Keep passing the open windows

If I was captured by aliens, and asked to give them a book that shows them why American Literature should not be wiped off the face of the planet, I would hand them one thing:

The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving.

Some of you are now questioning my sanity, if you’ve read the book. If you’re just judging on the basis of the gods awful movie version, do me a favor and defenestrate yourself. People who judge books on the basis of the movie without reading the book need to leave the gene pool. There’s over six billion of us, your genes ain’t that special, honey.

So yes, HNH(my acronym, used from here on out) is an acquired taste. It has incest, taxidermy, rape, bears, and wrestling. Even John Irving fans will tell you it isn’t his best. They’ll argue for  Cider House Rules or Garp, but not this one. Apparently even my book tastes tend to be odd.

But if you listen to them, you’re really missing out. I could bother you with the plot synopsis, but Wikipedia it and you’ll get the gist. The hero is the second son among  a family of five,and also happens to be in love with his sister. Along a 40 year span, our hero encounters more joy and tragedy than most of us will ever encounter.  It also features the second-best  romance ever pictured in fiction, between the hero and a lesbian in a Bear suit(yes you read that right). Want to know more? Run ,don’t walk to find a copy and read it.

And the title of this? It refers to a phrase from a story about the King of Mice that the hero gets told by his parents. If you keep passing the open windows, you keep on living. For some of us, it’s  hard some days when you can feel the breeze from the windows in the dark.