Customer Reviews

Far Bright Star

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Far Bright Star is a perfect book. It drags the reader inside often perhaps against her will and washes over and through the senses with Olmstead's lush language. The language is reminescent of Falukner's Absalom, Absalom and readers of contemporary fiction will find that Olmstead's work has kindred spirit with both Cormack McCarthy and Kent Haruf. The story is harsh yet beautiful and gives one a might bit to consider about the place of war in this world and one's relation to the consumption and production of general meaness as well as how redemption might find us all.

This beautiful and fearless novel recounts the journey of a seasoned horse soldier, Napoleon Childs, who leads an inexperienced group of cavalrymen on a search for Pancho Villa. Though it is a war story set in 1916, in Mexico, this book ultimately becomes a timeless odyssey that poses complex questions about how a human being recovers his sense of direction, both internal and external, after witnessing senseless acts of brutality that would horrify even the most war torn of veterans. Written in gorgeous, lyrical prose, the narrative becomes most soulful and heart wrenching during Napoleon's return from battle. Stripped of his clothes, his friends and his faith, Napoleon stumbles through the desert and the even starker landscape of his own wounded psyche, trying to recover his inner compass while searching for the physical place he once called home. Reading this book was a bit like reading Camus and Homer at once, though Mr. Olmstead's voice is singular. He is a writer who goes bravely, and refreshingly, into fictional territory that a lesser writer would not attempt to go, providing us with a great novel for our times, one that will appeal to anyone who has ever felt brutalized, alone or lost.

I saw this book at the local Costco and I knew I would have to read it for I am always in search of an outstanding western type novel. From the reviews and high praises I really believed this would be a great book. I liked the title and cover art and thinking perhaps another writer was as good as the one and only Larry Mc. Murtry. When it comes to westerns I have found no other book that equals Lonesome Dove. It has all the requirements I look for in a book and is heavy enough to where it will not be devoured in in a couple of days. Far Bright Star is not that many pages and I was eager to experience this supposedly great book. To my disappointment, I discovered that based on people's appreciation for this book I had way to high of an expectation and in the end that became the biggest letdown. Do not get me wrong: there are some parts that, like a fellow reviewer very brightly pointed out, of brilliance but like another good reviewer also pointed out, it ends being a little on the boring side. The plot is basically this straight line riding through the harsh inclement weather and it has its share of violence but the tale itself is not as hypnotic as Lonesome Dove ended up being. I wanted to like each page more than the one before and that did not came to pass. The thing is that when you read a masterpiece of the genre it is very unlikely another will equal it or exceed it in quality of writing, story line and overall entertainment value. I keep watching the Lonesome Dove Series on TV and I have given the book as a present to several people to their overwhelming reading pleasure. Short book, basically, some interesting characters but not in the same league as the best of the best and anyone who writes this type of genre would be hard pressed to ever write a book as majestic, here I go again, as Lonesome Dove. Wanted to like it, couldn't stop thinking about it and when I realized that my local library only had it in electronic format I finally gave in and purchased a copy through Amazon (my favorite store when I think about it) and I was hoping for a much better book, but darn it, it was not to be. 3.5 for Far Bright Star.

This tiny slice of the Mexican-American war leads Olmstead and his ragtag soldiers into an ethical morass that takes you farther into what loyalty means and how a soldier makes his peace with being a warrior than you may want to go. Graphic in Olmstead's intense and lyrical style means you thirst and bleed when his soldiers do. Short and blunt, Oldmstead's world, the Mexican canyons and ridges are the only world until the last scene when we're brought to the inevitable but tragic truth that war is inevitable.

This literary Western brought to mind Blood Meridian and In the Rogue Blood and No Country for Old Men. It is in that league. The language is as poetic as Blood Meridian and Cold Mountain. A perfect novel which has it all - language, setting, character, plot, theme. I loved it. My kind of book. I wish there were more. But, they wouldn't be special if there weren't so few.

Olmstead is clearly a smart and thoughtful guy. While reading Far Bright Star, I was occasionally stunned by the visceral power of his writing. At times, I would also pause to ponder Olmstead's unusual and original observations about life. But most of the time, I was keenly aware how repetitive and self-conscious his writing is.

A friend once said with good actors, during the performance you are caught up in the story and are unaware of just how good the acting is. I feel the same way about writers. The writer's style is one thing, but that doesn't mean you should be constantly aware of it, or that it should take priority over the story.

To get to my point: Olmstead's style is omnipresent to the point of feeling contrived. It's as if it were written to impress academics and literary critics (which it has), but it unnecessarily draws attention to itself, to the detriment of the story. It's like he has to justify his Guggenheim Fellowship and NEA grant to his academic peers who will surely shoot him down if he doesn't pull critical acclaim out of his hat. Or like he has to outdo Cormac McCarthy to write a literary western that is taken seriously.

I've only read a few westerns (McMurtry, McCarthy, Charles Portis, Pete Dexter, Elmore Leonard, E.L. Doctorow), but I've enjoyed all of them. So I was really looking forward to reading Far Bright Star. But again and again, I found my attention drifting as I read it. I simply found it boring. I knew that if I put it down, I'd never pick it back up. So I forced myself to plow through it. Even then, the most exciting part was knowing that it would soon be over and I could go read something better. That's not really a ringing endorsement, is it?

Olmstead has talent. But he needs to work harder to flesh out his characters and engage his reader, and worry a lot less about impressing his academic peers with his style. There's a good, solid story in here screaming to get out.

I do not feel compelled to do these reviews, but I've been telling people about this book. Of course the horse, the cavalry, and the setting is what grabbed my attention to buy the book. The story of a era that is passing - about the main character trying to sort out why he does what he does is very compelling. Olmstead portrays what happens when things go wrong in war brutally and honestly. It sucked me in and I could visualize the story quite well while reading it.

A fantastic book. Please read this! Authors like this need to be supported so we get more of this kind of writing. The story lingers and is every bit a masterpiece. Let yourself be drawn in and I promise you won't be disappointed. However be warned that the violence is jarring and very matter of fact, but I can't imagine living in this age and having it be anything different. I want to pick it up again. Now!

After reading through an author's catalog, you sometimes feel disheartened, that you will struggle to find another writer with the same feel and flavor. I felt that way with Cormac McCarthy. Thank God I discovered Robert Olmstead. It isn't imitation, it stands on it's own. Olmstead is the real deal.

If you loved Blood Meridian...you WILL love this book. I say without reservation that Far Bright Star will definitely go on the short list of books that I will read over and over again.

Olmstead, to me, continues to remain the premier ultra-talented master of realism who, some way some how, manages to wedge in descriptions that might seem experimental - you read some of his sentences twice or three times - they are so damn good, so damn unique and so damn vivid with an arrangement of rhetoric and vocabulary that sends most readers to reference material - moreover, it's scary to think that Olmstead bleeds and breathes like most of us, b/c his writing cannot be replicated. It's so pitch-perfect to the story's period, its places, circumstances and its characters. Olmstead and his work cannot be overstated. He keeps realism alive in a voice that is entirely original and extremely convincing.