Judith Ging

The Hex of Hemlock Judith Ging

Reading The Hex of Hemlock, a compelling, touching, and mainstream novel, willmove the reader in a deep, personal way. Judith Ging, the author, has always been concerned with social and educational problems, especially those of the late twentieth century. She writes a novel of intrigue intertwining those concerns in her work. The novel is framed in flashbacks as Ging creates memorable characters and colorful dialogue. The fictional work tells the story of an idealistic young man, Joe Bloom. He is the main character who wishes to make himself and the world better. Spanning over three decades of the late twentieth century, Bloom's experiences carve a rare, intimate view of what too often goes on in our hallowed institution of public education. Shockingly, both teachers and students possess lethal weapons, material and non-material, adding fear to all of the characters' lives. Unexpected events in the classroom and the administrators' offices plunge the characters into situations the reader does not expect either in the classroom or out of it. Covering the entire working life of Joe Bloom, with wife and children as his allies, Joe'sexperiences and those of his family make the work a willing read. The incidents that fill the Blooms' lives evoke images of war and felonious activities. The story paints a realistic view of why education is as it is and offers its readers a chance to think about how to change the system into an equitable one for all students. The overall effect of the book leaves the reader filled with hope about solving some of humanity's problems rather than depression about reading about them.cto blame others for its innate faults.