Review: Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb
Thank God for WordPress and its scheduling feature. As you read this, I am Internetless, hanging out for a few days with my family and enjoying the holiday. I hope that you are doing the same, and that you are having an excellent Christmas. Or, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, I hope your day is spectacular.
On with the review!
Title: Wishin’ and Hopin’
Author: Wally Lamb
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: I bought it.
Reason for Reading: I forget which blogger first brought this book to my attention, but after reading that it was a lot like one of my favorite Christmas movies, “A ChristmasStory”, I knew I had to read it, so I bought it.
Synopsis:
It’s 1964 and ten-year-old Felix is sure of a few things: the birds and the bees are puzzling, television is magical, and this is one Christmas he’ll never forget. LBJ and Lady Bird are in the White House, Meet the Beatles is on everyone’s turntable, and Felix Funicello (distant cousin of the iconic Annette!) is doing his best to navigate fifth grade–easier said than done when scary movies still give you nightmares and you bear a striking resemblance to a certain adorable cartoon boy.Back in his beloved fictional town of Three Rivers, Connecticut, with a new cast of endearing characters, Wally Lamb takes his readers straight into the halls of St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parochial School–where Mother Filomina’s word is law and goody-two-shoes Rosalie Twerski is sure to be minding everyone’s business. But grammar and arithmetic move to the back burner this holiday season with the sudden arrivals of substitute teacher Madame Frechette, straight from Québec, and feisty Russian student Zhenya Kabakova. While Felix learns the meaning of French kissing, cultural misunderstanding, and tableaux vivants, Wishin’ and Hopin’ barrels toward one outrageous Christmas.
From the Funicello family’s bus-station lunch counter to the elementary school playground (with an uproarious stop at the Pillsbury Bake-Off), Wishin’ and Hopin’ is a vivid slice of 1960s life, a wise and witty holiday tale that celebrates where we’ve been–and how far we’ve come.
My Thoughts: I didn’t join any Christmas reading challenges this year. I thought about it, but ultimately decided that I just didn’t have enough holiday spirit to commit to full participation. But I have been trying to review a Christmas book every Friday, and since Wishin’ and Hopin’ was a recent purchase, I figured that I’d read it and make it one less book I cart around on my book reader for another year.
I’m so glad I ended my unofficial Christmas reading challenge with this book. It was exactly the sort of thing I enjoy in a Christmas read; it was funny, it was heartwarming, and it left me feeling good about the world. I may even feel charitable enough toward Mr. Lamb to give some of his other, longer works a try, even though I couldn’t get into I Know This Much is True.
There are similarities between this book and “A Christmas Story.” No one shoots their eye out, but both pieces are steeped in the experiences of a boy of a certain age. Both Ralph and Felix are often flummoxed by the adults in their lives, and their peers confuse them, and both look back with nostalgia on their childhoods.
I found a couple of things surprising. First of all, though this book is steeped in nostalgia, it’s not really something I’d recommend for children. Some of the humor is quite adult, and it works well because Felix doesn’t really get it, which creates interesting complications. I suppose this only makes the book more true to life, and I’m not complaining. I’m just pointing out that if I had a ten-year-old I probably wouldn’t pick this book for bedtime reading.
I loved that the book was grounded in the 1960′s in a way that I don’t think it’s possible for a book to be unless the author happened to have experienced that decade himself. I loved the bits about the Pilsbury Bake-off, and I enjoyed the cameos by Ronald Reagan and Annette Funicello. The parochial school bits were also excellent and highly hillarious.
Final Thoughts: I don’t really have much in the way of quibbles. I would definitely read this again next year, and I’m glad I bought it. It’s not quite an A book, because I don’t think it’s going to stick with me very long, but it is satisfying.
Final Grade: B+
I had planned to read this for Christmas, but I didn’t get to it. I will have to read it next year, though.
Hey. I just finished Lamb’s ‘The Hour I First Believed’ and cannot recommend it highly enough. At almost 800 pages it requires a bit of a commitment but it’s rewards are frequent and often. I loved it. I haven’t read this (yet) but it’s next on my list. Peace.