Customer Reviews

Reservation Road (Vintage Contemporaries)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

My favorite writer is Graham Greene & I almost never get the feeling I got when I read "The Quiet American" & knew I'd end up reading everything the man had written; I got that feeling about John Burnham Schwartz reading this excellent, understated, convincing thriller that succeeds in being much more concerned with the people than with the events without being boring. All the characters, including both boys and both wives, are excellently drawn. The book's just a pleasure to read as a piece of craftsmanship, dark subject matter notwithstanding. The only fault I could find is the somewhat sporadic appearance of the Learner dog, who sort of gets forgotten for a while & then suddenly reappears, & that's a very, very minor flaw in an outstanding novel. I'll make a point of reading whatever Schwartz writes.

It really takes a lot for a book to really grip me these days, especially since I have the awful habit of starting a lot of books and never finishing. Nine out of ten times it's no fault of the writer, mind you. I end up seeing something else at the bookstore and want to start that as opposed to finishing the current book I'm reading. I found no such problem with "Reservation Road" by John Burnham Schwartz, as the book completely hooked me in from the first page. It's a heartbreaking and surprisingly tense work of art that gives you honest-to-god real characters who despite all of their flaws and shortcomings, you care for each and every one of them.

Sometimes it only takes that one random event that can cause everything to fall apart. This happens on such a night when a boy is killed by a hit-and-run. Ethan is the boy's father and cannot even begin to comprehend what has happened. He is further torn apart when he sees that the justice system that he thought he could rely on cannot even bring him the closure he wants. Grace is his wife, and after the accident she is completely disconnected from everyone and everything, not caring about her appearance or her daily activities and duties as a mother to their remaining child. Dwight Arno is the man responsible for accidentally running over the boy, and even though he knows that he should've stopped and turned himself in, he keeps on driving fearing any interruption that'll keep him away from trying to make up on being a good father to his son. Still, that doesn't take away the guilt and the pain he feels for what he has done and he knows there's no going back to normal, no matter how hard he tries to pretend.

The story is masterfully told using three POV's and switches between them. From Ethan's and Dwight's POV, the story is told in first person and from their account and feelings. The POV of Grace is told using third person, which I think is an excellent decision being that Grace, as you'll read, seems to be the more disconnected and distant from everything. Using three first person narratives would've thrown the novel over-the-top and have it become vulnerable to being melodramatic. Because we are given true insights to these characters, we cannot help but feel and care for them. And this is why it is so easy for the reader to get absorbed and lost into the world that Scwartz has painted for us. It's not a pretty or uplifting picture, yet we still read on. There is a lot of tension and suspense, but not from action. It is because we are given the privilege to know and feel what these people are thinking and we have no idea what they are capable of doing. The tension is subtle, but it definitely makes one's heart pound a little faster at times.

Without giving anything away, I do understand why some people might be upset with how the book ends. My advice is that after you read it, you allow the ending soak into you a little. Even re-read it a few times, for if you do you will realize that this is the most appropriate ending. To end it any other way would have been gimmicky or a cheat. Even though some of the critics try to call this a sort of "thriller," it is really anything but that. There were at least five different ways I thought it was going to end, and I am happy that it wasn't any of them. The more I re-read the last few pages, the more I see the brilliance of it all.

"Reservation Road" is a fantastic and epic novel about how we deal with life's tragedies, and how it can bring the best and worst out of us. I feel sorry for the next book that I read by any author immediately after reading this, because it's going to take a lot to grab me the way that this novel did. Stunningly character-driven, heart-breaking and even insightful, "Reservation Road" delivers a painful and dark journey that we know once we start, there is no turning back. -Michael Crane

There's an inherent problem in writing (and reading) novels which devote themselves entirely to unexpected death and its aftermath, entirely aside from the fact that it's a subject matter which has been done, and re-done, and overdone since the dawn of fiction, and is therefore very difficult to make fresh, interesting or insightful. The major problem is that the author runs the very real risk of dousing the reader with such unrelenting dreariness that finishing the book is almost a chore. As far as novels about death go, Reservation Road is far better than most. It's thought-provoking, sincere, and, for the most part, avoids melodrama. But there's not much new for Schwartz to explore-if grief is a universal language, the theme of personal loss is a literary staple. The ending of the book (I won't spoil it) is somewhat surprising, and emotionally fulfilling at first-until one gives it serious thought and wonders if the author sacrificed reality for the sake of making "a point" about human nature.

