Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Mar 12, 2014 | by Becky Oeltjenbruns
Image from Idéfix
For this month’s book club selection, we craved a vintage piece that reveled in splendor but also ached with depth – Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter fit the bill perfectly. The main characters of the story interact and slide past each other with an edited perfection that captivated us from the beginning. We have Pasquale Tursi: a young man who dutifully gave up life in Florence to carve out new dreams in his hometown of Porto Vergogna, Italy; Dee Moray: a young actress who isn’t afraid to feel every emotion and be present; Michael Deane: former Hollywood royalty, now a washed up producer struggling to reclaim his glamour; Claire Silver: Deane’s bright, hungry assistant fed up with the glitz and superficiality of the Hollywood system; Shane Wheeler: a self-absorbed, yet surprisingly insecure writer, trying to buoy himself back toward success; Alvis Bender: a broken WWII vet, trying to rewrite the ending of his life, but finding solace in alcohol instead; and Pat Bender: Dee’s son who struggles with addiction, looking for answers in the strumming of his guitar and the warmth of strangers.
You may be asking yourself – what force is bringing these characters together? How can these people from seemingly opposite ends of the world share any common ground? The gravity for all these players is the 1963 film “Cleopatra.” Yes, you read that correctly. The classic film known for Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s love affair as much as its over the top sets and costume changes – that moment in time brings all our vested partners in sync. But if you’re thinking it’s just a period piece, simply arranged into the folds of the 1960s, that’s where you’re wrong. Our author seamlessly moves between the decades, showing how connections and chance encounters can develop over time. Like ripples in a pond, our characters find themselves moving apart in increasingly larger distances. But their path isn’t infinite or linear, one man’s quest to say thank you to a dear friend marries their corners of the world. Time stands still for a brief moment and as a reader you feel lucky to be a part of the journey.
Cleopatra, the movie that started it all
Perhaps that’s the true joy of Beautiful Ruins – as a reader it’s easy to become truly vested in these people’s lives, in their very development. There are moments in Walter’s story where his words leap off the page and you find yourself truly impacted by the black text screaming at you on the crisp page. These are emotions we can all relate to and understand. “And he waited – as he always had – for life to come and find him.” (Walter 7)
This tale reminds us that when we meet people we have an opportunity. Sometimes people come into our lives to remind us who we are and who we can be. Walter introduces life lessons in an elegant way and the woven quality of his writing makes for a great read from start to finish. So get ready to curl up, let yourself escape into decades past, and enjoy. Keeping in mind, “Stories are people. I’m a story, you’re a story… your father is a story. Our stories go in every direction, but sometimes if we’re lucky, our stories join into one, and for a while, we’re less alone.” (Walter 67)
Cause A Frockus would like to thank their tremendous resources: the brilliant Jess Walter and the people who post their images without restriction.
For our readers: have you read this book? Tell us all about it in the comments below! Did it end the way you were expecting?