Shardik

Product Details

• ISBN13: 9781585671823
• <a title='Condition Guide' href='/content/Condition_and_S hipping_Guide.htm' target='_blank'>Click here to prospect our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices</a>
• Quarters: NEW
• Notes: Stigmatize New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Description

"Shardik is a powerful work, dipping deep into old forms-allegory, epic, myth-resonating in the caverns of the readers' unconscious . . . It is an exciting story, the adventures compelling." (Los Angeles Times)

"Grips with suspense, haunts with mystery . . . a memorable work, not to be read once only but to be reread as loved books are . . . a human saga." (The Wall Street Journal)

Richard Adams's Watership Down was a number one bestseller, a stunning work of the imagination, and an acknowledged modern classic. In Shardik Adams sets a different yet equally compelling tale in a far-off fantasy world.

Shardik is a fantasy of tragic character, centered on the long-awaited reincarnation of the gigantic bear Shardik and his appearance among the half-barbaric Ortelgan people. Mighty, ferocious, and unpredictable, Shardik changes the life of every person in the story. His advent commences a momentous chain of events. Kelderek the hunter, who loves and trusts the great bear, is swept on by destiny to become first devotee and then prophet, then victorious soldier, then ruler of an empire and priest-king of Lord Shardik-Messenger of God-only to discover ever-deeper layers of meaning implicit in his passionate belief in the bear's divinity.

A gripping tale of war, adventure, horror and romance, Shardik, on a deeper level, is a remarkable exploration of mankind's universal desire for divine incarnation.

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Customer Reviews

interesting
I read Watershipdown by Richard Adams and wanted to read more of his books. If you liked Watershipdown you will probably like this one too.

2009-12-10 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Amazing
Richer, grander, intensely more rewarding than "Watership Down", at least for an adult. This and "The Plague Dogs" are must-read novels.

The civilation Mr. Adams has created here, the adventure and suspense, the human folly and tragedy, and once again the peculiar and astounding emotional force Mr. Adams has in writing from the point of view of an animal--in this case a bear--absolutely must be experienced.

By the way, this is a human story -- I mistakenly thought it would be another story told from the point of view from an animal.

There are dead spots, and the ending drags a bit, but this is a very powerful and gut-wrenchingly emotional tale--for adults.

This is the third book I have now read by this author after "Watership Down" and "The Plague Dogs", and I think this is my favorite, though "Plague Dogs" is amazing too. Most people probably won't explore much beyond "Watership Down", and that's a shame, and actually the reason why I am writing this -- to encourage more people to go further.

In any case, I know I need to seek out more of his novels for myself.

2009-08-09 (Los Angeles, CA USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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A wonderful novel that will stand the test of time
I just completed a re-read of my old yellowed, limp paperback of Richard Adams' SHARDIK, and am delighted to report that it impressed me even more than I had remembered from the first time around--about 30 years ago. I'm older now. I'd known little tragedy on the first reading. Now in my 70s, I've experienced my parents' deaths, the helplessness of a brilliant, bipolar husband's collapse, and the past eight years of horrors created by my own government. SHARDIK is now not only nightmarish, but much more real.

Others have described the loving details, the deep characterizations, the plot lines that seem (like the development of a Mozart symphony) both completely original yet inevitable. Anyone who thinks torture is "useful" needs to read this book, yet it is more a deep study of the perils of fanaticism and rewards of a faith based on reality--which appeals to me, a devout Unitarian Universalist--than a political polemic of secular national identity. Adams gives us a society combining elements of Neolithic-Bronze Age-Iron Age political and economic structures, emerging gradually from theocracy into a tyrant-dominated, sexist, slave-worked city-state ethos. Not a good culture, but with good people in it.

The only dubious notion in the book is that any nation or minor empire of this period would EVER have been willing, on their own, to give up slavery even temporarily--especially people who lack draft horses and mules. I'm a historian and have trouble thinking of any society that ended slavery and/or serfdom until maintaining a high level of business morality based on conscience, plus enough industrialization to enable the economics to exist without involuntary servitude. In fact, no society today, including that of the U.S.--with an estimate of 55,000 hidden slaves in 2001--is entirely free of the taint.