Two things save Reservation Road, however, and make it worth reading. The first is the character of Dwight, whose anguish and self-loathing in the wake of the accident he caused is arresting, complex, and unique. The second is Schwartz's prose, which is lucid and engaging-on occasion, it's even downright eloquent. In the end, the novel is an almost perfect hybrid of Jacqueline Mitchard's far inferior "The Deep End of the Ocean" and James Agee's superior "A Death in the Family." It may not be a lasting work of literature, but it's a good piece of contemporary fiction. I would consider sampling Schwartz's work again.

When I first picked up the book, I almost put it down because of the subject matter. But it managed to stay with me until I reached the checkout counter and I didn't regret my decision when I began reading it. Mr. Schwartz captured the essence of every character: the mother's intense grief, the father's rage and despair, the lawyer's guilt and shame over the accident the relationship with his family. He captured all that very well. I'd recommend this book to anyone.

At the heart of this book, are two families, their children, their specific situation. For me, however, the part that held the deepest impact featured the two flawed fathers and their sons. Each father carries a load of guilt and shame, for varying reasons.

Their lives intersect one night, the night the car comes out of nowhere and something happens that no one expects. I KNOW this all sounds vague but I don't want to give much away about the plot but I DO want to say that the characters are so very, very believable that you simply have to know what happens next in the wake of tragedy, how their lives will be affected and what choices they make.

It will be interesting to see what they do with the movie version of this book (reputed to star Elle Fanning, Dakota Fanning's siter) because the subject matter is often dark and painful. It is, of course, in the deep, tragic and unexpected challenges and losses in life where we are forced to question everything we believed we knew about the world - and what to expect.

At the heart of the book is the loss of a child and mostly how his father deals with that fact (he is divorced). Each character in this book has flaws but also heart, soul and substance (at least, I saw them this way).

If you want a cheerful, light read, you won't want pick up this book. If you are a parent (as I am) you may find it painful to get through. But I loved Blue Water (see link below), a book with a similar theme, and each book centers on issues of pain and forgiveness (or lack of it). It cuts to the core. If you are a parent or have lost a child and wonder about the nuances of grief and anger, redemption, forgiveness, etc...then this is a must read!

Also see:

Blue Water: A Novel

I had recommended this book to my book club to read. It was voted down. (Their loss they missed a good one) So I went ahead and read it on my own. Im so glad I did. It was such a compelling story. I still keep thinking about it. I have tried to put myself in each of the characters place how would I have handle the situation they were in? I cant imagine it, and there are no easy answers. Which comes through in each of the characters. You can feel their pain and struggle. The characters were so well developed even the children. (Emma Sam and Josh) They just werent bystanders in the story. My heart went out to all of them as if they were real people. Yes even the bad guy who did the unthinkable. Even though I think what he did was horrible and cowardly since he didnt stop. I still felt sorry for him. His life even before the accident seemed to be spinning out of control. He just couldnt get it together. Then this happens. I may have hated what he did but I couldnt hate him. It made for a very emotional read. But I loved it. One of the better books I have read. And to think I first saw it on "Good Morning America: recommended by Charlie Gibson. Thank you Charlie. Its a book I wont soon forget.

John Burnham Schwartz's novel "RESERVATION ROAD", gripped me from the first sentence and never let me go. Told in three alternating voices, the novel is a story of love, loss and finally, redemption. Mr. Schwartz took the topic of a hit and run accident (an issue dealt with in another fine novel THE LONG RAIN) and added a different twist. His prose is so powerfully compelling, you feel the desperation of Dwight, and the anguish of Ethan and Grace build with each turn of the page. I can only hope that Mr. Schwartz's next novel is as fine as this one, and that he doesn't keep us waiting long for it.

