Carry Me Home, by Sandra King

Mom and I both read this, and both loved it, but we took so many opposite views on it!

For instance, in the beginning I was telling her it was hard for me to read this because it’s written from the view of a retarded 16 y/o boy, and that is distracting. Also, it has a lot of those moments where inside you just cringe, because you know just how the dude is going to mess up, and it’s almost painful to read. Mom, however, loved his view of things, and felt that he was the only character in the book who saw the truth. I eventually came around to her way of thinking.

Another example: The boy’s mother! I hated her! She treats the retarded kid so unfairly compared to his “normal” older brother and she’s always fussing at him, almost as if she is totally forgetting that he is mentally-challenged and DOES NOT understand her sometimes! This kid had to be removed from school because he couldn’t pass the 3rd grade and was getting too big for the class, so why does she fuss at him for making mistakes? Mom felt that the mother loved him and always wanted him with her, and I felt that she was a bitch who just liked harping on him. I held that view right up until the last few chapters, when the mother started to change and she got less bitchy.

Oh, synopsis: Earl/Earwig/Earlwig (he’s called all 3 by different characters) is 16 and retarded. His brother Jimmy is 21 and not. They both live with their parents, and they both work with their parents: Jimmy with the dad, and Earl with the mom. The author gives a brief look at their daily life, before pretty much destroying it for a little while. Jimmy signs up for the National Guard and ends up being sent to overseas during WWII and kept in a Japanese prison camp for a few years. The parents’ marriage nearly collapses, but Earl actually grows up a little. He gets a job outside of his mother’s store, and starts making friends with two women he works with, possibly the only friends he’s ever made on his own besides a 6 y/o boy named Eddie that he likes to play with. His other friends were all made through Jimmy and every one of them went off to the war.

Since I’m no essayist, here’s a list of stuff I liked about the book:

Besides the story, the author tries to convey what life was like during the time, with the ration stamps, and women having to go to work, and the children going through air raid drills in school. She also makes a little social commentary towards the end, when the boys come home from war and the women have to quit their jobs and go back home. This reminds me of point 2:
The father is the Voice of Reason throughout the book. He sees where things are heading before the war starts, and he’s the one trying to warn everyone of what shape the boys’ll be in when they get back home. He understands more of how the world works than anyone else in this book. He’s the go-to guy for advice, and I really found myself loving this dude.
Favorite lines:
Childbirth is as natural as taking a shit.
I hope to hell I ain’t gotta tell [---] he’s got a cute baby in there, ‘cause that sure would be a lie. (Earl got a glimpse of the afterbirth and thought it was the baby, lol)
Titty moon.
I wouldn’t have made it back if it weren’t for you, Earwig. I just kept telling myself every day, every hour, that I had to live through it to come home for you. (I dare anyone to read this book and not tear up at that part. IF YOU DO NOT GET AT LEAST A LITTLE MISTY-EYED THEN YOU ARE A ROBOT.)
There were more lines but I forgot them already. I have a new rule: I write these blogs AS I read the book, so maybe it’s less of a hodgepodge of my thoughts.
Who am I kidding, there’s no way I’m every going to put these blogs in any sort of proper form, like a real essay, HAHA.

This was funnier than I thought it was going to be, and more touching than I thought it was going to be. Except for the pretty bad language, I think this would make an excellent book club book, actually.