So, I come home today, and what do I find to my surprise? The table is packed with books. Lots of books. Someone decided to do a "photo op" on the kitchen table with a bunch of books from her list (Here's a hint: It wasn't Audrey!) Now, before I can get down to business with the hot dog I planned on eating after work today, I have to go put those books away. Great. Happenstance? I don't think so. Let me tell you, people, It ain't easy being married to a book nerd. Sure, I polished one off the other day that was pretty quick, but no sooner did I finish that one, but little miss "read it in one sitting" decides to wipe out another of her books! I may be in over my head here...
About the book, anyway...
Getting a peek into a time period that you didn't live through isn't quite as easy as elementary school text books would like it to seem. Sure, they look at the industrial revolution, and (with regards to the 1920's,) at prohibition, organized crime, immigration, blah, blah, blah. Sure, that stuff's historically relevant, but is that how people really lived? And by people, I mean common schmucks like you and I. Rare is the book (even on the Pulitzer list) that has much to say about everyday folks.
So Big is a great novel that, even when it was published, had a finger on the pulse of what life was really like (albeit in the all-too-common upper echelons of society) in the pre-depression era. As we take the time to think about what's coming next in our own time period, the next big leap, it can't hurt to take a look back at something that today seems as provincial as that moment when humanity realized that the automobile was going to replace the horse-drawn cart soon. Our next big leap could be just as provocative.
Of course, I'd be happy right now with a damn kitchen table that cleared itself so I can eat my hot dog.
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