When Carol Meitzner wakes up in the middle of the night she is as sure as anything that her son, Jonas, is in danger. Even though she tries to keep calm and give her 21-year old a healthy amount of space in which to live his life and make his own decisions, in the back of her mind she knows that it’s not like him to be out of touch with her. She just knows that she has to get to him. Carol does the best she can to keep her fear in check and to make discrete inquiries into Jonas’ possible whereabouts, but what she doesn’t know is that she only has 31 hours to find him. Or else…
Jonas has always been reserved and sensitive; even as a child he was observant and deeply affected by his interactions with the world. Now, in some undisclosed location in New York City, Jonas is preparing to make a statement in a manner that he believes is the only way to make a difference in a world that is too callous, cruel and hypocritical to meet the needs of its citizens.
There is really something to be said for opening up a book when you are able to give it your full attention. When I first cracked this one open I was in a hotel room in Washington, DC for the National Book Festival, whooping it up with roomies Trish and Amy and definitely not in the frame of mind for a book that would require my full attention. Unfocused, I read the first few pages and saw wolves howling and Manhattan traffic and thought, “Huh? Don’t know if I will like this.” Boy was I wrong.
I picked this book back up once I had returned to NYC and could concentrate, started again from the beginning and I could not put this one down! I would try to move on to something else but somehow just a short time later I would find myself with book in hand. It’s a little novel that through snapshot portrayals examines 31 hours in the lives of not only Jonas and his mother, but also those most likely to be affected by his final acts- his girlfriend Vic, and her sister Mara among them. The novel powerfully moves right into the heart of each character in the present moment and reveals their dreams, aspirations and fears, all the while giving a glimpse into the history they have with each other and how it is has shaped their lives.
The characterizations are some of the strongest I have seen, and for this particular novel they were heart wrenching. Hamilton does an excellent job of portraying Jonas’s parents- one struggling between what might be irrational fear or intuition, and the other believing that their son is growing into a man and just needs his space. The book does an excellent job of exploring different issues facing the characters without being judgmental or preachy. Troubled marriages and questions of faith and religion are put forth to be examined, but are not framed as indictments so much as they are presented as the facts of each family’s situation. I loved seeing the nuances and complexities in all their situations. The character of Sonny Hirt in particular opened me up to a different perspective on freedom and the incredible assumptions that we make about the way all of us should live and function. It was very interesting to see another way.
31 Hours, by Masha Hamilton is a wonderfully written book examining the possibilities behind some of the unknowable facets which drive human behavior and how much we can truly know about one another and the actions of which we are capable. Ultimately it is a haunting reminder of how much each moment and hour of the act of living is an act of trust, and how the fragility of our existence is so quickly and easily unraveled.
