Run- Ann Patchett

This is one of those books which doesn't try to certify any line of thought, which doesn't try to build a yardstick upon which all people will be judged. It grants allowance to life's chaos while discussing any event or people.

The story is about a white father ,Doyle, his 3 sons constituting 2 colored adopted boys,Tip and Teddy, his wife Bernadette who has been dead for a long time now, the adopted boys' real mother Tennessee and her daughter Kenya. The biological son of Doyle is named after Father Sullivan, his uncle. With Sullivan, who is now 34 and away doing community service in some parts of Africa, Doyle rests all his ambitions on top of his adopted sons. He has big dreams for them, when one night turns their life upside down. The real mother who was non existent even in their dreams turns up as a life saver, Sullivan comes back unexpectedly and there is the added fuss of an extra sister conferred upon them. Their life -past, present and future- presents itself as a labyrinth and the solution comes through the events that follow.

The events, the thoughts, the pain.. everything is discussed in such minute detail that we can live through it. The author shows veracity when recounting the multitudinous of situations and people. Ichthyology, Africa, politics, faith are but a few among them.

Life is about making mistakes and how we react to those mistakes and how we are often given another chance to correct them. We can choose a better path then or choose ourselves to get penalized. Either way we can never predict the outcome and there is no point in wishing if this or that event haven't had happened. The way it happened might have been for the best.

At a few places the plot turns superficial, but undiminished enjoyment is guaranteed.

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