Customer Reviews

The Coming Storm

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Coming Storm is a beautifully written quartet of differing voices each encompassing the different ages of gay life. This is a remarkably eloquent and stunningly realised fourth novel from gay writer Paul Russell. From the outset I was totally captivated by the lives of the four main characters - older, stoic, repressed Louis Trempor, his loyal, forthright, compassionate wife Claire, the self confident spohisticated gay grade school teacher Tracy Parker and the naive and emotionally troubled school boy Noah Lathrop whose sexual awakening and subsequent illicit relationship with Tracy provides the stormy catalyst.

Russell has a remarkable ear for dialogue and a gifted capacity fo creating contemporary , believable and compassionate characters. Characters who at different stages in the novel are forced to deal with their inner conflicts and emotional demons.

Russell also paints a beautiful portrait of quiet, sleepy upstate New York and juxstaposes this effectively with the urban, hip life of gay Manhattan. The issues of the novel are also its strength - friendship, honesty, companionship, and the beauty and honesty of romantic relationships that can mark the "rite of passage" between older gay guys and younger teenage men. Relationships that are made all the more volatile by the societal restrictions and pressures which are placed upon them.

At times funny, sexually frank and brutally honest. The Coming Storm is a "must" read for anyone who is interested in reading a portrait of the gay generations. Paul Russell has written yet another lyrical, edgy, sexy and fine work. I can't wait for his next one!

This novel goes right onto my small "favorite-books" shelf. Here's why.

(1) Gay Lit plus Crossover Appeal...Is the novel "way too gay" to appeal to non-gay readers? A same-sex affair plus two latent men. And homosexuality permeates everywhere here, a subterranean force--magnetic northstar for some of the characters, toxic waste for other characters. But like excellent writers, Russell generalizes his material. Specifically, he takes a topic which is still sensitive, hot-button, contested, emotional (homosexuality), and makes it speak to general issues and many readers by deftly employing its grist (namely, conflict between self and society; tradition vs. change; degrees of self-knowledge; duplicity and appearance-vs.-reality). These universal issues are dealt with by all the novel's characters, the heterosexuals too. This dimension elevates the novel out a ghettoized gay-lib piece.

Oh, the novel is gay-friendly in portraying "our world too." But usually more subtle than slick. Example: how does Russell portray gay people "coming out" in the novel? Not in the quick-step speed-up of some Coming Out novels. Rather, like in the reality world--namely slowly; with clues and hints, some seen, some missed, some denied; with new insights into earlier events; with backstepping reversals. Complex and true--like life. Ditto for Russell's involuntarily-rich portrayal of internalized homophobia, and people resisting, resisting the beast within. (Early the novel is imbued with such Thomas-Mann type repression. Is the very end of the book melodramatic and politicalized--or a continuation of history and change? You will decide.)

(2) Aesthetic Artistry too. Russell can construct a solid novel. Structure? Skilled writers depict chaos within the frame of order, form, structure. (Or, they used to...) Here, the central "storm" analogy is unifying but not overdone, and the lesser echoes foreshadow and reminisce nicely. Narration? Russell excels at oblique narration carrying a character's thoughts which s/he believes are true, but which we the reader can easily question--the "unreliable narrator." Story-line? Russell installs sheer page-turning conflict, action, suspense--even the "progression of effect" whereby near the end, the sub-plots speed up and intertwine madly.

P.S. on pederasty. Some readers may raise eyebrows at the "under-age" sexuality. Others may sense a quiet tract in favor of consenting adult-youth (not pre-pubertal) relations. "Whatever..."

THE COMING STORM reminds me of (in gay novels) Mark Merlis' craftily-wrought AMERICAN STUDIES, but with more scope-and-depth. If your tastes accord with mine as described above, put this novel on your nightstand. It may go farther onto the "keepers" shelf.....

After picking Paul Russell's book as a first read for a newly formed gay and lesbian book club, it has become my top suggested title of the year! I have read gay fiction all summer long, and Russell's book is top on my list. I quickly became absorbed in his characters, and his style of writing is just amazing. There are few books that I have read that leave me wondering where these characters might be now or what would be going on in the lives today. There are few books like The Coming Storm that touch me in such a way that I wake up seeing my own life from a different perspective. Paul Russell is a master of the page, completely predicting a "coming storm" in every reader's life. This is a book you better be prepared for! Our discussion of the book at the book club was truly touching to each and every reader, and I am sure Russell's book will do the same for you.

