Summer's House by
Eric Gabriel Lehman
After years of ignoring this book, I finally had the interest to read it.
I was about to enter college when I bought this book. I sort of didn't want to feel bored while waiting for the professor thus I carried this with me as I stood near the door, ignoring the rest of my classmates (I don't know them...yet).
Anyway, I didn't like the book way back, simply because I cannot understand it. As I progressed, I noticed I underlined lots of words before. Now, I simply wonder why. I also tore a page from it, and I don't remember why. Perhaps I simply got mad before.
The story opens with a mysterious write-up. It's like a diary. Every chapter begins with an entry. I never understood the connection until I met all the characters and the 'connection'.
Raymond, 'Ray', had just got out of high school. Along with his graduation was the fact that his parents are about to lose their marriage. It appeared though, that this did not matter much to Ray. His character evolved to a boy in a raging puberty stage, curious and often in love. He would sleep with males, and would find it pleasurable. He would fall for a woman, and still feel pleasure from it. I simply find him confusing, but that made him entertaining. Until the end, I did not understand him.
Lester - the arrogant family man. First born. Successful, supposedly. Richest of the family, supposedly. But time came when he made all the wrong decisions and there was nothing left but failure. He was one hell of an annoying guy. He's Ray's uncle, and I supposed Ray did not like him as well.
Jerome - the writer, often a poet, thief of secrets, and canned goods. He works for Lester. When Lester found out he was stealing from him, naturally, he got mad and their friendship came to an end, or at least that was what Lester wanted. Jerome is in love, or was, with a woman named Agatha, who later on met Ray. Agatha speaks in her sleep her secrets which are made up of stories and bitterness. Jerome thought he should write it. When Agatha found out about his Journals, she kicked him out and later met Ray, who ended up kicked out too due to reading what Jerome had written.
Their common denominators were secrets and failures. Ray tried to keep his desires for men a secret, but then failed and was later found out by his dad. Lester tried to keep his business' bankruptcy a secret, but then failed and was later left by his family, and 'inner circle neighborhood'. Jerome, tried to keep the secrets he had gathered in a journal, but then failed to keep it going smoothly so his Agatha won't find out.
The book reminds me of the Department of IT in PUP. ;)
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