Customer Reviews

Changing Tides

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

CHANGING TIDES is slower in getting off the ground than Michael Thomas Ford's previous novels. However, Ford has more to say about human strength and frailty here than he has in his earlier books, and like great literary masters of the past, he takes his time in setting up this seemingly simple but truly complicated story.

All of Ford's novels have been beautifully crafted and well realized, but this time around he's scaled back the scope of the narrative to look more deeply into the nature of relationships, specifically between a father, his daughter, and a young man looking to expose a buried truth.

Ben Ransome is a marine biologist, living in Monterey California, more comfortable with the denizens of the deep than human beings. He's shut himself off from others and in so doing, shut himself down. He has no real idea of his own true nature. His work is quite literally his life

Into Ben's narrow world come two very different individuals, his sixteen year old rebellious daughter, Caddie, dumped in his lap by an ex-wife weary of dealing with her, and a young gay man, Hudson Jones, on an academic search for hidden truths behind the relationship between local legend, novelist John Steinbeck, and his best friend, scientist Ed Ricketts. Ben must deal both with Caddie's open hostility towards him, and his growing feelings for Hudson.

This novel is a great deal more subtle than Ford's prior offerings, and many of his readers may find that fact disappointing. I must confess that it took me almost the first third of the book before I really understood where Ford was going. But once I began to look more closely at what Ford was actually saying and less at the surface story, I found his direction enthralling. There is a lot of symbolism here, between the worlds of sea and land, and it illuminates this novel in ways not previously seen in Ford's work.

I have read all of Michael Thomas Ford's novels, and with each succeeding book he has moved further away from the summer or beach read format, and closer to deeper more literary material. I have loved each of his books, and I love his latest, CHANGING TIDES, as well, if admittedly in a different way.

Ford has another winner with Changing Tides.

Ben is a successful marine biologist. However, he is a mature man who doesn't seem to know who he is because his life has been wrapped up in his research. He has not really had successful relationships. Then he meets Hudson who comes to the area to do research on Steinbeck. They strike up a friendship. Almost without them realizing it, their friendship evolves to a higher level. Ben is forced to rethink his past relationships and especially his views on his own sexuality. As a result, he emotionally matures and faces a much brighter future.

Ford is an excellent writer. Anything he produces is worth reading. Changing Tides is no exception. His knowledge of diving and marine life is obvious as he creates an interesting backdrop to the story. He can always be counted upon to develop full and memorable characters. His development of the teenage daughter is this story is spot on.

Ben Ransome is a middle-aged marine biologist in Monterey CA, who has substituted devotion to his job for any semblance of a social or love life. Into this solitary cocoon comes his rebellious 16 year old daughter, Caddie, whom her mother dropped off to live with him for the summer. Ben has no parenting skills, as was obvious during his marriage that broke up nine years before, and Caddie mistakes his seeming indifference for not loving her, which is far from the truth. A distraction comes along in the person of Hudson Jones, a young ambitious graduate student who came to Monterey to do research for his masters thesis on a personal relationship with another man may have influenced John Steinbeck's writing. Hudson and Ben become good friends, and perhaps more than friends, as suspected first by Caddie.

I have long been a fan of Ford's novels, and consider his "Full Circle" as one of my favorites of all time. "Changing Tides" is similarly well written, and skillfully explores the nuances of a developing friendship and romance in a situation where it seems illogical and possibly foolish to disturb what currently passes for a satisfactory life to risk it all on what it might become. At first read, the book seems wordy and rambling as much as 100 pages in, establishing the characters and seemingly providing lots of technical details about Hudson's research into the life of Steinbeck and Ben's observations about unusual aquatic life. It doesn't become clear until later that these actually double as metaphors for the situation that Ben, Hudson and Caddie find themselves in, putting those emotions in perspective. Less so than "Full Circle" or his earlier works, "Changing Tides" requires that the reader "read into" the novel to get the real story going on, which is rewarding but take this out of the realm of being a light, escapist read, like those earlier novels. I commend Ford on the effort and the result, but feel that - by comparison with his previous works - the novel deserves just four stars out of five.

In Changing Tides, Michael Thomas Ford using powerful imagery, incorporates the perpetual ebb and flow of the ocean to plot the trajectory of three characters as they chart an uneasy course through love's perfidious waters where romance and passion eventually come to life in many unexpected guises.

Ben Ransome is a reserved and insular middle-aged marine biologist living in Monterey California whose life revolves around his work, his regular dives into the rocky waters off the coast proving to be his only source of solace. Much to Ben's surprise, however, his ex-wife Carol calls from Los Angeles insisting that their teenage daughter Caddie come to stay with him for the summer.