But if you accept that single unlikely element, the story is absolutely marvelous. It's over 600 pages long and I could scarcely put the book down. Adams' approach to writing seems much closer to that of Gene Wolfe than of Tolkien, although there are good reasons for comparing him to both. All three share the detailed world-building, the sure-handed Jungian use of universal myth and legend, an emotional sine curve from despair and violence into physical and ethical redemption, prose that often goes beyond poetry to the level of psalm and elevates the reader to a startling epiphany. All three can really write.

But Tolkien was not the master of in-depth human character that Adams or Wolfe are. There are no Orcs and High Elves in Adams and Wolfe, only a recognition that both demon and angel dwell within each of us. Anyone who likes SHARDIK would do well to read Wolfe's BOOK OF THE NEW SUN, a compilation of connected, evolving stories which are themselves works of art as well as religiously allegorical quests. If you do, don't overlook the often-forgotten sequel or "coda", THE URTH OF THE NEW SUN. Then go on to Wolfe's other works. You'll be pleased.

2009-06-06 | medieval_student (Philadelphia, PA, United States) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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The courage to create a society from threads to whole cloth
I don't usually read books dealing with imaginary societies, but this one so engrossed me I couldn't put it down. Whether you respect religious cults and ancient societal mores or not, the characters of this novel will indubitably pull you in. I loved the humanity and erudition of this masterpiece. It isn't quite on the level of creative genius of Adams' Watership Down, but humans are a poor comparison to the lives of rabbits. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

2009-02-16 (Port Orchard, WA United States) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Timeless and thought provoking, May just open your mind a bit more than you planned!
The first time I read this book I was no more than 14 and I liked it,I found it interesting and different. I also knew that I was missing something. The next time I read it a year or so later I was blown away by the lesson's of the power of myth and belief. This book opened the door to the likes of Joseph Campbell and the hold that myth and religion have on mankind. Read it on both levels for great story telling and a powerful message,you will not be disappointed. Other fine reviews here will tell you the plot,Watership Down it is not. Richard Adams stake's a claim for one of the finest novelists of our time and books like this got him there. Strongly suggested for everyone age 15 (and sharp) to 112(and sharper)!

2008-05-01 (Cairo, NY USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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The Plague Dogs: A Novel

Product Details

• ISBN13: 9780345494023
• Shape: NEW
• Notes: Trade-mark New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Description

"Thousands and thousands of people will love this book!"
THE BOSTON GLOBE
A lyrical, engrossing tale, by the author of WATERSHIP DOWN, Richard Adams creates a lyrical and engrossing tale, a remarkable journey into the hearts and minds of two canine heroes, Snitter and Rowf, fugitives from the horrors of an animal research center who escape into the isolation--and terror--of the wilderness.


From the Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

A hard read
I barely made it to the end of this book, and after finishing didn't feel rewarded for sticking all the way through it. I liked Snitter and Rowf enough to WONDER whether they might make it through alive or not, but never actually CARED. This was due to the style of writing in the book. Be warned that this book is not at all in the style of Watership Down. There is little action and too much characterization (at least of the humans - the dogs are done well) is displayed by the writer out in the open, in long and plodding pages of biographical history and personality description rather than letting the characters act from the get-go. Even so I didn't feel that the human characters acted entirely in a realistic manner, and two (!) of them are transformed by a change of heart from practically evil to practically pure - think puppies and rainbows type changes! (Even one of the dogs, I felt, depending on how you interprete the ending, had a radical change of heart to make things less complicated for the writer.) There are also long and plodding pages of descriptions of, well, hills. Lots and lots of hills. With all of this in between the story of the dogs and the pursuit of them, I lost interest and emotion for Snitter and Rowf.

