Why hello! Tomorrow is the first day of fall (in my book, hah), and the first day of my yearly cycle. I have overachieved and already read one of the books on my list for this coming year! I’d like to start writing short reviews so I can actually remember my reading, so here’s the first of many more to come.
Initial Thoughts
Honestly, I selected this book because it was a very short read. Novels in verse tend to be quite short, you know. By nature. I didn’t think I would enjoy it though. I’m not huge on novels in verse in general, and all I knew about George Washington Carver was peanuts. Literally: peanuts. He’s the peanut guy.
AS IT TURNS OUT, he was so much more than just “the peanut guy”. This book really sparked a love for this man I never knew I would have when I struggled through the first poem. (I always struggle to get my bearing the first few poems of novels-in-verse! Maybe that’s why I don’t tend to enjoy them.) He was an artist, a botanist, a scientist, and an incredibly gentle and humble soul. Really just your classic renaissance man.
Some quotes I highlighted from the book:
“A personal relationship with the Great Creator of all things is the only foundation for the abundant life. The further we get away from self, the greater life will be.” – GWC
“Your life may be the only Bible some people will know.”
“Well, Lord, this infinitesimal speck could fill the universe with praise.”
“We kill Goliath by going about the business of the universal good which our Creator wills, obediently yielding to Him the opportunity to work wonders through us for all of His children.”
My Rating: 4 peanuts out of 5
Read It If: You don’t know much about GWC (like, for example, the fact that he made up his middle name as a joke!) and/or don’t mind a fair amount of faith woven throughout a beautifully-written narrative.