Married life for Ben was far from simple, a remote and dissident man from the outset, he was forced to recognize that he didn't feel this love for his daughter as he knew others did, and he'd left when Caddie was only seven. Now, sixteen years later, Ben approaches this meeting with a mixture of hesitancy and befuddlement. A lover of study and research, he was unable to understand his child then, but he's also convinced that he will be unable to understand her now: "she's like the equation I can't solve, the missing piece of a puzzle that eluded finding."

When Caddie arrives, the relationship with her father is anything but affable. A rebellious and worldly girl with a bad attitude, Caddie treats Ben like a stranger, coming and going as she pleases, smoking dope, staying out late, and sleeping with guys, and also treating her father with a distant blend of distain and anger.

Thrust into a situation that he is least capable of handling, understanding something as complex as a 16-year-old girl apparently seems to be beyond Ben capabilities. He longs for a diagram of Caddie, some neatly labeled chart that would point out the salient details and make understanding her a matter of memorization.

When Caddie has a one night stand with Nick, a local boy, intending him to be a momentary distraction, the incident proves merely to be a source of irritation to her father and proof that she couldn't be controlled. But Caddie also realizes that her father's entire life is a mystery to her, and it had never occurred to her to wonder how he managed; she new just enough about him to believe that he existed and "everything else was a blank."

Meanwhile, Hudson Jones, a young ambitious graduate student arrives in Monterey to research for masters' thesis on some of the influences on Steinbeck's work and also what could possibly be a lost manuscript of the famous author's called "Changing Tides". Constantly feeling unfulfilled, Hudson dreams of his lover Paul whose touch has now gone forever, and who eventually gave him the manuscript for safekeeping just before he died. Haunted by his dead lover's voice, a voice that constantly urges him on, Hudson is determined to keep digging until he finds out the truth.

Central to this "lost" novel is the story of two men, drinking buddies and friends who perhaps mirrored Steinbeck's own relationship with Ed Ricketts, the marine biologist who had so inspired Steinbeck, both in his writing and in his own deep interest in the ocean. But Hudson is sure there was something more to their relationship than just plutonic friendship and he is determined to prove this, not just for his career, but also in the hope that he free himself of his demons as well as give him the strength to let go of Paul.

Hudson, however, doesn't reckon on meeting Ben, the two of them forming a comfortable and intimate friendship, there devotion steadily deepening as they get to know one another, both characterizing themselves as "Mr. Science and Mr. Words," a couple of lonely men who both love Steinbeck. Meanwhile, Steinbeck's story gradually unfolds, a metaphorical tale of two men, unable to express themselves, yet similarly drawn to each other for reasons they cannot understand.

This languid and intense novel explores the small connections that exist, unseen, and the ties however, insubstantial, that exists between us all. The imagery of the ocean plays a significant part in the story as these characters grow and change and gradually overcome their fears about themselves and each other eventually conquering the failures of communication and impulsive judgments that create distance over time.

Caddie, in particular dives deeper and deeper, both metaphorically and spiritually until all that lies before her is a "small circle of gold light that keeps the sea monsters at bay." There gradually develops inside of her a new sense of wanting something more, something more than her old life, and what her old self has to offer. Ben must assuage his fury and confront the challenges of fatherhood, particularly with regard to his angry child - if Caddie wants to use him as a whipping boy, he sees little he can do to change her mind. And Hudson must try to outrun the weight on his shoulders, the burden that just becomes heavier every time he has to face his demons, not just Ben, the newest of them, but all of the others, the ones from which he's run from for so long.

The author makes the most of his setting, beautifully embedding his characters in the town of Monterey and surrounds, including the famous Cannery Row, now a tourist attraction, visited by people who as Hudson notes had mostly probably never heard of John Steinbeck or his famous book. While some of the later scenes do come across as a bit trite, Ford's descriptions of aquatic life are transcendent in their splendor and add much to Ben, Hudson, and Caddie's symbolic and very personal journey. Mike Leonard November 07.

I have read all of the work of Michael Thomas Ford. This piece was different from what he has written in the past and it is a welcome diversion (not that his other stuff was disappointing in any way). I have given five stars to most everything else I have read by MTF. The storyline here doesn't really focus on the main character, Ben, being gay, but rather it focuses more on his relationship with his daughter who comes to spend the summer with him in Monterey, California. Caddie, his daughter, believes that Ben left her mother because he thought he might be gay, however, she comes to learn the real truth as to why he abandoned her and her mother, and its not because of his sexuality. We also meet Hudson Jones who is in Monterey doing some research on a lost novel written by John Steinbeck. What I loved about this book is that Mr. Ford has written it so well, that as I was reading it I felt like I was reading a Steinbeck piece...it just gave me a sense of true literature. Having read some of Steinbeck's work myself, the similarities of the two author's styles was fascinating. This similarity was not evident to me in MTF's previous work. So I can only conclude that it was done intentionally with this piece, and it worked amazingly well. I now am looking forward to reading yet another MTF novel; its also given me the desire to read some additional works by John Steinbeck. If you are a fan of both authors, as I am, you will truly enjoy this one.

