Customer Reviews

A Backward View: Stories and Poems

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...The stories and poems in the book are largely autobiographical, in so far as they follow a life much like the author's, and there are some very good things here. What there is not is a unified style. Scheel likes to play around with words and ideas and styles, and A BACKWARD VIEW has a little bit of everything, from the straightforward childhood memory of "The Old Buggy" to the strange, Joycean "Ulysses at a Kansas University."

Although Scheel seems to prefer his stories, his poems have their own strengths. We cannot lose the image from "Rain" of the little boy riding on his father's shoulders, "Cocky as a squirrel."

This is a book worth having.

Author Mark Scheel offers up slices of his life and times for our pleasure and consideration in his award-winning A BACKWARD VIEW. From sweet to bitter and then back to sweet, this collection of short stories, poems, thoughts and recollections drops refreshing moments into our otherwise crowded hours.

Scheel's family becomes ours in his humorous and playful recollections of the demise of "The Old Buggy." Granddad's calm smile, as Mother uses all her persuasive powers to convince him there is still value in the old family buggy, hints at the very beginning that the buggy is doomed. Throughout, Scheel's dialogue and word pictures make his memories part of our past.

The poetry tucked here and there is alive with sensation--touch, taste, smell and sound all take form as you spend time under Dad's oil-skinned slicker in the rain ("Rain") or sniff glue and take pills to jangle your "insight" awake ("The Bad Ole Days"). Scheel points out the bitter-sweet truth that what was strange or bizarre or obscene "back then" is commonplace and happening next door now.

Scheel gives us a glimpse of the sentimental in expressing the excitement and challenges of lifestyle changes; along with a wisp of regret. "But--every now and then an auburn hair (they come from the dust, I think, under the bed) gets me tangled in the way you used to smile."

As Scheel shares these moments in time the reader comes to understand that dreams and accomplishments are the fuel of life and that non-acomplishments are not really failures, but just a part of the backdrop of our lives.

As he looks back over the fabric of his life, Scheel asks an unrepentant Time, "When did you fray the fringes off my carpet?"

This book is "a keeper"--keep it on the night stand or coffee table--slice off a poem to enjoy before bed, a short story to help ease the day's pressures or a little of both for no good reason except to enjoy reverie created by Scheel's words.

The first, perhaps the only, test of a good book is--does it keep me turning the pages? This little book passes the test easily. It is so readable, so accessible.

The author has written about various episodes in his life, from childhood into adulthood, some as poetry, others as prose. All of it rings so true because of the settings, the situations and the words--real people living real lives.

Whether writing lovingly about his mother, or ruefully recounting how he'd been taken in by a con man, Mark Scheel pulled me into his stories and made me care about his people. I loved this book.