In Watermelon Sugar

This is a strange book but outstanding at the same time. You either will love this book or hate it there is no in between. This book makes you think and although it is a fast read it is one of those books that sticks with you. Highly recommended.

I read this book in a single one night-long binge while in the midst of a nasty relationship breakup. It hit me right between the eyes, and I still can not explain exactly why. Certain themes resonated strongly with my own circumstances at the time; and for whatever reason this book synergized with my state of mine with an emotional intensity I have never equalled since. I was left heartbroken yet exhilarated, emotionally devastated and yet healed. Fearing that, like the insights gained in travels with Lucy (that seem trivial by the light of day), the effect will be unrepeatable, I have not read the book since.

I'm 15 years old and I read this book because there was a referance to it in another book I was reading(I Know This Much is True--another 5-star book) and it sounded intriguing. Being someone who analyzes things to death, I knew right away that this is the kind of book that you will have your own opinions about and no one's opinions are wrong. For example, I think that iDeath was supposed to symoblize Heaven and the Forgotten Works was Earth(what's been "forgotten") Anyhoo, the book is a rare work of art and one of the most inspiring works of literature to ever be published.

In Watermelon sugar, for me, has been more than a good read -- it has been an obsession. In college I wrote a twenty-page research paper on the subject... and Brautigan's style in this work particularly has continued to fascinate me. So often Brautigan's name is associted with his first success, "Trout Fishing in America." Critics of his time seemed also to be preoccupied with it, to the detriment of his better work. Brautigan himself seemed at times to flaunt that work as a kind of mantlepiece throughout his life. Folly, I think; In Watermelon Sugar is clearly his best work -- a book as unique as "Trout Fishing," but with the added touch of a uniquely woven plot, something "Fishing" surely lacks. Myth and Symbolism are handled by Brautigan with the hand of a child at play in a dream. To truly appreciate the book, Brautigan insists that you yourself become like that dreaming child, reaching back toward a place you thought you had forgotten. For instance, does anyone remember associating days of the week with certain colors? What color was Wednsday? In "In Watermelon Sugar," the sun shines a different color every day, beckoning us back to the hidden realm of things lost but not forgotten -- a place we will never forget...

I read this book in college 29 years ago and have never forgotten it. I've been looking for it so I can share it with my son. Richard Brautigan is a very special writer.

In Watermelon Sugar creates a world so fascinating that I literally couldn't put it down. Brautigan paints a surrealistic picture of a post-apocalyptic world, where strange people do strange things, but still maintains a warmth that is universal. It's incredibly sad to read the book and know that Brautigan took his own life because he felt he would never be appreciated. You'll never want it to end, and you'll want to read all of his books.