There are also absolutely ridiculous conversations between the author and some "reader" he imagined in his head. Take this example: "And what the devil (I hear you asking) has all this got to do with Snitter and Rowf...[etc etc...] Nothing, you have concluded? Your Highness shall from this practice but make hard your heart. In fact...[etc etc...]" I wasn't even asking such a thing! This was written after one of the few parts I actually found entirely engrossing (if only for personal reasons), and Adams had to go and ruin the flow with strange insults. It's like Adams looked at his work, found that he was lacking in some areas, and covered it up by chiding the audience if they should see it too. The ending was entirely ruined for me simply because Adams again had a page-long conversation with the "reader" - in poetic form no less!

The ending also reminded me of the end of The Dark Tower series, where Stephen King gave one ending, and then wrote that if the reader didn't like that ending they could read on and they'd have the ending they really wanted. Both endings also had writer insertion and a deus ex machina (the latter of which The Plague Dogs runs on).

It's a very British book. I'm not even sure what that means, since I don't watch or read much British stuff, but there are lots of British words (even besides the accents) and references to literature or popular culture (I'm guessing that's what those were anyway). And good God, the hills. So many hills.

Well this is all just my opinion, and I felt that I should put it up since so many of the negative reviews on here don't seem to actually point out what was disliked (probably why I ordered the book!). There were parts I enjoyed - much of the second half was partly engrossing, the messages were well argued and well taken, and Snitter's madness was wonderful. The rest of the reviews on this page will tell you all about these things. But still I could not like the book overall. If things like what I wrote above drive you nuts as much as they do me, stay away. If you like dog books, I suggest instead James Oliver Curwood's books Kazan and Baree (in that order), though I'll admit I read both long ago but they were very engaging at the time.

2010-02-12 (Maryland) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 2

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The Heartbeat of a Writer
There's little doubt many modern readers would find this book hard to finish. It wanders with canine abandon, frolicks throught the narrative hills, and rolls around in the mud. It chases shadows. It wallows in subplots. And yet, with all its old-school flaws, it lured me in.

"The Plague Dogs" follows Snitter and Rowf, two animals being experimented upon in England's Lake Country, at a secretive government facility called Animal Research Scientific, Experimental (A.R.S.E.). The not so subtle acronym gives clear indication that Richard Adams, best known for his book "Watership Down", is once again making a statement about the way humankind and animals coexist. In this case, Snitter and Rowf cause quite a stir when they manage to escape from ARSE one weekend. Soon, they're hunting sheep to survive, and the local farmers are out to destroy them. The news catches the attention of an opportunistic reporter, Driver Digby, and he writes a volatile newspaper article suggesting these dogs are infected with bubonic plague. Not only are the local townfolks upset, but the very corridors of parliamentary power are challenged for there decision to support ARSE in the first place. What government secrets are being hidden? What diseases might soon threaten dear old England? Caught in the buzzsaw of politics and media manipulation, Snitter and Rowf have little chance of survival.

Adams does a wonderful job of taking us into the thoughts and actions of these erstwhile heroes. He grows a bit satirical, sometimes heavy-handed, in his dealing with issues of animal research and environment, but he always has points worth making. The writing style is dated, and there are some awkward literary devices, ranging from omniscient points of view to the sudden appearance of vital characters. Nevertheless, I found myself swept up in Adams' passion for his themes, his canine protagonists, and his love for the English countryside.

Some of the more modern genre bestsellers are cleaned up and sterilized, all for the sake of our limited attention spans, but few throb with the same heartbeat of a writer in love with the language and the world around him.

2010-01-09 | novelist (Nashville, TN United States) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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It's A Dog-Eat-Dog World Out There
Of the handful of fictional books where an author attempts to convey the thoughts of dogs, Mr. Adams' novel stands leagues above the others that I've read. The dogs, Snitter and Rowf, misinterpret many aspects of the world around them. They view humans as practically omnipotent. This is not some sweet, charming story to make you feel all warm and fuzzy. Some of the scenes are heart-wrenching while other events are brutal and devoid of any sentimentality. The author aims his sights on animal experimentation and the selfish motivations of people. There are a few antagonists who are so odious that vivisection on them would have been an adequate comeuppance. However, Mr. Adams does flesh out and allow some of the unlikeable people to evolve. But the humans are mostly secondary characters compared to the plight of Snitter and Rowf. It took about fifty pages for me to get involved in the story, but I'm glad I stuck with it. Published in 1977, I can see why this wonderful book is still in print.