Michael Thomas Ford is one of the finest gay authors of our time. This is the second book I have read, and both have been enthralling (the other one being FULL CIRCLE). Ford has an uncanny ability to feel into the characters he writes about. Especially interesting in this book is the thinking and dialogue attributed to Caddie, the troubled teenage daughter, and her relationship to her father, Ben. I haven't decided if Ben's evolving relationship with Hudson is completely credible or not, but overall this book is a wonderful read with more of the Ford insights into life and relationships as well as an engaging plot. Also, anyone who has had experience with deep sea diving will enjoy the descriptive passages as well. I highly recommend this book as it is a "cut above" most gay fiction. Ford is a gifted writer, and I hope there are many more novels to come from his pen.

Overall
While this book started off slow (perhaps even extremely slow), I felt it was worth holding out for the ending. The style of writing was enjoyable and with the constant references to Steinbeck, I feel like something of the story (whether it was writing style or plot progression) harkened back to it, although I haven't read much/any Steinbeck, so I can't say for certain.

The development of characters is the main focus of the story, with the romantic relationship taking the back seat of the bus although it does play a critical role in plot creation. While this was a long and at times slow book, I felt it was worth the time it took. As long as you're not looking for a quickie, this is a good place to go, especially if you can find it in your library, like I did.

Strengths
Character development. Perhaps the most important part of this novel is the development of the characters as they progress from their individual roles to the braid they form with each other. Ben, who verges on socially inept, would rather spend time with sea slugs than people, especially his daughter. At least until he meets Hudson, a graduate student studying literature and doing his dissertation on Steinbeck. Hudson makes Ben more human, and Ben incidentally makes Hudson realize he's chasing ghosts, while both of them are needed to help Ben's daughter. The tiny advancements each person makes through the story is interesting to watch as each small victory often doesn't seem like a victory at all.

Final plot. While the build up is important, the end plot is well executed, both in the climactic scenes, but also in how the story is tied up. While I don't think the final sex scene was necessary (and was a little heavy handed), it was important to the characters. It was the climactic scene that did the most for me in how it forced all the characters to act and moved along their relationships at a quicker pace.

Writing. There were many detailed descriptions, specifically of the scuba diving, that were very nice, and overall the writing was good, although these same strengths made the story drag out a little, especially in the beginning when the reader wants to get into the meat of the story. In some ways the writing is just like other Ford novels, in some ways it's different in that it seemed slightly longer winded than the other books I've read by him.

Weaknesses
Speed. If I were a quitter, I may have stopped reading half-way through the book. It took me to nearly three-quarters to really start getting into the book, although I enjoyed it, it never felt like anything was happening. However, once the conflict was presented, the pace picked up and the end really came together nicely.

This is far superior to Ford's "What We Remember" which I have also reviewed on Amazon. Ben, a marine biologiat living in Monterey Bay, has Caddie his 16 year old daughter to stay for the summer holidays. Their relationship is estranged largely due to Ben's indifference and Caddie's hostility at being taken away from her friends and lifestyle in Los Angeles. A second narrative runs parallel to this about Hudson Jones, a post graduate, investigating the possibilty thet a lost manuscript was written by John Steinbeck called Changing Tides and which may have been based on John Steinbeck's relationship with his lifelong friend, Ed Ricketts. Ford in the introduction does state that this is a work of fiction and not based on fact. The book has three main settings: marine biology/scuba diving, Monterey Bay and Steinbeck, not topics I am familiar with. The interesting theme is Caddie's growing maturity and development from a very self-centred girl to a much more caring and likeable person. Whilst the portraits are often air brushed and the relationships seen through rose tinted glasses there are far worse holiday reads with a gay interest than this book.

i have become a fan of ford's and have read everything he's done so far - in the fiction category. love the style, the stories, how he talks about people, yes and by the way, one or two might be gay. always a good read, engages me beginning to end.

The book slogs into the briny deep, while sweeping the reader into a sly tale about John Steinbeck and his implied lover, Doc Rickets. No one wants to believe that Rickets and that rugged Steinbeck might have done each other.

If you're willing to Google the scientific names of the beautiful creatures in the ocean, you'll be amazed. I'll never dive, but I was startled by the beauty, and understand why people are drawn to the ocean.

The sex scene near the end is almost worth the toil. It's a coming-out event. As with most tantalizing fiction, this book has a startling ending.