I pick up a novel that turns out to be all about the nature of happiness.

One of the great pleasures of vacation is getting to do some serious reading.

I often develop a weird, irrational aversion to books that are very popular. I understand that it doesn't make sense that I think I'm LESS likely to like a book that millions of people like, but somehow that sometimes happens.

So it was with Ann Patchett's Bel Canto. I'd set my mind against it -- for no good reason.

But then, as research for the Happiness Project, I picked up Ann Patchett's memoir of her friendship with Lucy Grealy, Truth and Beauty. I loved that book, so I steeled myself to read Bel Canto.

It turns out that the novel is all about the nature of happiness. I don't want to give the plot away -- it involves a very unlikely set of circumstances.

I think that if I weren't thinking about happiness all the time, I might have been bothered by the "unrealistic" nature of the events. But because I was reading it, instead, as an exploration for the circumstances necessary for happiness, I appreciated its careful working through of many aspects of happiness.

The role of families, of expectations, of the weight of the future, of mortality, of the consolations of art, of the importance of material comforts, of education, of communication...all this and much more. This description might make it sound tiresome and pedantic, but it's not, at all.

In particular, I was interested to see the weight given to the "atmosphere of growth," which was the aspect that eluded me for the longest time when I was devising my First Splendid Truth (to think about happiness, we must think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth). Many characters find a way to develop an atmosphere of growth in highly restricted circumstances, and that's how they find consolation and happiness -- and form bonds with other people.

So I thought I was just doing some holiday reading, but in fact, it was a good happiness-project meditation as well as a good novel.

Comments

[Beth]

Oh, I love Truth and Beauty so much! It might be my all-time favorite memoir. (I adored Autobiography of a Face too, but differently.)

My own happiness project is a 101-in-1001 challenge, and one of my tasks is to build a "25 novels I've always wanted to read and never gotten around to" list, and then read them all. Thank you for reminding me that Bel Canto should absolutely be on this list.

[Rudri]

I am currently reading Truth and Beauty (based on your recommendation) and am excited about reading Bel Canto. Thanks for the recommendations!

[Barclay]

I absolutely adored "Bel Canto," and would recommend every single thing written by Ann Patchett. She is a wonderful writer and her books move me tremendously. I haven't read "Run" yet, because it's still only in hardcover, but I'm awaiting its release in softcover with great anticipation.

However, I totally get your antipathy toward superbestselling books. I think if I'd known at the time when I read "Bel Canto" that it was so very popular I'd have been prejudiced against it as well.

[Karryn]

The strange thing is that I was reading Bel Canto three years ago when my mother sufferend through a sudden, fast and fatal illness.

Reading this book made me acutely aware of how we must give up what we know in order to grow. And perhaps that there can be no birth without pain - even the birth of consciousness.

[Rhea]

And while we're on the subject of Ann Patchett, be sure to read "The Magician's Assistant." I think you will find it will also contribute to your project on happiness. I've read it several times and it is absolutely enchanting.

[Alex C.]

Didn't Gretchen blog about pride recently? If I'm honest, I'd have to say that I'm averse to popular culture mostly because I'm arrogant. I feel that if something is popular, it must be plebian. (I really should work on that humility thing... maybe I'll make it a resolution for 2008).

The blog post also reminds me of this wonderful quotation:

"What refuge is there for the victim who is oppressed with the feeling that there are a thousand new books he ought to read while life is only long enough for him to attempt to read a hundred?"
~Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. 1809-1894, Over the Teacups (1891)

This explains why I sometimes find myself feeling overwhelmed and depressed in bookstores and libraries.

[MJ]

I loved Patchett's books. I've been averse to super-duper-famous books since I've been burned a few times (I loved parts of Atonement but felt very much "had" by the marketing machine when I finished it) but loved both of her books. Many knock Bel Canto for some reasons, even more knock Truth & Beauty for portrayal of the relationship, but I took away only good from both (and didn't feel bad about the author or subjects either).

[ABD]

I often have the same reaction to popular literature. I still haven't read the Dan Brown books because The Da Vinci Code was so popular. A lot of people whose taste I didn't particularly trust raved about how great it was. How can I expect anything good out of Angels and Demons when the people reading it are regular viewers of "American Idol"? I guess I'm just a snob about things like that. I too tend to assume that if it's popular there's a good chance it could be mediocre or worse.

[AmberLey]

I recently started reading the happiness Project. I have found most of the comments from Posts very helpful. One of the most helpful things I read about was; I choose to have a happy attitude no mater what the drama is in my life. This person listed some things that he/she does like; plant in a garden, yoga, being outdoors on Sundays, journaling, artsy things and reading books. I thought, Hey! I want to do those things and hay, I want to practice the things that I love without worrying about the other things.