Non-fiction is one of those genre’s that there are many sub genre’s in it. From nature to science to philosophy, non-fiction is unique due to its’ variety. Backwater Mystic Blues by Lloyd Ratzlaff is one of those books in which the author takes us to childhood hiding spots, rural areas, makeshift rafts that explain the author’s adult philosophy.
The book is broken down into sections such as Religion and Glory, Walking Up The Stair. And the Play of Forces which describe certain themes. For instance, in Religion and Glory one of my favorite is title Springfield in which the author describes their parents settling after the Great Depression and World War II in a small community. This is important because our stories about our origins usually start with our parents: How they met, where they choose to settle and what was going on at the time before we are born.
This sets the stage for the story Water Carrier in how the author recounts using an old fashioned water pump to gather water for the house and how in his adulthood, he reminisces about that when drinking water from the tin cup because it reminds him of an innocence of childhood that becomes lost.
It is very powerful how in the author’s recollections in these two stories alone show not only an attention to detail, but also the foundations of the way they think.
The sections are also broken down into age as in each section, you see how the author goes from the eyes of childhood, where there is a sense on wonderment to the teenage years with it’s teenage angst, the questioning on religion such as in The Man That Wasn’t There where he questions the idea of God. It is something we all can relate to as in our teenage and even our early adult years, we start to question dogma we had grown up with and had accepted without question as children.
Backwater Mystic Blues is a book that will not only will one enjoy reading, but will also have the reader compare and contrast their own background to identify similarities in the author writings in terms of upbringing and experiences.
I am convinced that this book will also have one questioning their own beliefs and how we all have a little bit of mystic blues in us. Backwater Mystic Blues is a book you would want to come back to again and again not only for knowledge but a good read as well.
Book Cover rating: 9.0/10
Book rating. 8.5 /10
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Book Review by Robert Stubblefield
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