Customer Reviews

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

D Travers Scott proved his exceptional talent with his debut novel, `Execution, Texas: 1987'. With this second novel, `One of These Things is Not Like the Other', he has further established his position as an arresting new author who is capable of hijacking his readers with the fluidity of his writing and its tantalisingly surreal qualities.

By way of brief synopsis: a survivalist father dies leaving his identical quadruplet sons with the cryptic message that one of them is not his real son. As the father predicted, this enigmatic revelation will lead the four 20-something brothers down a path of pain, jealousy and hatred. Old rivalries, bitterness, incest and murder will drag the reader down the same path.

Having said this, no description can adequately convey the force of this novel. It is unique. It is fast-paced. It is intense. An absolute - genuine - page-turner. Although a reasonably short work that can be read in a day, it is something that deserves time and attention. Personally, I was so captivated by the energy of the writing that I just flew through the final chapters, anxious to discover the `truth' about the four brothers. Consequently, upon reaching the last page, I confess to being completely baffled. I sat, stunned, trying to make sense of the myriad of ideas that were circulating around my different levels of consciousness. It wasn't until I took a breath and read the book again - slowly - that I began to store up clues to help explain what happened. Even then, many questions still present themselves.

`One of These Things is Not Like the Other' is an absolute masterpiece of suspense and originality. It is a book that lures you into another world and leaves you gasping for oxygen. Its complexity (of concept, rather than expression) means that one read through could never be sufficient. I've read it three times so far, and am still picking up nuances. I await D Travers Scott's next work with great anticipation.

Buy this novel now (and order his excellent debut novel while you're at it). This is a phenomenal work of fiction that will penetrate your mind for days...

It takes balls to appropriate the name of a Hemingway hero, but it's all in a day's work for Scott, who has fun trashing any cherished notions we may have on the great, grim subject of Identity. His quadruplet anti-heroes, spread across the country as they are, still can't escape the ties that bind them, even if the consequences are fatal. Compulsively readable, funny, and shocking, this novel will work its way into your consciousness like a time-release drug. And brotherhood will never be the same again!

"One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other" is very cool noir. Set in a slightly alternate world (they use blimps instead of airplanes, for example) the book tracks four identical quadruplet brothers in their quest to discover which one of them is not really a brother. Atmospheric, creepy, clever, sexy and literate... and the last line totally blew me away and changed everything I thought about the book.

First off, I have to say that this is not typically the genre of writing I normally gravitate toward. Truth be told, I'm more drawn to gay relationship novels. That said, "One of These Things..." actually fits into several genres - or maybe none at all. It's its own weird and wonderful entity, and I loved it for that. Yes, it's a mystery, but it's also about family, brotherhood, sexuality. It creeped me out at times, turned me on at times - sometimes at the same time! - yet kept my attention throughout. It's best not to go into too many plot details. Part of the fun is in the discovery. D. Travers Scott is a clever, smart, and imaginative writer, and this book a real page-turner.

When I started reading the book, I was very tempted to put it down. It's a bit heavy-handed at first, particularly for a writer like me who likes to write out the details and leave nothing out. The story seems as though it would be confusing ~ four brothers, all with the same name and the same appearance as their father, discover upon his death that one of them is not in fact related to the others.

However, the only confusion I came across was early on in the story, during an internet conference with all four brothers. For the rest of the story, though, there was little confusion ~ the brothers called each other by the places where they lived, and each chapter was devoted to one brother only (with the exception of the first and the last).

Without giving much of the story away, each brother secretly hopes that he's the one who's different. I can imagine growing up with three carbon copies of yourself would make anyone wish for some distinguishing trait to separate you from the rest. So in an effort to be their own men, the brothers have tried very hard to distance themselves from their siblings. The "main" brother (I guess you can call him that, as the story starts and ends with him) is gay.

Personally I would've liked more explicit scenes ~ not just sex, but other parts were glossed over and I'm one who likes it spelled out. I wanted to know how the father managed to keep all four brothers identical if one of them was not his flesh and blood. I wanted to see the scene where the sheriff comforts the West Hollywood brother (natch). I wanted to see what happened when the WeHo brother confronted his Alaska brother (who was in the closet, so to speak). Little things like that would've added to the story for me.

