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AJ's Memories of Grandma Doris

by Frank Kolondra

266 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-0978; ISBN 1-4120-3151-6; US$26.50, C$29.44, EUR22.00, £15.50

The novel is a product of the unimagined thoughts of a child, mixed with reality. The author was a foster parent with 43 children in his household over the years. His personal experience are transferred into a full length story.

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About the Book      About the Author      Excerpts      Catalogue Information

About the Book

The novel takes the reader from the pseudoscientific description of the beginning of life, to the birth of a child who already perceives his surrounding while still in the womb. It is a personal story of Andrew Jr., nicknamed AJ, who is the Grandson of the author, and Grandma Doris is his wife. Grandpa Frank is teh villain in this story because he believes in Discipline and the only word AJ dislikes more than discipline is Diaper Rash. The novel is full of children's poems, bedtime stories and is so full of feelings that at times the more sensitive among us will get emotional.

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About the Author

The author although an Electrical Engineer always had the affinity to write and as a young man did. Then the war and other considerations, changed his idea to be a writer. The college and work for a living occupied him for many years and only in 1996 he sat down to his computer and wrote "Never a Straight Path," to engrave in stone what was only a memory. His first novel was in the Czech language and the manuscript was confiscated by the StB, a state organ of national security, as was all his property, after his escape across the fortified border of the Iron Curtain. He entered the United States in 1951 and became a US citizen. He was drafted during the Korean war, but served in Europe because of his knowledge of Eastern European languages including German. He was supposed to join the intelligence services of the Army of occupation in Germany, but by a quirk of fate and his knowledge of radios and transmitters was attached to the 142nd Signal Co. 2nd Armored Division of the US Army. He wrote his first full-length novel in 1996, and since then wrote ten more. He is finishing his twelveÅfs novel, titled "The Search For Someone In Particular."

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Excerpts

In the novel's first 2 pages, the author describes his conception of the beginning. Time, matter and eventually life intertwine in an endless three dimensional Mobius space where light travels and twists on itself explaining why the universe is not endless but seems so.

"In the beginning there was nothing, but a thought, or maybe a bundle of energy, a photon? A neutrino? Maybe something called a quantum, of maybe many of these quantra which whiled, twisted, flew and circled in an infinite space of dimensions, which could only be described as having purpose, direction and Thought."

Thought which contains sound, and spreads in all directions has purpose and creates life.

The child's thoughts start while still in the womb with the first sensation of sound.

"I heard a sound of music, a quiet soothing melody, and a voice of silver, singing words."

As the child grows it describes what he hears.

"Then I heard it. Actually I heard two things, a silent beating of something in my body, and the other thing a loud thump, thump thing, which was just above me.

"Now I know it was Marci's, my mother's heart and I was just below it."

"Then one day, the infinite feeling of floating in infinite space wasn't there any more, and I heard my mother Marci cry in pain. Then some hands took me, and it was cold in the outer space. I was slapped on my butt and I cried in pain. What are these people doing slapping me, and I let them know I was insulted."

The author who assumes the child's persona, talks and thinks as one who comprehends things which have no basis in reality and the whole becomes a story of the infant child years, which to this day no one was interested to describe. How could they? They were never children.

Grandma Doris becomes the kind and secure person in A.J's life when he describes his first impressions of her.

"...until I saw a face with a thousand wrinkles, and eyes of the sunlit sky, which looked straight into mine."

In the preschool years A.J. grows, plays and listens to stories, Grandma has a thousand of them. Then another person appears, Grandpa Frank. He is the devil's advocate of the story, and it takes time until A.J. realizes that the hated word Discipline is not a threat developed by Grandpa Frank to spoil his days of fun.

Grandpa Frank creates his own stories by adaptation from some well known ones, and they make sense and are all entertaining.

He creates poems only for A.J.

The Curious Cat and the Spruce Tree

"Wily Spruce and the curious me,
were going to start a family.
The tree wanted a hundred kids,
and I had a hundred fits.

She shook her angry branch at me,
ending the start of the family.
Her cones flew this way and that,
until they hit me the silly cat,
who wanted to be free
of the big and anxious tree.
I ran away as fast as I could,
deeper and deeper into the wood,
until I was far away
and came back only yesterday.
All I saw around the wily spruce
were trees but not one puss,
That's all I have to say,
so go ahead and have a nice day.

The story is full of feeling and one laughs and cries at times.

The incident of potty training before he was three years old, is also immortalized by a poem.

To A.J. for his 3rd Birthday

In a closet dark as night
I did something with all my might.
Stinky thing it was, just lying there,
did you think I wouldn't care?

I did it right on the floor,
I tell you, I could do more,
of this thing which belongs into the toilet
not letting me to forget,
that now I was three,
and knew where to pee.

Like Dad did in Miami Zoo,
You know I can do it too.
It is enough for now, I insist,
I am just sorry, the toilet I missed.

Then one day Grandpa Frank was not in his study. His picture with signatures of hundreds of well wishers, was hanging on the wall. He was staring in space his expression saying, what are you doing here?

We went to the Cape May Veterans Cemetery and there was a brass plate in the ground with Grandpa's name on it.

Then I knew I will not see him any more and I with Grandma sang the Good Bye song to him.

Good Bye, Good Bye, Grandpa Good Bye,
for it was time for us to part,
the sun, the stars will always shine,
just as you always be, in my mourning heart.

Grandma and me left the veteran's cemetery and followed my family who were so far ahead they disappeared in the shadows of the dark.

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Catalogue Information

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