2009-10-09 (Gorham, ME USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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A terrific premise...
Well, I have rather mixed feelings about this book. I always enjoy a good dog book - and this one certainly had points that were good, but I was a bit bogged down by the style. It was overly wordy, had few enjoyable characters and had no women to speak of. The premise was quite interesting and I would have liked it more had it been executed in a different way. Really, the ending was the entire book's saving grace. It reminded me a lot of Diane Jessup's _The Dog Who Spoke With The Gods_. It most certainly shared the theme of depicting animal cruelty - though they both went about it in a different way.
Snitter's madness was an interesting aspect too.

2009-03-10 (Chicago, IL) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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First book I ever threw away!
The Plague Dogs: A Novel
I could not stand the pain of reading this book. I know, things like this happen to our animals. After reading the ending of the book, I was so angry that I went to the wastebasket and threw the book away. I wish, the ending had been more clear.

2008-07-23 (Triadelphia, WV USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 1

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Maia

Description

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Watership Down: A Novel

Product Details

• Notes: Label New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• ISBN13: 9780743277709
• Condition: NEW

Description

A phenomenal worldwide bestseller for over thirty years, Richard Adams's Watership Down is a timeless classic and one of the most beloved novels of all time. Set in England's Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage and survival follows a band of very special creatures on their flight from the intrusion of man and the certain destruction of their home. Led by a stouthearted pair of brothers, they journey forth from their native Sandleford Warren through the harrowing trials posed by predators and adversaries, to a mysterious promised land and a more perfect society.

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Watership Down has been a staple of high-school English classes for years. Despite the fact that it's often a hard sell at first (what teenager wouldn't cringe at the thought of 400-plus pages of talking rabbits?), Richard Adams's bunny-centric epic rarely fails to win the love and respect of anyone who reads it, regardless of age. Like most great novels, Watership Down is a rich story that can be read (and reread) on many different levels. The book is often praised as an allegory, with its analogs between human and rabbit culture (a fact sometimes used to goad skeptical teens, who resent the challenge that they won't "get" it, into reading it), but it's equally praiseworthy as just a corking good adventure.

The story follows a warren of Berkshire rabbits fleeing the destruction of their home by a land developer. As they search for a safe haven, skirting danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band and its compelling culture and mythos. Adams has crafted a touching, involving world in the dirt and scrub of the English countryside, complete with its own folk history and language (the book comes with a "lapine" glossary, a guide to rabbitese). As much about freedom, ethics, and human nature as it is about a bunch of bunnies looking for a warm hidey-hole and some mates, Watership Down will continue to make the transition from classroom desk to bedside table for many generations to come. --Paul Hughes

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Customer Reviews

Pretty good story.
I read this on a friend's suggestion. My first thought was "a bunny story, how cute." It did turn into a pretty good story. There is a glossary of bunny words in the back. The kindle version is poorly formatted, almost useless.

2010-03-21 (Bloomington, IL United States) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Never thought I'd be so intrigued with rabbits.
At first I was hesitant to read a book with all animal characters but my girlfriend really recommended it to me, so I began. I'm a firm believer in writing style and authors mattering more than the story itself. I'm not saying the story is bad - because it's a very good one - but the author's creativity and writing style are what I loved about this book. This is a very fun book to read and it's far more exciting than I expected a book of it's nature to be. I highly recommend for all ages - especially adults since it seems like it may be perceived as a book for the youth.

2010-03-08 (York, PA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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excellent
most definitly a 5 star review. loved the book. brilliant mind to come up with this type of literary masterpiece. talking rabbits, that isnt a book for children. brilliant. i highly recommend it.

