Reader's Fave

I recently interviewed Andrew Emlen for our 20th installment of Reader's Fave, a casual interview with someone who shares their favorite book. Andrew lives in Skamokawa and is known throughout our county for his musical abilities and knowledge of wildlife as a naturalist.

Andrew shared "Fidelity" by author Wendell Berry, which is a series of five stories where the author explores a fictional farm town in Kentucky, the various characters, and their interwoven relationships with one another.

As we began, Andrew said, "There's a lot to unpack here .. the book really encapsulates what it means to live in a rural county. It gives a sense of time - interrelationships - it's just beautifully written .. while also showing the modern and rural divide .. it's fiction that's true to life." One could see Andrew was touched by this book and continues to reflect on its implications for people who live in a rural setting.

"Fidelity" is a fictional story. Touching on this, Andrew said, "Sometimes a story is a better way to illuminate life." Maybe that's one of the reasons we enjoy reading stories so much; it helps us to see life, or understand it better. Author Berry seems to have written these five stories of rural life with the focus being illuminating life.

This was the first of the author's books Andrew read. He recalled being given this book back in 1999 by a family friend. "It was a fast read, engaging, and not long, right at 200 pages," Andrew said. He went on to read three other books by Berry, but it seemed clear "Fidelity" was the book which caught Andrew's attention from the beginning and remains his best-loved of the author's books.

"The prose itself is simple and beautiful," Andrew said. "The ideas are timely, and the stories are captivating .. characters feel like real people .. they remind me of people I know. People's actions have consequences, and you see how it plays out in the book .. he speaks to rural life like few others do."

Looking back, Andrew said he'd always been a reader and even remembers one school library incident where he was checking out a book and the librarian confronted him and said, "This is going to be above you." Andrew recalled with a smile saying, "I could read it." He also mentioned having read a 20-volume encyclopedia set about international wildlife when he was eight years old.

Today, he enjoys memoirs, biographies, fiction, or maybe a suggestion by his wife, Audrey, who's a local high school English teacher. Andrew continues to love reading about all things wildlife. "I'm a connoisseur of field guides .. dealing with mammals to plants and fungi," he said with a laugh. It's clear Andrew is an avid reader.

As we end, wonderful Wahkiakum readers, may you enjoy some fiction, some stories, and maybe something which will illuminate life a bit better for you.