The Glimpse Traveler

           The Glimpse Traveler is a true story set in 1971 that recounts a fateful, nine-day trip into the American counterculture that begins on a whim and quickly becomes a mission to unravel a tragic mystery. Marianne Boruch, a poet and Professor of English at Purdue University, successfully recreates the early 1970s with the inclusion of such memories like hippie hitchhikers, anti-war sentiments, and dope-induced haze. Boruch finally decided to recount her story 37 years after her journey because as she got older and began to mull the journey over again, she realized that it was not meant to be a story that she kept to herself.

            Although I am hardly past the exposition of the novel, I believe the author’s purpose in writing this novel is simply to bring her audience along for the journey, and not put them in the back seat. An audience that would get the most out of this novel is anyone who lived through the ‘70s making it possible to relate to Boruch’s references. Boruch achieves this purpose by using a very informal and conversational diction with her readers, rather than using language that seems she is talking at us not with us. Boruch goes as far as referring to her reader as “you” when she writes, “So I had one day to get ready. You saw how I packed” (Boruch 8). Although a seemingly miniscule detail, the use of you really does pull readers into the story and makes them feel like they are walking beside her in the California mountains. In the previous pages, when she was explaining what she was packing for the journey, it sounded as if she was expecting a response to reassure her that she was prepared.

            Although it is too early in the novel to see if the author truly achieves her purpose, I would say she is at least on the right track. I do feel enveloped in the story as I read because of her conversational, informal diction. If this engagement remains constant, there is no doubt in my mind that her purpose will be achieved by the end of the novel.