Gary Reed (2)Recensioni
Autore di Pryor Rendering: A Novel
Per altri autori con il nome Gary Reed, vedi la pagina di disambiguazione.
Recensioni
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I rarely write reviews, but having perused a few of the ones meant to reflect "Pryor Rendering"'s appeal, I felt that I had to add my two cents. The novel left me with the sensation of struggling to swallow a lump lodged tightly in my throat. The ending seems abrupt and disappointing, but only initially. The longer I let the last few scenes stew in my mind, the more I felt that their gradual dissolution reflects life, and its baffling ability to leave us itching for more; for something grander and more polished than what it inevitably has to offer. But that's where the truth makes itself so painfully known. "Pryor Rendering" is a coming-of-age story, and it stays true to its form.
What I absolutely cannot wrap my head around is some people's claim that the writing is average at best, or that Gary Reed slowed down the natural flow of his hand to grip a thesaurus for a sprinkling of a few arbitrary words. As someone who consumes a few books weekly, I have come across every imaginable style of writing, from perfunctory, simple sentences to language so dense and sticky that it left me struggling to turn the pages; so lost was I on my quest to reabsorb the same paragraphs over and over again.
Gary Reed's writing falls into the latter category. On more than one occasion, I was left gasping for breath, and quite certain that I could both taste and feel the images that were being carved so smoothly into the page. The memory of vegetation being as thick and muggy "as wet tongues panting with life" inside the story's legendary greenhouse stands out in aching detail. I'm quite certain that I've never been this riveted by a piece of decriptive writing before. Anyone who loves to read, and doesn't resort to picking up a book out of a sense of obligation once a year, will have no trouble with the vocabulary. The claim that a thesaurus is responsible for, or somehow obstructs, the novel's artistry seems preposterous.
In fact, I was hooked from the very first page, despite the rather morose happenings and Charlie's helpless circumstances. Beyond the lulling sense of lethargy that makes up the novel's ambience, a strong feeling of romance and arousal permeates every page. I felt sucked between the lines, completely at the mercy of Gary's immortalized voice. It should be said that it's quite rare for me to achieve this state of abandon while wandering around any book's unknown surroundings.
The story is tender, provocative, imaginative and sensual. The most wonderful part of the entire experience is that I never would have connected these impressions to the novel, remembering how my eyes skimmed the title and licked their way up and down the cover warily. I feel like I've gained something without ever kneading my mind into a state of tragic anticipation.