Review: A truly powerful story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 8, 2014
A story of a writer who has lost his "juice" seemed to me at first to be a book that I'd have to struggle through to finish. Wow! Was I pleasantly disappointed! Right from the beginning Cronin began hitting on personal issues that the protagonist had throughout his childhood, issues with which I found I could personally identify. Sure, the fictional character, Jack McNamara, was a highly successful author of 25 novels, a level at which I can only dream. And no, I didn't have a surprise older sister show up in my life when I was 14, nor did I have a father who stomped on my dreams every time I turned around. I'm not even a big Hemingway fan. Still, I couldn't help but feel akin to Jack and the turmoil he was facing 34 years after the emotional firebombs of his youth. From chapter to chapter I just kept reading, finishing in a couple of days what normally would take me a week.In public, I am not an emotional person and even in the presence of my wife I usually keep my manner pretty level, however, in the privacy of my reading device it is not unusual to find myself producing a tear or two if the story is really good. There were times with 'The Song of the Mockingbird' when I was gushing; not easy to accomplish with this old guy. There were also times when I was angry; angry at Jack's father for being such a bastard to him and Jack's mother, especially at the end of the book when I found out what a true selfish bastard he was; angry at Jody's mother–Jody was Jack's first love– who murdered her family before taking her own life, angry at the general selfishness and ignorance that causes so much heartache and turmoil in good people's lives.I don't care who you are, a writer, a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a husband, a wife, or someone who aspires to be the best of any of those, this is a book worth reading. 'The Song of the Mockingbird' was truly a powerful story.