Paul Russell's "The Coming Storm" was a 1999 Lambda Literary Award nominee for gay fiction.

Tracy Parker, 25, is a gay English teacher at a private prep school in upstate New York who, despite his better judgment, falls hard for 15 year old Noah Lathrop III, his confused student. What begins as mentoring an alienated, bright, rich kid turns to friendship, love, and to Tracy's inevitable fall when the equally love-struck boy seduces him. Russell tells a tender story of man-boy love reverently and without exploitation.

Russell takes his characters seriously, considering their struggles from moral, ethical, and humanistic perspectives. Louis Tremper, the school's pathetic headmaster and a kindly if tedious drudge, is a latent homosexual whose stunted, platonic friendships come short of intimacy due to his fearful reserve and failure to reconcile his morality with his nature. His secret, prurient interest in gay affairs is sublimated in duty, opera, and scotch. Claire, his wife, constructs a life through feminism, teaching, and gardening to cope with a lonely marriage to a husband she cannot understand and will not abandon.

Tracy and Noah struggle too. Tracy loves Noah, but feels guilt for betraying his position of trust. He gave up gay life in New York City, seeking a calm in the storm of dead or dying AIDS-stricken lovers, and found it in the rural Forge school. Noah is a boy needing nurture, adrift after his parents' acrimonious divorce, a tool used by wealthy parents to injure each other. Noah's past includes literally setting the woods on fire and expressing his hunger for paternal love by writing transparently Freudian stories. His youth precludes him from understanding his urges, and his every misstep confirms his self-image, in his desparaging words, of "a f***-up."

But the omniscient point of view that makes Russell's three dimensional characterizations possible also flaws the writing. Ultimately, Russell's authorial presence admits no humor but irony, no gift for metaphor, and the narrative is burdened with too many adjectives and hyper-correct adverbs. Too many passages are plodding excursions that become plot detours. It is the novel of a professor who writes very well but self-consciously. I missed the poetry of understatement that Jim Grimsley and Michael Cunningham command. I longed for the story that tells itself, like the novels of Christopher Bram, whose perfect metaphors and faultless pace shine in that author's invisibility.

Still, "The Coming Storm" is a good read that's well worth the time. With tighter editing, Russell will rank among the best writers of gay fiction today.

In "The Coming Storm" author Paul Russell has gifted us with a novel rich in character development, moody evocations of time and place, lyrical phrasing and flow of style. But more important to this reader is the aftermath of closing the last page knowing that there is much to ponder - about mortality, the transience of youth (both in beauty and innocence), the vagaries of love (or the lack of it), the mystery of obsession. Louis, Claire, Tracy, Noah, and even Libby, Reid, Chris and the peripheral characters all are placed in this tale of life in the cloister of a middle school in the East for a purpose: no wasted time in development of filler in this book! And despite the knowledge presented in the first chapter that we are on a journey to visit the inevitable "storms" that come into all our lives, the book propels us along with individual character asides that serve to enrich the final fabric of realizing that it is not so much the coming storms that alter our lives, but how we survive them and their aftermath. This is a novel that is outwardly about gay relationships in about every spectrum of time, but more importantly Paul Russell bridges the gap of placing these relationships in the real world. Whether letting light into the closeted gays' domain or celebrating the senuous highs of men comfortable with their sexual stance, this book is a richly drawn tale that leaves us satisfied and hungry for the next work. June, 2000

I sort of knew what to expect from reading the book's back cover description, but I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. I thoroughly enjoyed Russell's prose, especially when used to reflect the characters' inner thoughts. I also enjoyed (though i didn't expect to) his choice to alternate each chapter from a different character's viewpoint. I'm always a little disturbed by books that seem to celebrate man-boy love, but that wasn't so much the case for me in this book. I think some of that was due to the constant references to Thomas Mann throughout the chapters dealing with Louis - Mann's Death In Venice is one of my favorite pieces of literature, and the character of Louis is a striking contrast to Mann's character of Aschenbach; indeed, one of the book's themes, especially in dealing with Louis and Tracy's respective dilemmas, is the conflict between the Dionysian and Apollonian spirits within all of us. This book wasn't so much a celebration of any particular kind of loving relationship, but a celebration of the concept of love in all of the forms it takes. It's also a book about regret and getting second chances, which made the novel's ending sort of bittersweet to me. These are characters I would love to see again, but in the meantime, I've picked up another Paul Russell novel.

