Customer Reviews

Further Adventures: A Novel (P.S.)

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

 

 

_Further Adventures_ is a semi-picaresque tale about the search for Goodness and Truth (sic!). It's neither new-age saccharine nor knee-jerk nihilistic, and offers a fresh take on a range of major American literary themes - the immigrant experience (both legal and illegal), family, landscape and character, history and memory, the Depression - as well as looking at a few less common ones, like ageing.

The book falters a little towards the middle, but quickly picks up again. (This is the only reason I don't give it five stars, by the way). It does take quite a few risks with structure, but all of them pay off, making it a truly unique and eminently readable book that you won't forget in a hurry.

I love this story! Ray Green, the central character, is a brilliant amalgam of innocence, humor, and truth-seeker. Mr. Fink's writing style is ground-breaking, deleriously funny, and deeply touching as Ray Green's personality is brought to life immediately with a letter to the reader. The reader is at once drawn in by Mr. Green's narration - his speech patterns reminescent of eastern European immigrants. Ray Green is funny! His comments, insights, and perceptions of the world provide a humorous window into the life of a character who may have gotten a few things tragically wrong, but seeks The Truth nonetheless. Jon Stephen Fink is a gifted writer, and the characters he creates, both in this novel, as well as in "If He Lived" are people I wish I could meet in person - each of his books leaves me wanting more. I highly recommend any of Mr. Fink's books to those who seek genuine, finely-crafted writing and not the mass-marketed crap for sale these days.

Read the first page of this unforgettable novel and you'll have no choice but to accompany Ray Green on his spellbinding hero's journey. There are 2 books in my personal library that I simply will not allow out of the house, and Further Adventures is one of them.

Further Adventures is ugly, disturbing, depressing, horribly written, and, most importantly, undeniably brilliant. The writing style is perfectly and purposely bad. At first it's a hinderance, but it grows to expand the experience. It's a real credit to the content that he could use such a purposely bad writing style and keep me engrossed almost from start to finish.

As was said before, there is a chunk near the middle where it slows to a crawl with tangents, confusion, and story that doesn't seem to add anything at the time. However, even this, just like the writing style, creates the overall picture that is Ray Green's life.