Book Review - "Fup" Jim Dodge

I'll just start this book review off by stating this: Fup is one of those books you come across every so often that just touches you in some strange, yet magical way. This is a book that I will keep in my (small) collection of important books forever.

Martin over at This Rugged Life recommended this little gem to me quite awhile ago. After finally tracking it down on Amazon (due to it being out of print) I put it in the read queue behind the stack of books I had in line to read. But, It kept poking it's head out and kind of calling to me... So I gave in and moved it to the front of the line. The book is only 96 pages long and I powered through it in a few hours.

The book is so short that I really don't want to give you too much info and in turn ruin the book for you. I really suggest you go buy it for a buck or two, read it, and then pass it on to someone important to you. It's that kind of book. It's a parable on many front's with meanings that will last you for years. I probably still haven't even uncovered half of the meanings and lessons that are there for the uncovering.

The main characters are few: Grandaddy Jake, Tiny - who is Jake's grandson, and FUP - a duck who was near death, found by Tiny in the middle of nowhere while digging fence posts. Jake chooses the name "FUP duck. Ya get it? FUP...Duck" after Tiny brings the mallard home caked in mud, with barely a heartbeat. Yet, Jake give the duck a few drops of his magical whiskey, "Ole Death Whisper" and the duck immediately comes roaring back to life. Jake has perfected this Whiskey over the years and learned to be still with it. He claims the dying Indian who gave him the recipe told him this would make him immortal, while his friends and neighbors claim it will start a tractor. And from this new life given to Fup, the two men had built their bond.

"Their differences, however numerous, were superficial; their similarities were few, but had some bottom: they were held by the bewildered love they felt for each other, a kindness beyond mere tolerance, a blood understanding of what moved their respective hearts."

When Jake first got custody of his grandson, he had recently won a ranch and acres of land in a game of cards, and had spent time here developing his whiskey. When Tiny came along, Jake initially tried winning him over with candy, toys, baseballs and all the attention possible, but Jake had to learn a hard lesson.

Relationships can't be forced:

"When these excesses of good will drew a barren, if polite, response from Tiny, Grandaddy Jake had taken a jar (whiskey) out on the porch to wonder it through his mind. It took him awhile to get a firm grasp on the obvious: Tiny was devastated by his mother's death, and since only time and a little tenderness would cure that, he decided to just be who he was and go on about his life, and if the boy wanted to join in, that was fine and welcome, and if he didn't... well, Jake was used to fishing by himself. Real feeling take time earning the trust to keep them true."

The importance of passion, and being you:

"They also shared their passions, which were different in kind but not intensity. From the moment Jake had tasted the first batch run off from the dying Indian's recipe, his passion had been the refinement of whiskey; he pursued its perfection with the ardor of an old alchemist seeking the Philosopher's Stone. As he explained to anyone who'd listen, it wasn't so much purity he was after - hell, you could damn near buy pure alcohol - but something more precious: molecular character."

Jake had offers and adventures awaiting him elsewhere. Tiny developed himself into one of the best fence builders in the country, and had offers for work around the globe. And Fup had wings to fly wherever her heart desired. But the three of them all shunned the outside world to just 'be' and enjoy the life they had together. Their daily tasks were done with passion and fervor... as that is all they had.. their mind or motives weren't elsewhere. They lived and breathed for each other and helped each other to develop and grow on many levels.

Taking life as it is:

"I didn't grow to be 99 years old by fool speculation," Grandaddy replied. " It's hard enough separating the good stuff from the bullshit without adding to the whole mess by wanting to know what you ain't gonna know."

Tiny was obsessed with protecting what they had, with his fences, and with his family. He took so seriously the problematic boar that was tearing down his fence's, trying to kill Fup, and destroying the grounds they lived on. But Jake didn't see it that way, and wanted no part of the hunting of the boar that Tiny had made his life for awhile.

Dangers in obsession:

"Hunting was one thing, killing another, and obsession in any form was, to Grandaddy's experience, utterly treacherous; you couldn't be born if you wouldn't let go, and very few people could deliver themselves of obsession."

Yearning to be wild / not fenced in:

But secretly, Jake had thought that the boar was a reincarnation of a close Indian friend of his, Johnny Seven Moons. Although Jake mused, "I have generally thought that reincarnation was a pile of horse-shit five feet deep." Although Jake did have his reasons from the time Seven Moons spoke to him about fences: "You desire to tame everything, but if you just stand still and feel for a moment you would know how everything yearns to be wild. " "And these people with fences... Isn't the whole point to keep nothing in and nothing out."

Enjoying the small things:

"I've seen 30,000 sunsets, and no two that I can remember have ever been the same. What more can we possibly want?" - Seven Moons talking about the pleasure of stillness.

"He needed a task, a task that would not only challenge his wisdom, but enlarge it: he needed to teach something he didn't know." Jake thinking about his boredom with immortality

Sacrifice to achieve a goal:

"If you want to fly, you got to make sacrifices." Jake defending his diet plan for Fup to Tiny. Getting Fup to fly was Jake's new project, and the way Fup had been raised led to the duck being massively overweight. From this Jake came to realize the following:

3 great secrets of how to proceed when you have no idea where to go:

"The three great secrets of how to proceed when you don't have the vaguest idea what you're doing. The secrets were intuition, reason, and desperation." After failing to get the duck to fly by throwing it in the air, Jake says... "Intuition has been wrong: intuition often missed, sometimes spectacularly, but when it connected it saved so much time that the spirit leaped forward.... and, of course, there was no use denying the basic human delight in being right the first time. Reason was more reliable, but slow. But then patience is not a luxury of immortals. There is time to get it right."

"A happy duck would make a better pupil than a spiteful one."

Lesson on having the right mindset:

"But it depressed him to discover he'd knocked out the last two teeth that met. To spend eternity toothless was a dismal prospect - but who could tell, maybe after a couple of hundred years his gums would get touch enough to work over a rack of ribs. You just had to be still and have faith, that was the main thing. There was no heart in giving up." Jake after running into a tree while trying to help Fup fly.

Lesson on acceptance and moving on:

"It just ain't possible to explain some things, maybe even most things.... but the main thing is you have to accept it - take it for what it is, and get on with your getting."

I rarely keep books in my personal collection, but this one has staying power. I would highly recommend this book - I will be reading it again soon. It is full of wisdom and principles that transcend all of us. I tried to share parts that touched me without giving you too much of this short story. Hopefully I succeeded in that so I can remember my thoughts on the book, yet still keep you interested.