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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible,
By A Customer
This review is from: Frog: A Novel (Paperback)
This is a compelling, engrossing novel that chronicles the past, present, and possible futures of a highly disjointed consciousness. Dixon's voice is an inimitable reflection of the self-doubting, over-thinking mind. Many of these interlinked stories contradict each other (e.g. the wife's name changes), and this leads one to suspect that perhaps Dixon was assembling a stew of his stories in an almost randomly novelestic form, regardless of their contextual suitability with each other. That's too bad, and it's sure to frustrate readers seeking consistency and continuity in their books. It might be best to suspend your expectations of novels and just appreciate Dixon's amazing storytelling skills. Even if the novel is appreciated simply as a collection of often interrelated stories, it's still a fascinating trip through one individual's consciousness. This is one of my all-time favorite books. If you like unique voices, you won't be able to put this one down. Dixo! n is America's best-kept secret.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I've finally finished Frog!,
By
This review is from: Frog: A Novel (Paperback)
It took me two months, but I finally finished Frog. This is one heck of a book. Not for the faint of heart or the casual reader. It's not necessary heavy in content (although it can be a heavy book because of it's almost 800 pages...ha, ha..yeah), but Dixon's writing style can leave your brain in a fuzz. Basically, he's a stream of thought writer who does not believe too much in dialogue or sentences or even paragraph breaks. This can be tiring for even the most avid reader. Once you realize the style is not going to change, and what the paragraph breaks mean (more towards the middle / end of the book), then you can easily get along with Frog.
My favorite parts of Frog is "Frog's Sister" and "Frog Fragments." I found these part more interesting than any others. While the writing style is the same, the stories are more coherent. "Frog's Sister" is about his sister, which you will meet here and there before you get to her own chapter. I found it really sad, sometimes disturbing, and a bit funny at the same time. "Frog Fragments" contain stories about past loves (one as a teenager and one as an adult) plus a mix of other subjects. The only way you know that you've moved onto another vignette is that the paragraph ends. This is not the case of all Dixon's writings, however. I will say that Frog is definitely worth the time. It's a great read for those that read throughout the day but may not have the time to really sit down and read. You read about the same people over and over, and while you'd think this gets tiring, it doesn't, it merely helps you as you plow through the 700+ pages of Frog.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
not joyce but still very beautiful,
This review is from: Frog: A Novel (Paperback)
this is the only dixon book I have read, but I will certainly be reading others. At times this book shows its debt to joyce, but certainly not in a way that distracts from its overall beauty. it is hard to write after joyce and still come off as relevant. it seems one of the best ways to live in Joyce's shadow is to acknowledge it and then sit beneath it - telling stories that work because of their simple beauty and humanity rather than their status as opuses or classics (which Joyce's are).dixon's greatest innovation in this book is his ability to capture the workings of the imagination and its power over the human experience as a whole. he reels off possibility after possibility in hypnotic sucession, leaving the reader wondering what actually took place. There is a chapter, "Frog fears" which alone justifies Dixon's technique, which I've seen described as pretentious. The act of writing a book is pretentious to begin with, and so is every choice of word and action which must be made by the author. The results justify what is done, and in this chapter fear is captured almost perfectly. this story is very human. it deals with the human experience with compassion, and it feels very good to read.
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