44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Is Civilization Merely a Façade?, September 14, 2010
Scott Spencer's Man in the Woods is a novel that chronicles the life of Paul Phillips, a man who has been on his own since he was sixteen years old. Paul is both a simple and a complex man - simple because he has relied on good luck and good looks to open many doors, and complicated because he is an artisan of deep convictions that he is unwilling to compromise. He is not a man to say very much but a lot goes on in his mind that does not come out in words. He creates beautiful furniture, crafts, and remodels with wood. Each type of wood speaks to him in its own way. He has never given a lot of thought to his life. Where he is and what he's doing have a way of simply falling into place. He has traveled around a lot, living in Alaska, South Dakota, Colorado and currently in rural New York State.
As the book opens, Paul is living with Kate Ellis, a character from Scott Spencer's previous book, A Ship Made of Paper. Kate has become quite famous recently for her book, `Prays Well With Others'. She is also sought after for speaking engagements and radio and television appearances. Her book is a best-seller and Kate considers herself a liberal Christian who believes deeply in the power of Christ and the lord. She is also a very sensual woman and her love for Paul is unconditional and unwavering. She wishes Paul would marry her but he seems to have an aversion to cementing the relationship though it is monogamous and committed. Kate's book and talks are about the day to day things in her life that she believes make her an `every woman' and also bring her closer to God. She is raising a daughter, Ruby, as a single mother with a mostly absentee father. Paul's relationship with Ruby is good though he does not try to substitute as her dad.
As the book opens, Paul has gone to see about work in Manhattan and is not thrilled about the quality of the job he is being asked to do. He is reticent to accept the contract. Money does not play a huge part in his life though he makes more than enough to get by. With Kate's success, money is the very least of his problems and Kate is happy enough to support them both. On his way back home, he stops in a park near Tarrytown to sit and think, to ponder his life and his reasons for being so strongly opposed to the possibility of the work he was just offered. Though Paul thinks he is alone, he soon realizes that there is someone else close by, a man and his dog.
The man with the dog is Will Claff, though that is not the name he goes by anymore. He has traveled from his home city of Los Angeles around the country, changing his name in each place he stops. His modus operandi is that he usually meets a woman who takes pity on him and will put him up for a while. Will tells the woman that he has traveled to her community to take a job but the person who offered him the job committed suicide right before Will arrived. Thus, he is without work and without means. The truth is that Will has about five thousand dollars in gambling debts and he is paranoid that the people he owes money to are out to get him and surely will kill him once he's found.
Will has just finished jogging, and as the paths of these two men cross, Paul witnesses Will being cruelly sadistic to his dog. This is not an act that Paul can tolerate and, impulsively, he acts in a way that will change his life forever. This can be a theme in Spencer's books - the idea of one impulsive act forever creating a changed and damaged life - and is observed in A Ship Made of Paper and Endless Love.
From this day onward, Paul wonders about himself, about his core essence and how civilized he truly is or isn't. He questions whether he is feral, an animal at the core and not a good man. The book is beautifully written and dramatically unfolds. It is deep, thrilling, and unbearably difficult to read at times. Spencer has created a gem, a modern look at good and evil. While he provides the questions, the answers and judgments rest in the hands of the reader.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
i loved this book and now 2 weeks later i love it more!!!, October 20, 2010
The story of Paul Phillips, a lost dog, a troubled child, a wavering Christian writer, and a small NY town has everything I love in a novel --great characters, great suspense, beautiful writing, and a kind of un-put-downable quality. Amazon! Where is your sixth star? Five is not enough.
Okay, that's what I said back then. But this book has gotten under my skin and made it impossible for me to read anything else. So what do I do? I'm reading it again, is what I do. And the second time through --now that I'm not more or less racing from page to page because the tension is twisting my guts --I can see what a master author Scott Spencer is. The writing is SO BEAUTIFUL. And there is not a word out of place. The animal images are amazing --Shep, the dog, even the serpent is astonishing. The drunks staggering and praying their way to a sober life. The carpenters making beautiful objects out of wood, the towering trees like silent witnesses. Even the cops and the bookie are lit with a golden glow. The Huffington Post called this novel an instant classic, and said it was an American Tragedy for the 21st century, so next I better read Dreiser, who I have been avoiding.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Captivating read, richly written, November 11, 2010
I recently finished Man in the Woods, and waited to write this review. I bought the book based upon a favorable review in the New York Times Book Review. From its basic description, it sounded like an American "Crime and Punishment"--early on, the protagonist kills a person of doubtful importance by contemporary standards, then lives with what he has done. As the story unravels, the weight of his action takes its toll. The novel is entirely different from Crime and Punishment, as it turns out, but was nevertheless a great psychological study not only of the protagonist, but the other imperfect characters that fill his life.
Other reviewers have criticized the book because, in their opinion, a lot of the side issues explored are not fully developed; I have to disagree. From a literary standpoint, I found the lack of full resolution very rewarding. The book invites the reader to ponder an issue, to develop his or her own views on an issue, and to observe how this issue affects the characters.
I also felt the book had some of the most memorable writing I've encountered in recent years.
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