to be the little sister who is proud of her big brother(s).

But remember, it's 1968. Tom's a Marine in Vietnam. And Kate? Just got hired on to the Robert F. Kennedy campaign. And if you're not familiar with the stance behind the RFK campaign, well, it's not so much in favor of the war.

A brother. A sister. On opposite ends of the earth. On opposite ends of the political spectrum. Yet the bond of blood and family still reign.

There is something different about this book. Different than most of the books I've read. And there's a reason for that.

The author.

He's amazing. His writing is gripping and I was awake until all hours of the night reading because I could not put the book down. And when I finished, I slammed the book shut and threw it down on my nightstand with a sense of accomplishment. You know that feeling when you finish a really good book.

So as I glance over to the back cover sitting on my nightstand, that's when I notice it. The author's picture. I look closer. Is that John Grisham? No. Much more handsome. Could it be Tom Clancy? No way. James Patterson? Heck no.

Why, IT'S MY OWN DAD!!!!!!

That's right. My dad is a famous author and has just released his second novel, Shall Never See So Much. He's so famous you might want to just shake my hand knowing that I'm his daughter. Sometimes I just shake my own hand and feel the famousness through my fingertips.

Check out his website www.GeraldGillis.com and go buy the book. If you're nice and pay me lots of money, I can also get it autographed for you. But since the famousness runs through my fingertips, I'd be glad just to autograph it on his behalf.

I'd claim being biased, you know, with the family thing, but this book is so good, I don't have to be biased. It's that good!




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The weight of this sad time we must obey,
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most; we that are young
Shall never see so much, nor live so long.

-Shakespeare, "King Lear"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Loved your recommendation; just ordered the book, looking forward to reading it. My husband was a medic with the Marines in Viet Nam in 1968, right at start of Tet offensive stationed 5 miles south of DMZ. I know your Dad, worked at same company.....will write review after I finish reading the book.