The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell: A Novel
Fiction is good for you. We don’t always have to be learning, focusing on progress and getting shit done. (Saying that to myself as much as anyone else.) This book was fantastic. It is a bildungsroman (s/o Mr. Barry Peters, 11th grade English teacher) following Sam Hill who has a very rare condition, ocular albinism. His irises were red. It takes place starting in the 1950s and his mom is a devout Catholic. You can imagine all the teasing and bullying that he endured. Here’s what I loved:
People who experience trauma can turn that trauma into a force for good. I am not saying “things happen for a reason” because they don’t. People are resilient and can remarkably make meaning out of terrible things. Sam, quite naturally, becomes an optometrist along with some other surprising spoilers.
I love walking with people through their whole lives. This book follows Sam through childhood, adolescence and into adulthood.
Religion can be a great force—for good or bad. In this book, Sam’s mother is devoutly Catholic and expects great things from her son with exceptional eyes. She trusts “God’s will” but also advocates for her child. The Catholic school did not want to admit Sam because of his “devil eyes.”
Sam has two life-long best friends and both have struggles of their own. Reading about their relationships over time affirms the need for all of us to have a strong support network.
What do you think about fiction? Love it? Hate it? A waste of time?