2010-03-06 | tha one. | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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rather high-toned for a book full of talking animals!
I suppose my threshold for silliness for books with talking animals (particularly bunnies) is "The Wind in the Willows." Anything more sophisticated than that is preposterous, I think.

Nevertheless, this aims to go several degrees more sophisticated than that. It succeeds in parts, but on the whole, it's hard to take it seriously unless you're a pre-teen girl. But if you are, good luck with the language.

Now, maybe I just waited too long to read this. I had wanted to ever since I was a kid but never got around to it until middle age. Sure, I've seen the cartoon on which it was based years ago, but didn't think much of it. I was assured by those who had read it, however, that the book was much better (and deeper!). I guess I'm glad I didn't read this as a teenager: I think I would have given up after a few chapters. For a book with a bunch of talking animals, it contains an unreasonably high level of prose.

There's another reason it was hard to get into: I've lived in cities all my life, so much so that I've never even seen a wooden fence, much less a cow. (I think maybe once I saw a squirrel.) Sad, I know; but the point is, much of the bucolic terms were completely flat to me: marjoram? meadowsweet? thistle bloom? kingcups? watercress? It's like you need a PhD in Botany to understand what's going on. (The cynic in me suspects the author doesn't know either, and was simply writing with Newcomb's Wildflower Guide propped open next to the typewriter.)

There are points in the book's favor: the action is swift and things are helped along by short chapters. But Adams's characterization must be accounted a minus: there's plenty of rabbits along for the exodus, but it's hard to tell them apart.

Worse, though, is the sustained pretension of Lapine, the language of Adams's bunnies. Why not just "translate" everything into English? At one point (p. 15), we're told the rabbits are going to "meet again here, fu Inle." What does "fun Inle" mean? A helpful glossary at the back of the book tells us: it means "after moonrise." What did it add to include the original expression? Why couldn't Adams have just written "after moonrise"? Why is that particular expression rendered in the original Lapine, but not others, such as "Is it true?" "Who is this?" and "Over the hill"?

I'll tell you why: because the interlarded Lapine, like so much else in the book, symbolizes the flowery affectation in which the whole thing is steeped.

2010-02-22 (La Mancha and environs) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 2

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Bunnies Galore!
Going into this book, all I knew was that it was a classic that was about talking bunnies. Now, I've never been a big fan of rabbits, but I decided to give this a try anyway. I mean a five hundred page book about rabbits? I had to see what this was all about.

After the initial charm wore off, I was bored. I found all the rabbits to be interchangeable, and some of their folklore confusing. But, it got better as it went on, especially those final 200 hundred pages. I found some of their chapter-long fables distracting, as well as a sudden switch to the human world. There would be random comments about baseball or something to describe a situation, and it would draw me out of the story. I also didn't like the portrayal of does as just sex-objects, which would make me have less sympathy for the rabbits plight. I have to say, for the most part, I forgot they were bunnies. The writing was easily read, and it wasn't to hard to follow. If I was a tad smarter, I could figure out all the parallels between bunny warrens and human government, but I'm too lazy for that.

Even though it is usually marketed as a young adult book, I think anyone can enjoy it. Overall, it was a enjoyable fantasy and quite epic.

2010-02-19 (CT, USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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The Day Gone By

Description

The memoirs of Richard Adams, the author of "Watership Down", recreate his childhood in Berkshire during the mid-1920s. They cover his family, his schooldays at Bradfield College and his time spent at Oxford before he was called up in July 1940. They depict a society that disappeared after the war. Richard Adams' other books include "Shardik", "Nature Through the Seasons", "The Tyger Voyage", "The Plague Dogs", "A Nature Diary" and "Voyage Through the Antarctic".

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Customer Reviews

Excuse Me
Actually, Adams goes right out and says that Hazel was based on a man he met durung his army service, so read closer next time, buddy.

