The Blue Lawn By William Taylor

The title of this book is The Blue Lawn, I found it interesting that the title of the book would be something that played such a minor roll in the story. I wonder if there is a connection between the blue lawn and the boys relationship. I think that maybe the lawn in the grandmothers back yard signifies the boys relationship in that both are different from "the norm". This book was written in 1994, and in that time gay relationships were not as accepted as they are today. The author could be making a connection between the grandmother and her grandson, and implying that she is accepting of his homosexuality. But I am not sure that is just an idea. Overall, I thought that this was a very interesting book and liked that it narrated the boys thoughts, confusions, and struggles with what they were feeling. It brought to my attention some of the things that I would not understand unless I was experiencing the same thing. Something that was different and that I did not like very much was the style of the narration. It was hard for me to follow sometimes who was talking because it was written completely in third person and dialog was intermixed with the narration. I had not read many books written like that and I think I prefer other styles more. A big part of the story was the grandmother's history. I think that the fact that she had been through the Holocaust may have given her understanding of what her grandson was struggling with. Again, at this time being gay was not widely accepted. Having the grandmother live through severe discrimination created a character, the only one in the book, that could relate to her grandson and Davids struggles. I also think that it may have given her some credibility in sending Theo away to live with his mother. If she had not gone through what she did, it might have seamed as though she was simply angry at the fact that her son was in love with another boy. One question I had about the story was why Davids parents did not play major rolls. They were very one dimensional characters, and the story would have been almost the same had they not been in it. Overall this was a good book, but I had not read a book like this, and it was very interesting to read.