Customer Reviews

The Great Days

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

 

 

Bold and beautiful, harsh and haunting, The Great Days is the compelling story of August, the heir-apparent to a religious cult, as he struggles to find his own will and truth. The reader accompanies August on his poignant and painful journey towards self discovery. The stark beauty of the story's desert setting is matched by Brown's breathtaking descriptions and glimpses into moments of emotional and ethical clarity for August. With stunning imagery, a gripping pace and a powerful plot, Brown urges us all to examine the use and abuse of persuasion in our world and the integrity of our own responses in our daily lives.

As devastating as it is deeply moving, Eli Brown's ability to paint an unflinching portrait of the ravenous demands of cult life and the psychological vulnerabilities it preys upon, is matched only by his love and empathy for his own characters. Brown's depiction of August, the central character's, search for decency and truth, speaks to something we all know about the desire for comfort, clarity and the hope of being good enough. Elegantly structured, rich with imagery and impossible to put down.

Eli Brown's "Great Days" is a compelling novel with profound undertones.
I can't imagine a better account of what it feels like to be a loyal lieutenant in a spiritual cult. Or to experience any of the other conversions into political and metaphysical hierarchy that we are plagued with. I was unable to put this book down ...so to review it in a clinical fashion seems disloyal. There is never a trace of contrivance in this narrative; it reads as if dreamed or lived at the border of dreaming. Along the way I was often struck by brilliant descriptions of the desert, of the small towns, the look of people in passing. Struck in the same way one would be if reading a poem occasionally while taking a bus through the desert. Its art in describing inner states is just as genuine and poetic. This is lean, original prose, always in service to the pressure of the main character's story, whose dilemma is powerful and archaic. A young man flattered with his closeness to the guru is suddenly aware of the lurid side of his master - and the rationale for the cult's asceticism starts to crumble. What happens to him (and the plot) never feels tinkered up to give the reader a 'lesson' about cults nor a satisfying redemption and cure.
We're observing thirty years since the Jonestown disaster and we need to know that no one associated with these kinds of events will ever completely `get over it'. "Great Days" goes deep into the allure and moral complexity of utopian fervor. But the reason I urge you to read it is that it's a work of art.

A personal and often profound study in religious fanaticism. And if at times painful to read, blame it on the subject matter, not the writer. Ever think about joining a religious cult? Be sure to read this one before deciding. Hell, you might even consider reading it before going to prayer meeting again, or, for that matter, mass. Because either way and at least in SOME sense, you're bound to meet "Papa" all over again. Or if not Papa specifically, then some other self-proclaimed Apple of God's eye, someone God Himself has chosen for His Spokesperson on Earth.

So just who is Papa? He's a guy (really, just a guy) convinced of his own power to displace any and all previous powers that were. And if besides his desire to help mankind up out of its ignorance and into some long-belated return to Eden he, Papa, would have his followers sign all their worldly possessions over to him...? Get the gist?

Lots of fierce moments here, the melting down of human beings into virtual lemmings, and all of it courtesy of Eli Brown and his quite impressive first novel. And this reader will certainly be on the lookout for his next.

So what happened to the fifth star?

This small bit of criticism. The guy (no, not that guy, the other guy, the writer) overwrites. Metaphors and similes so far overreaching as to set teeth on edge: mail lying like "a jumble of lost teeth"; a chicken that peers "from the shadow of her coop like an aging widow in a mansion"; "Her head was as square and sturdy as a block of freckled pine." (?)

All of which are of course bosh. But then supremely forgivable in light of a first novel that grabs you by the shorthairs and doesn't let go.