Philosophy Made Simple

In Philosophy Made Simple, Robert Hellenga wisely places plot and characterization above idea, to pave the way for a reality beyond forms. The plot unfolds capably and simply--a 1960s retired widower elects to sell his Illinois home and buy an avocado farm in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. He encounters adventures and misadventures, seeks love and meaning, and searches for a moment of true insight. Yet the novel is not bound to the sum of its parts. This is not one of those "Egg and I" novels about a misplaced person having comic adventures in strange territory, nor is it "A Confederacy of Dunces" in its its exploration of a fellow exploring personal philosophy. It's instead a gentle, flowing story, whose moments of amusement come in well-hit singles rather than in swings for the fences. The novel successfully evokes the late 1960s and contains a nearly dead-ringer feel for the Mission/McAllen area of south Texas. Mr. Hellenga's book engages the reader who seeks an old-fashioned "good read", but it's not at all a hidebound work out of fashion. It's instead light reading in the best sense--breezy, well-thought-out, and a delight. I recommend Philosophy Made Simple for those who may not want their philosophy too elaborate, but instead suffused into the ether surrounding the reader by a novelist's knowing pen. Rather than write another "wasted life" retirement story, Mr. Hellenga celebrates the life in all of us, despite having a skeptic's practiced eye and a satirist's ready chuckle. This is a fine book indeed.

Rudy Harrington's offbeat approach to his post-midlife crisis makes for an engaging read. Rudy's wife has been dead for seven years, his three daughters are grown and he has worked for thirty-some years as a wholesale produce manager in Chicago. On a whim he buys an avocado grove in Texas, never mind that he knows zip about raising avocados, and sets about creating a new life guided by a slender book one of his daughters gives him called Philosophy Made Simple. Along the way, Rudy meets some surprising people, acquires an elephant named Norma Jean with a penchant for painting and hosts his daughter's Hindu wedding. I just wish I'd been invited to the ceremony.

When Hellenga outsells Michael Crichton I will have hope for our future. Rudy's quest for meaning in his everyday life through reading classic philosophy is the story. Only Hellenga can write a novel about a widower, (the father of Margot from "Sixteen Pleasures")who moves to Texas to buy an Avocado ranch. Only he can make the "elephant in the room" a real Indian Elephant and a significant character. Combine a new and exotic love, an Indian wedding and a storm and we get to learn about the role of religion and the truly solitary nature of being, even in the midst of love and family.

Reviewed by Marcelline Burns for Reader Views (3/06) I approach a review of this novel with misgivings, fearing that my words are inadequate to communicate its merits. It is a gem to be savored in the reading and in the re-reading. Unlike many books that come my way, it will have a permanent place among other treasures. The author takes us into the life and the heart and the soul of Rudy. This main character is not a hero of the kind that populates many novels. He is an ordinary, flawed man, a widower, father of three less-than-perfect daughters, a man pondering philosophical writings as he tries to find meaning and direction in a life emptied of reasons for living. We follow him from his longtime home to an avocado ranch in Texas. We share his humorous misadventures, recognize his loneliness, and reflect on his profound musings that are deceptive in their simple language. Norma Jean, an elephant who paints, enters his life and our hearts. Nandina, a gracious and wise lady, gently loves Norma Jean and Rudy. When Norma Jean and Nandina depart, each in their own way, Rudy is able to finds clarity in his memories of Helen, the wife he loved and lost to Bruni... and loved still. Dr. Hellenga's writing buoys his story telling. No sentence jars the senses. Never does one have to re-read to understand. Words meld into images and sounds and scents, and reading is pure pleasure. The reader who seeks thrills and suspense and breathless sex is advised to pass on this book. The reader who ponders unanswerable questions, who understands loving an imperfect child and accepting a faithless lover ... the reader who wonders why we persevere ... the reader who thoughtfully lives an ordinary day ... `you' will read and smile and weep and be grateful for all it.

Seven years have passed since Rudy Harrington's beloved spouse Helen died leaving him alone to raise their teenage daughters. However, now that each of his children has left, the sexagenarian decides to sell his Chicago empty nest home that he owned for three decades and buy an avocado grove in Texas. At the same time he makes his life move, Rudy is reading Philosophy Made Simple by Siva Singh, the uncle of his daughter Molly's fiancé. The book makes Rudy ponder about life and death and beauty and truth even as he plans Molly's wedding to TJ. His grove manager and new friend Mecardo takes Rudy on pleasure trips to Mexico where he meets Maria, who gives him a different view on life at the same time his family and that of TJ begin the invasion of Texas for the bi-cultural wedding. PHILOSOPHY MADE SIMPLE is actually a complex character driven tale as perspectives switch constantly so that the audience can keenly see how different cultures and people define truth, beauty, life and death. What is interesting is the multifaceted comparisons for instance Rudy vs. late-night radio evangelists that make the tale poignant. Readers who appreciate a deep look at concepts from varying points of view will want to join Rudy's search for meaning sort of mindful of Supertramps' The Logical Song. Harriet Klausner