The Way Home

I have read the book “The way home” by George Pelecanos. The book tells the story of Chris Flynn, a man in his young twenties. Chris grows up in a happy family, but still he ends up in jail after several crimes. We get to follow him in jail and the time afterwards when he tries to do well and stay out of his previous bad habits. Chris starts to work in his fathers business, but when he finds a bag full of money is the time when things start to go bad.

I think one of the most important topics that the book brings up is the “what to do when I grow up” topic. On one side you may not know what you want to do with your life, like what to do for a living, and on an earlier stage what you are going to study. On the other hand you may feel pressure from your parents to do well in life, and they may want you to work in a certain business. I think it is a tough period in our life when many important decisions will be made and the important thing is to follow your own heart (classic).

Another topic in the book, according to me, is that you are not the one you were born to be. You become who you are because of how you act etc. For example Chris is a white guy who grew up in a happy family, still he ends up in jail where he is the only white guy. Of course this was a lot of bad actions that lead to the jail time, but it could go the other way with a lot of good actions.

Most people deserve a second chance and people can change. I think this is true and a thought worth living after. In the book a couple of guys that Chris spent jail time with later on became rather successfully in the business and didn’t come back to the criminal life. I think that is a good example on how people can change if they get a second chance.

Overall I think the book was interesting and quite exciting.