This book was well plotted until the ending. No grieving father who had seen his family practically destroyed by a hit and run driver, who had helped search for the killer, who had been furious at the police for putting the case on the back burner is going to let the guy off just because he has a little boy of his own. Where is the criminal case? Where is the civil case for wrongful death? Is he going to keep quiet about this for the rest of his life? What explanation is he going to give to his wife? I felt a good book had really let me down in the end by crafting a resolution that would never happen in any real person's universe.

I did a quick re-read of this book in anticipation of the sequel, Northwest Corner. My memory of my overall impressions of the story holds up in the second reading. Some great strengths and a couple of weaker aspects that do diminish the power of the book as a whole. If I focus on the things Schwartz got right, it's a four-star book. If I focus on the things he did wrong, it's three stars. I'm going with the higher rating because I do think the book is worth reading, especially if you're interested in the way grief and guilt affect behavior and thought processes over time. There are a few too many coincidences, and the ending should have been much stronger, but I won't elaborate on the complaints.

There are three alternating viewpoints:

1)Ethan Learner: The father of 10-year-old Josh, who was killed in a hit-and-run on Reservation Road. He fixates on finding the driver who killed his son and exacting some sort of revenge. Ethan loses himself in reading as an escape from the pain and feelings of powerlessness.

2)Grace Learner: Josh's mother. She slips into despair and inaction and completely lets herself go, pulling away from her husband and friends and forgetting to care for her 8-year-old daughter Emma. Her love for her husband and daughter does eventually bring her around to pick up the shattered pieces of her life and go forward.

3)Dwight Arno: The man who hit Josh and didn't stop. He has so far gotten away with it, but the fear and guilt eat away at him. He slips into alcohol abuse and the violence he learned from his own father. His relationship with his 10-year-old son Sam has always been tenuous, and with the added stress of Dwight's secret, that situation becomes even more strained.

I'm looking forward to the sequel, because the end of this one does sort of leave you hanging, although I can see the subtle statement Schwartz was aiming for.

The world shatters in a single instant. One moment ten-year-old Josh Learner is standing beside the road, the next moment he's dead, the victim of a hit and run driver. His father Ethan observes the devastating accident. Ethan's wife Grace and daughter Emma are in the restroom of the rural gas station. The dark colored car continues on into the night, leaving behind a tragic death that must be dealt with from all sides.

Dwight Arno is late returning his son back to his mother on his single visitation day. It had been a good day, the ballgame going into extra innings. He has a horrible past with his ex and his son, having lost control of himself when his ex-wife Ruth first told him of her affair and her intent to divorce him. Dwight his Ruth, then accidentally hit his son who'd come from his room to investigate the sounds of the fight. Dwight is desperate, after years of not being able to see his son at all, to be the father he should be to young Sam. Losing control of his car on Reservation Road, Dwight is the man who hits and kills young Josh Learner, the same age as his own son. (this is not a spoiler, its revealed early in the book. The book isn't a "whodunit" mystery)

The book is written in three POV's (Point of View), Ethan, Grace, and Dwight. The interesting part is that Ethan and Dwight are written in first person, and Grace is written in third person. It works extremely well because Grace becomes so disconnected from real life. While not being a "thriller", there are many tense moments in the book, wondering what our characters are going to do with their thoughts and their lives.

The characters themselves are so fully fleshed out that you'll feel you know them personally. Grace falls into a depression that stops her entire life, Dwight is eaten with guilt and finds himself having more difficulty with his son Sam because of the horrible beast he believes himself to be. Ethan is eaten up with thoughts of revenge, desperate to find his son's killer. The scene where Ethan confronts the police for dropping his son's file into the cold cases is highly emotional and very well written.

'Reservation Road' is an poignant and intimate look into the human psyche after unbelievable tragedy. Coping seems impossible. Each character seems to eat themselves alive through one emotional way or another. Can Grace find her life again? Can Dwight let go of his fear? Can Ethan let go of his horrid anger? I can't recommend this book highly enough. The storyline, the prose, the characterizations are all perfect. The book is a journey through life's most horrid tragedy, seen through the eyes of victim and perpetrator. Its hard to even lay blame here because of all of the characters have their own exposed flaws. The ending will surprise you. It's an ending I had to stop and ponder before writing this review. Whether you consider it climactic or anticlimactic, it will definitely touch your soul.

Again, I highly recommend this book. Enjoy!