2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Moral Ambiguity & Lobster Bisque, December 5, 2009
This review is from: Ride This Day Down Into Night (Kindle Edition)
The way I see it, "Ride This Day Down Into Night" has all the elements that make up a good story: Sex, murder, love, family, small towns, social classes, moral gray areas, and lobster bisque. If you are not intrigued by any or all of these, I suggest you turn back now. If you are, brace yourself for a very, very good read.
"Ride This Day Down Into Night" is told from the perspective of (relatively) young teacher Tim Rich, and set against the backdrop of a once-rural community by the name of Califon, which is a real place, and which apparently has a much more interesting history than this reviewer ever gave it credit for. Right off the bat we are treated to a very interesting account of the town's origins, and how it came to be what it is today. And in the center of it is Tim Rich: poor, poor Tim Rich. Hapless high-school teacher, happily (?) married, expecting a child, who all of a sudden finds himself tangled up with a troubled highschool student from the other side of the tracks, and caught up in a whole heap of dysfunctional and morally complicated trouble.
This is a really interesting story in terms of how it plays around with ones preconceived ideas about morality. If you go in with very clear ideas about right and wrong (as I have), you might quickly find yourself re-examining them in terms of the events of the novel (as I did). I started out more or less thinking "Why am I reading this. These are all terrible people" -- but by the halfway mark, as I began to understand these characters and their motivations, it started to become a lot less simple than I had originally thought. Shade upon shade of gray, layer upon layer of moral ambiguity, and by the end I realized I had begun cheering these characters on in some genuinely backwards behavior. I had actually gone so far as to sympathize with a murderer, and genuinely see where the perpetrator was coming from -- and I may have even uttered the words "Good riddance" or even "...well, he needed killin." Whoops! Well-played, Gerald Lee Dodge.
Stylistically, there is very little to complain about here. I will say that the prose is a *bit* choppy right off the bat, and the first section of the book is in dire and unyielding need of an editor. It is definitely worth it to ignore this and continue reading, however. The author hits his stride right right around part two of the novel, and it just keeps getting better from there. The language keeps elevating, and the prose gets smoother and more poetic and more beautiful, culminating in a few choice scenes that were so well written that they actually gave this reviewer goose-bumps. And it takes a *lot* to give this reviewer goose-bumps. Ever heard of "Prose-shivers?" Probably not, because I coined the phrase -- but they are rare, and they are here, and you really just need to see for yourself.
Overall this is a very smart, complicated, well written little piece of fiction that drags a bit at the start, but that is definitely worth the read. And at its current ridiculous low price, you would absolutely be cheating yourself if you were to pass it up.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3 3/4 Stars, November 6, 2009
This review is from: Ride This Day Down Into Night (Kindle Edition)
Plot/Storyline: 2 Stars
This book is an echo of a modern day Lolita with an older, but still enticing young lady, Olivia Buford, and a younger, but still too old, teacher/protagonist, Tim Rich. With a murder to draw the two together, and rip them apart, it offers a plot rich with intrigue.
The storyline follows Tim as he battles with a dead marriage and subsequent affair with his student, Olivia, whose father is accused of murder. The murder, while seemingly at the center of the novel, is really handled more as a side plot.
Unfortunately, the storyline meanders into the mundane too often for total immersion into the story. Long pages of flashbacks interrupt interesting dialogue. Town history is pounded into the reader to the point of extreme boredom. There were even several paragraphs devoted to explaining why Tim does not follow college football; this was added because he happened to turn on the television and a football game was on.
The book has an extremely slow start prior to even introducing the main characters, which almost caused me to put it down before I even started. While I understood the need for some context, I felt this could have been accomplished more within the storyline.
The author spends too much time trying to justify Tim's actions, even though most will agree that there is really no justification for breaking the student/teacher trust. Tim never really comes to understand that his actions were wrong, defending himself to the bitter end.
When Tim meets someone new and decides to tell his tale of woe, the reader must sift through pages and pages of his retelling everything. The author could easily have skipped this with a simple summation.
About half of this novel should have been edited out. With the half left, the storyline would have been intact, concise, and much more enjoyable. As it was, I had to force myself to read through many passages with my finger itching to hit the "Next Page" button to get on with the story.
Character Development: 3 Stars
Tim was a somewhat sympathetic character in the beginning. You can feel his pain with the problems in his marriage. However, as the story progressed, he showed no real growth. He came across as being far more emotionally troubled than even Olivia. He professes his undying love throughout, yet sees nothing wrong with a meaningless `fling' or falling in love with someone else.
Olivia is an extremely sympathetic character. She is portrayed not as a nymphette, but a smart, young woman in bad circumstances. She is definitely my favorite character in the novel as she continues to grow even though shown only through the eyes of Tim.
Writing Style: 5 Stars
The writing style of Mr. Dodge is excellent. His sentence structuring, beautiful descriptions, and tact in handling the sex scenes show true talent.
The dialogue was very character oriented. I especially enjoyed the pieces from Olivia. Her colloquial speech added a certain flair to the work.
Editing/Formatting: 5 Stars
Both were of professional quality.
Rating: R for somewhat Graphic Sex, Language, and Adult Situations
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