Blues Lessons

by Robert Hellenga

Book Overview

In the lush countryside of 1950s Michigan, young Martin Dijksterhuis has everything he could ever want, living among his extended family and working in his family's orchard fields. Despite his... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743225333
• ISBN13: 9780743225335
• Release Date: December 2001
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Blue's Calling

During the innocent time of 1954, in rural Michigan, Martin Dijksterhuis a high school senior falls in love with his neighbor, Cory Williams who is an African American. With the optimism of youth Martin believes in dreams and that love will overcome. This is the stage set by Robert Hellenga in his third novel Blues Lessons.Martin and Cory are constant companions since childhood. Martin's family owns the orchard where Cory's father is employed as a foreman. One evening Cory and Martin sneak through the orchard to listen to the migrant workers playing the blues. Martin uses the money he has saved from the Summer of working the orchards to purchase the beat up old national steel from the guitar player. He thinks has found his calling and the love of his life.Hellenga nicely captures the hope and delicacy which exists in first love. Martin's feelings for Cory are beautiful and fragile. Love is never as simple as we hope when we are teenagers. Hellenga's story shows how family relationships can be strained to the breaking point when we try to choose other's path. For those who have read Hellenga's previous book The Fall of a Sparrow, Blues Lessons may be a bit of a disappointment. The story doesn't move at quite the same pace nor does it have the angst that was so apparent in The Fall of a Sparrow. While it doesn't have the Harrowing emotions of his previous book it does examine the impact which family members have on each other and the life choices they make and the reasons behind choosing vocations.As a lover of the blues I appreciate the story of Martin's love of the blues and his developing career as a blues artist. It examines the period in 1960's when blues was "rediscovered" and many of the original delta blues artists were "found."For those who appreciate stories about family relationships, I recommend this book.

complex and engaging

Hellenga's third novel is more complicated, more mature, and more consistent than his earlier novels. The voice of the beautifully compelling and flawed main character rings true at every stage, especially when the reader knows more or sympathizes differently than he does. I really appreciated the extensive research that went into this novel and how it enriches the story, especially a sense of time and place, rather than revealing an authorial hand. This story captures complex aspects of race, with the white, male protagonist's first love and developing fascination with blues culture. He wants to believe that he can follow his heart, that his heart is pure, that his passions are blind to color, that cultural divisions can be crossed--beliefs he can cling to for awhile because he's a young, male, Midwestern, white boy--but life's not that simple. Hellenga really stretches his talent with Blues Lessons, and readers will probably think twice about who they are--and why.

I've got those down home Blues again........

Robert Hellenga's "Blues Lesson" is not only about what happens when one follows one's dream but also when one doesn't.Martin is a young man of Appleton, Michigan living on an apple farm who has big dreams of going to college and making something of his life. His mother in particular, who teaches languages at the local high school shares and even pushes him towards her alma mater, the University of Chicago.But Martin has a couple of other interests: the Blues, which he hears the day laborers, employed by his father, sing really rejoice in... and a young lady named Corrina Williams.When Corrina becomes pregnant with Martin's child and leaves town at the behest and with the financial backing of Martin's parents, Martin's life goes into a tailspin: he drops plans for college, gets a job with the US Postal Service and fervently pursues the learning and performance of the Blues.Hellenga has some magical things to write about performance: "Every night, at small venues around the country, thousands of performers like me walk out onto small stages to sing their songs, to tell their stories...sometimes we die a thousand deaths; but other times the music opens our hearts, lifts the veil of familiarity, reveals the mysterious inner life of things--raw,fresh, fragile."Robert Hellenga's "Blues Lessons" is a gentle story, rife with the every day things of lives, missed connections, unfulfilled dreams and mis-placed emotions. But it is the cumulative effect of these factors which make it such a fine and thoughtful read.

Good, not great

I thought Hellenga's two previous novels were among the best fiction I have read in years. This latest work is a good read but the character development is not as nuanced and subtle as in previous works. Still, the writing is excellent, the story line interesting, and Hellenga's capacity to explore his characters' personalities is admirable. I eagerly await his next novel.

My new favorite author ...

I am 40 years old, a lifelong reader of literary fiction, and long a fan of really just a handful of modern American masters, Updike, Bellow, etc. I mention this only because it has been many years since I have discovered an author worthy of inclusion, and Robert Hellenga is that author. His novels are made from masterful language, and an intense examination of the human experience. I give this book four stars for one reason only -- The Fall of a Sparrow is even better! Read them both, and thank me later.