The infant, named Margaret, had hair on her head
Opening Verse
Think and wild as a fire, and three times as red.
The midwife, a brawny and capable whelper,
Gave one look and crossed herself. ‘God about help her,’
She whispered, but gave the new mother a smile,
‘A big, healthy girl. Now you rest for a while.
I always looked forward to English class in school. It was the one subject that didn’t feel like work to me because I had already read most of the books for pleasure on my own. Instead of treating it like a chore, I looked to fifth period like my own government paid book club where I could discuss Gatsby and Scout and my other best friends with my classmates. However, when it came to the poetry portion of the semester I always cringed. I was never a big fan of iambic pentameter or haikus or other forms of long-form poetry. I just didn’t get it and it wasn’t until college that I really learned to love this form of literature and embrace the genre.
You know a book is something special when you can open it again and again and still discover something new. Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish: A Novel, by the late David Rakoff is one of those rare gems. Coming in at only 128 pages, this little treasure is full of such beautifully crafted stanzas that you’ll find yourself going back and re-reading passages for fun and to try to commit them to memory.
The novel isn’t your traditional yarn. For starters, it’s written entirely in rhyme. It does take a chapter or two to get into the flow, but once you do, the poems roll off like a perfect song. The book focuses on several characters and follows them throughout their lives. Weaving in the Great Depression, AIDs epidemic, and other events that helped define the 20th century, you follow each person as they navigate the ups and downs of their lives.
The book first introduces us to Margaret, a fiery redhead stuck in an abusive family situation with an alcoholic stepfather. She eventually jumps a train heading West and never looks back. More and more characters – each with their own complex issues and backstories emerge with each vignette and several – like artist Clifford and his cousin Helen’s – come full circle as the stories progress.
In fact, it’s Helen’s story (as well as her son’s) that sucked me in the most. A once awkward, shy girl who agrees to pose for Clifford’s portraits, she grows into an awkward, shy adult who falls for her boss. While this storyline has been done again and again, Rakoff’s cheeky, poetic phrasing gives this subplot a fresh new angle and proves that no how serious the issues might be – its all easier to swallow when spoken in rhyme.
Rakoff, who was a frequent contributor to NPR’s popular show This American Life and beloved essayist, will not disappoint fans with this final opus. Although it strays from his traditional style, this engaging piece of fiction will satisfy longtime enthusiasts as well as create new fans of his work. The world might have lost a great storyteller to cancer too soon, but his legacy will live on through his beautiful, engaging novels.
