Customer Reviews

A Stone Boat

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dear Andrew Solomon, This is a fan letter: PLEASE keep writing such beautiful fiction. PLEASE write another novel as soon as possible. I have never come across Solomon's prose in "The New Yorker" and have not read his two non-fiction books, one about artists in the Soviet Union and one about Depression. A STONE BOAT is his first novel. It was a birthday gift to me and I read it in three days. I then waited one day and read it all over again. It is one of the most elegantly written novels I've ever read: Solomon chooses words as if they were precious jewels and then sets them perfectly. And yet, the reader is never conscious of the author, as Armistead Maupin says, "using a ten dollar word when a ten cent word will do." A STONE BOAT tells of a gifted classical pianist, Harry, at the beginning of what will no doubt be a major career. An American living in London, Harry joins his privileged family for what is supposed to be a joyous holiday in France. But it is here that they learn that Harry's mother has cancer. This tragedy is the centerpiece of the narrative, but it is the lives that touch Harry's and his mother's that make the book even more fascinating and complex, funny, charming and, above all, achingly beautiful. The novel is not packed with scores of characters. Rather it is an intimate story of a family and the few who are their satellites: from Harry's good-hearted, passive, British male lover to his wise and strong American girlfriend, from his unforgiving, tough-minded agent to his hedonistic sex partner, Nick. It is, in the end, a story of life conquering death, of a family bonding at first to refuse Death admittance to their home and then, finally, conspiring to help one of their own die, in her own way and time by her own hand with dignity and grace. This is a once-in-a-lifetime read: a novel to cherish. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Andrew Solomon's "A Stone Boat" is a remarkable first novel. The author's mastery of the English language and the way he uses it to create senses of setting and character are incredible. There is much to admire, too, in Mr. Solomon's way with a story. His characters are real as are their relationships. Harry, the main charactor/narrator, describes his mother upon first sight in the most extraordinary way - close your eyes and you see her sitting across the room. This passage is one to read and re-read all the while savoring the beauty of the language and the sheer descriptive powers of the author. Do not lend this book to your friends or you will never see it again - the prose is that remarkable. One hopes Mr. Solomon is working on his second, third and fourth books as this review is being written.

This is a very touching and wonderfully written novel. Every scene in it has the feel of authenticity. Highly recommended for readers willing to let themselves be moved emotionally by powerful prose.

At first I was somehow a bit afraid to read this book, a novel about your dying mother. But I said to myself, come on and face it, its a part of growing up. So I started reading and got aquainted with this New York based cosmopolitan family. I think the first person narrator, a young and promising pianist, was not intriguing. This was kind of odd to me as I expected him to puzzle me. However, the very minute his mother begins to speak you know she is the one who carries the power in this book. Few books have presented such a strong mother figure as here allthough she stays at the background. Mother is very stylish, beautiful, educated and verbally gifted. She can turn anyting into a succes by knowing what to say, what to wear, which flowers to use, what kind of music to play, where to socialize, you name it and she is the star of the evening. She reminded me on Jackie Kennedy. While the son is searching for a relationship and a place to live, mother is actually ready with her life and saying goodbye to it all because she suffers from cancer. As her body is fainting, her mind stays sharp as a knife untill the very last minutes when she gives a shivering speach. Before this happens, mother disapproves her sons' gay lifestyle which becomes the centre of the struggle between them. The young man almost gives up reaching his mother. The fighting with her harms him and there seems no solution...

I have great difficulty understanding why this book has received such positive reviews. To me, it read like a very smart college student's first crack at a novel. Clean prose, impressive vocabulary, but without depth. I found the characters and situations to be flat and uninteresting. The main character is supposedly this very worldly, upper-crust pianist and I didn't believe it for a second. The whole thing fell flat. Read a few pages of the excerpt and see if you don't agree.

It really will make you cry. This book is wrenching and naked. The author is unburdened of any shame or guilt and with these things actually driving him, his guts spill onto the page for us to read like tea leaves.