As the story wound towards the conclusion, I'll admit it was a real page-turner, and I'm glad I didn't let the early language deter me from reading more. I found myself wanting to devour the book, which made me flip to the end numerous times to see how things played out with a particular piece of the plot (this is why I don't read mystery or suspense much, because I hate waiting for the payoff and jump ahead just to satisfy my own curiosity). It was almost like a Stephen King novel, that level of intensity, with an openly gay character that just added to the fun.

So yeah, great read. Unfortunately I have to give this copy away next weekend, but if you're looking for a spooky read, give this one a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other is by far the most gripping novel of 2005. D. Travers Scott has created a bizarre world of familial intrigue, the supernatural, and extraordinary psychological violence. The remarkable tale of quadruplet brothers searching for the truth of their biological origins begins with the suicide of their patriarch and quickly descends into a maze of nightmarish proportions.

Disturbing without being adolescent or banal, and quick paced enough to be a real page-turner, Scott's plotline hardly belongs in the category of predictable. This novel also surprisingly lives up to its ferocious cover image designed by Shane Luitjens, a disturbing image of canine attack. Its repeating fangs not only foreshadow the multiple dangers encountered by the siblings but reflects the reader's multi-layered journey into the minds of the characters.

Is it rare to read a novel that makes the reader yearn for even more detail, as the "more is better" philosophy of novelists can cause excessive drowsiness. But I wish that Scott's brutal tale would have expanded its explorations of a father's sins being visited upon the sons. Jake Barnes, Sr., is truly an evil beast.

Raw and original, One of These Things Is Not Like the Other is a roller coaster ride through the landscapes of Hell. Wow.

This novel begins very badly. Mr Scott wants to deal with some difficult issues: identity, sexual identity, personal versus general good, family love (or lack of it).
Problem is, he begins it with what looks like an exercise in style, throwing heaps of incredibly complex and ermetic thoughts in a fine but highly convoluted style, committing what, in my very personal and questionable opinion, is the first and worst sin for a writer: to forget that literature, any kind of it, has to entertain the reader in the first place.

I guess this complexity is what earns him the praise of many critics, a species known to esteem fiction only if they cannot understand a word of it, but I have a different point of view and cannot accept to spend a couple of minutes on a single short sentence to understand it. Of course I am not talking about the exquisite device of multiple meanings through which an apparently plain paragraph hides a number of subtle and exciting possibilities of interpretation, I am talking about simply putting the syntax straight.
Well, I also have this love for neat, fluent, accurate writing, rich in beauty and elegance but I have nothing against a well drawn stream of consciousness as long as I can spend my reading time enjoying truth and depth of thought and not feeling silly and illiterate because I am not sure what all the strange words are all about.

Later on things get better but the first impression lingers while you realise that the story is interesting and the writing fine, but not THAT interesting and not THAT fine.

First and most of all I could never suspend disbelief. Four twins, sons to a lunatic with unexplicated ESP powers butchering each other after discovering that one of them is a fake (?), son to someone else is not an easy assumption but it could be an interesting one if well developped. Here it is not. Everything just sounds strained.
A horror is supposed to have supernatural elements, but we see relatively little horror and many attempts at psychology instead: a rather erratic psychology: we are given no explanation how four loving brothers, allied since childhood against their crazed father suddenly become so distant an estranged as to distrust each other. We do not see why the fake had to go berserk in the first place. We do not see too many things.

I cannot say more without giving away the whole plot, suffice it to say that the pacing is good enough and the writing is good but only as long as you do not wonder why all the hell is going on.
We are not faced with a thrilling masterpiece, nor with an interesting psychological study nor with outstandingly beautiful language.

All in all it all seems to me very lame and therefore a waste of time.

I was reading the other reviews and have to say I am sorry. I have tried twice to read this book. The writting sytle is complex and it jumps around a little. I prefer an easier read. I have yet to get beyond chapter 1 during either attempt.

Travers Scott spins a tale of 4 identical brothers struggling to forge their own individual identities, while seeking out the truth about their family history and bizarre genetics. Scott infuses each brother with such tangible personal details that we begin to think we can tell them apart -- even feeling a part of their unique world -- only to quickly discover that everything we understood about them is a lie. A thrilling mystery novel of sorts, this is definitely a story that doesn't betray it's ending before it's ready, saving plenty of surprises for the final pages. Alternately disturbing, sexy, and quirky, 'One of these Things' is very satisfying experience.