Customer Reviews

The Long Road : A Fable

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The Long Road mixes wonderfully descriptive writing with a wonderfully witty, entertaining and challenging fable. The story's protagonist doesn't only make a Seeker of us all, but also suggests our search may already be complete as we look at the foot prints on our own long roads. It is a quick read that doesn't end when the last page is read leaving an indellible mark on the reader.

This book was very creative, quriky and fun to read. I highly suggest it.

Lots of writers try to write fables, with Mythic Figures that embody Lessons for our Hero to Learn. But most of them fail. Either the different encounters with these Mythic Figures take on a certain sameness, becoming more and more pointless at the story drags on (think Harry Nilssen's "The Point"), or the lessons themselves are trite and too simplistic to mean anything (even though the Hero always acts like he or she has learned something life-changing)

"The Long Road" easily skirts both of these pitfalls. Instead, the Hero is quite human, and has to struggle to earn the life-lessons of the book. And each Mythic Figure is unique, and fascinating in turn. The book never drags, never bogs down in its own metaphors, never thinks too highly of itself, and only rarely preaches. The surrealism of the landscape is a bit jarring at first, but you'll soon find yourself fully sucked into this realm of the fantastic. My hat is off to Mark, for succeeding so well with such a difficult literary form.

Take advantage of a weekend to read The Long Road. I had the fortune to do so after an extremely difficult week and found the book to be an excellent source for revitalization and regeneration. The moral of The Long Road is simple, and the complexity of Frank's journey illustrates in dramatic detail the "pit traps and dead falls" we create for ourselves when we let superficial gain impede our higher pursuit for spiritual satisfaction in the overall quest for happiness.

Plattner's style creates a highly-readable book. The writing style represents a cross between Roald Dahl and Jack Kerouac. Characterization is a strong point as is dialogue. The careful reader will smirk on a number of occasions at Plattner's clever insertion of pop-culture references in his characters' dialogue.

The reader who takes The Long Road for a spin over a weekend may look at the following Monday morning with an entirely new perspective on life.

I couldn't put it down! It was so amazing! Keep it comeing Mark! We all love your work!

Take advantage of a weekend to read The Long Road. I had the fortune to do so after an extremely difficult week and found the book to be an excellent source for revitalization and regeneration. The moral of The Long Road is simple, and the complexity of Frank's journey illustrates in dramatic detail the "pit traps and dead falls" we create for ourselves when we let superficial gain impede our higher pursuit for spiritual satisfaction in the overall quest for happiness.

Plattner's style creates a highly-readable book. The writing style represents a cross between Roald Dahl and Jack Kerouac. Characterization is a strong point as is dialogue. The careful reader will smirk on a number of occasions at Plattner's clever insertion of pop-culture references in his characters' dialogue.

The reader who takes The Long Road for a spin over a weekend may look at the following Monday morning with an entirely new perspective on life.

This novel came to my attention while searching Amazon's newest and brightest authors. I enjoy reading the works of new authors, since someday, as well, I would like to find myself in their company! Mr. Plattner has a vivid imagination combined with a deep sense of the complexities of life's challenges. He has combined them both well, creating excitement and enthusiasm through his characters, enabling his readers to travel through the journey quickly in order to embrace each twist in the road. Plattner has a true sense of heart and soul, bringing meaningful messages about love, sorrow, fulfillment and the sometimes long and "unpaved" road to finding life's meaning, the meaning of a peaceful heart. I truly enjoyed this quick, but enbracing read and look forward to more of Plattner's creativity.

Reading "The Long Road", I found it to be a very entertaining blend of contrasts. It's written in a style that is somehow both Literary and Conversational, mixing humor with despair, sarcasm with pure hopefulness. Since the story is constructed as a modern fable, that means 'anything goes' with regard to odd situations and not-so-subtle metaphor. The author's clever wit pokes through often, twisting a cliché here and there and making the story's outlandinsh events still be something the reader can relate to. The author's take on the "life is what you make it" theme is treated with such singular flair - that what might seem heavy-handed or obvious somewhere else, is enjoyable and refreshing here.

a great weekend read, the long road is filled with fun - yet it is deeper than still waters. a ride on "the road" takes you to the brink of accepting disbelief...it makes you wonder why you believe what you believe. it is an anything's possible/life is amazing mindset that - if you believe - lets you enjoy how incredible reality is.

Life, death and one's search for meaning certainly could serve as the core to a dreary tale, but don't expect anything too morose in this lighthearted, quick-read from Mr. Plattner. While the young protagonist may be desperate and depressed, the journey we follow him through is nothing but fantastically whimsical. Characters and situations are delightfully imaginative, and small jokes dot the story to keep those heavy "life-lessons" from feeling too preachy. If you're in the mood for a simple fable and a few smiles, I highly recommend you kick back for an evening journey down The Long Road.