![]() It is never the same and always the same. ![]() On other days, the early morning sun throws a golden glaze upon its white fa�ade. On some days, a wisp of smoke rises from the chimney. The boy named Robert Carson loves gazing at that house, basking in its permanence and comfort. Standing there, he knows it will turn pale blue when the sun appears to work its magic. He is staring at the house where he lives: the great good Irish placeof whitewashed walls, long and low, with a dark slate roof glistening in the morning drizzle. ![]() There he is, three days after his fifth birthday, standing barefoot upon the wet summer grass. It is when we are shown the beauty and security of home through the eyes of a small 18 th century Irish boy that Hamill is perhaps at his lyrical best: ![]() ![]() Robert is only a few days past his fifth birthday, which is September 9 ththe ninth day of the ninth month, his mother explains to him, making nine his magic number. The novel begins 300 years ago in Ireland, with the child, Robert Carson (whom we will subsequently learn is actually named Cormac O∬onnor). He does so in a manner that is graceful, compelling, and instructive. In his ninth novel, Forever, Pete Hamill tackles a number of classic themes: the longing for eternal life, the sins of the fathers passed to the sons, humankinds unremitting quest for freedom, and the existential question of what makes life worth living. ![]()
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