"Set against the backdrop of a traditional boys' school in upstate New York, The Coming Storm is a delicately and brilliantly rendered tale that reveals the most closely held secrets of the human heart. Russell's award-winning novel is the story of four interlocking lives--Louis Tremper, the headmaster at the Forge School; his wife Claire; Tracey Parker, a 25-year old gay man and recently hired teacher at the Forge School; and Noah Lathrop III, a troubled student; all of whom struggle with their own inner demons, desires, and conflicted loyalties. When Tracey and Noah become involved in an illicit relationship, dark incidents from the school's past begin colliding with the current growing confusion that all of them must face. Compelling and poignant, this is the finest work yet from one of best contemporary American novelists."--© zebraz

Another beautiful book from Paul Russell, but I must say, it does not have the same impact on me as "War against the animals" had.
But it's beautifully written, in the same somewhat melancholy style. I found the subject sometimes a bit disturbing, I mean, an adult having an intimite relationship with a fifteen-year-old. It sets you thinking on the emotional, ethical, cultural and legal boundaries of such love. But I guess that's what
Russell intented to accomplish. But still, despite the real passion that Tracy and Noah have for each other, I think that Tracy should never have allowed their relationship to happen, however difficult it might have been.

I found that the title of the book was omnipresent throughout the whole story; you constantly sense storms coming up, literall storms, and situations and relationships entering a storm. Only Claire, the headmaster's wife seems to stand tall and strong through all storms raging through the lives of the people she loves around her. Strangely enough, she's the only one who gets caught up in the literall storm, that sends her car crashing. A beautiful caracter in this book.

So, to me, a great read. I've purchased Russell's other novels as well. It seems he's rapidly becoming one of my favorite writers.

I was stunned by this novel. In my view, this ranks with the best contemporary fiction, whether gay or straight. The characters are drawn with amazing subtlety and compassion. We regret leaving behind their worlds as the novel draws to its close. Certainly, the themes that Russell explores here are bound to cause a certain feeling of squeamishness, if not outrage, in readers who look at the world through conventional lenses. This novel has been condemned by some as a justification of pedophilia. I am convinced that such criticisms fail to do justice to the moral complexity and even wisdom offered by this work. In short, this novel is intelligent, wise, provocative, subtle, profound, affecting...it has all the earmarks of a great work of fiction. Please don't miss this one.

Reading Paul Russell's latest outing (pun unfortunate) is like being drawn into the work of one of the greatest pointillist artists of our time. One is first captivated by the over-all beauty of the work, its detailed scenes created by thousands of tiny points of colorful narration, coalescing to evoke a magnificent and somehow ominous landscape. As the reader moves incrementally closer, drawn it seems, against the will, one begins to determine that each point of color is in itself telling its own story. In "The Coming Storm", Russell masterfully does just this. His overall rendering of The Forge School, which houses many troubled teenage boys and equally misguided adults, begins by showing the reader life in such a secluded and even recluded, private boys school. Upon the arrival of Tracy Parker, a charming and charismatic young teacher, and also the story's pivotal protagonist, one senses the imminent and inevitable explosion which draws near. Russell begins adding layer upon layer of texture and color, creating an atmosphere that becomes more complex than one thought possible, it's many possibilities present in every word. Is it perhaps the nature of humans to manifest their own past into a malignant reality, such as Louis Tremper does as the headmaster of the school? Or is it the intense yet misplaced affections of Noah Lathrop III, whose troubling attention to his new teacher, Tracy Parker, brings about a present that perfectly and tragically invokes the past? All the characters in Russell's story are richly painted upon a background of self-deception, lies, and ultimately redemption. This is going to be one of the most important literary works of our time. I highly recommend buying it!