2000-04-01 | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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Dull book, except for true Richard Adams' fans
Adams autobiography plots along at a snail's pace as Adams describes in nauseatingly long detail about the plants and birds that lived in the area where he grew up. I suppose that this is exciting for people who enjoy nature walks and such.

I labored through the book because I am a dedicated Adams fan. I have read every novel that he has ever written, and enjoyed them thoroughly. The Day Gone By is helpful if you want to get inside of Adams' head and figure out how he thinks. After reading the work, I think that Hazel, a character from Watership Down, may actually be a model for his father, to whom Adams was very close.

Other observations about Adams' works can be gleaned by reading The Day Gone By.

1999-08-30 | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 2

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The Lost Highway

Description

A highly suspenseful story of greed, betrayal and murder, 'The Lost Highway' signals a thrilling new direction for one of Canada s greatest authors. For twenty years, Alex Chapman has been at war with his great-uncle James, popularly known as The Tyrant. Disillusioned and ill-tempered, Alex believes James has destroyed his chances in life when things do not turn out for him. He especially resents his great-uncle for ruining his chance at happiness with his one true love, Minnie, who married another. Alex seems destined never to amount to anything more than an embittered dreamer, until the night he runs into the simple mechanic Burton Tucker. When Burton says he has just sold James Chapman a winning lottery ticket worth thirteen million dollars, Alex immediately knows that his uncle must never see the money. That moment is the beginning of an enthralling mystery and an emotionally shattering tale of a family s passions and betrayals. 'The Lost Highway' is a chilling study of what happens to men and women when moral questions become matters of life and death. A page-turner with great spiritual force, 'The Lost Highway' is the work of a brilliant novelist at the peak of his powers.

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Customer Reviews

David Richards has a formidable talent!
This is probably the saddest and most broody book that I have read in some time. It does start out slow and we delve deep into Alex Chapman's mind and his motives, but about halfway through it picks up quite a bit. By that time Mr. Adams has set the stage for a great psychological suspense book that shows depravity at its very worst. Richards' plot is set in and around an unclaimed winning lottery ticket, and he shows how the thought of a large amount of money can change people's personalities entirely and how it can cause some people to step way over the line. I love the setting in around New Brunswick. It is the perfect place near this lost highway for all kinds of dark and terrible things to happen. I know there are lots of places in Canada that are in decline like this place that Richards has chosen for his setting. Rural Canada has many roads to nowhere and many people that society has forgotten that still live there. This book is a tragedy, but one that I could not put down once I got into it.

2009-10-31 | romonko (alberta canada) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Lost about why it's called the Lost Highway
People always use terms like "moral" and "fierce" to describe this writer, but I'd forgotten how long winded and repetitive he could be. A couple of sections were terribly preachy; his own moral theories badly woven into the story. Worst of all, the main character Alex was portrayed as a small town ethics lecturer, but his thoughts and prejudices were akin to those of a person with half his IQ. In short, an unbelievable character in a sometimes unbelievable story.

Other people and sequences worked a lot better; the incorrigible Leo Bourque, the uncommonly insightful native Canadian police inspector Markus Paul and the breathtaking scene near the end when a 15 year old girl is pursued by two men who wish to drown her.

Particularly in the second half, the book gathered momentum and was really compelling, but at half the size it would have been every bit as effective. It's not that often I spend so much time wondering how clumsily chapters are put together, or why the same points are repeated again and again and the obvious re-stated. I have been spoiled by the sparse writing of Galgut and Coetzee for sure.

2008-06-04 (Melbourne, VIC Australia) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 4

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"For great good a crime might be necessary"
Mirroring the great classics of literature this vast and unwieldy novel of betrayal centers on the winnings of a lottery ticket and those characters that become willingly caught up in an effort to find the elusive receipt and then hopefully cash it in. But what starts out as a rather depressing tale of animosity and bitterness, unrequited love, and all-consuming betrayal, soon turns into a full blown cosmic morality play where stabbings, blackmail, long held family resentments, and even murder provide the overriding themes.

Steeped in a literary flavor that is deeply reflective of the novels of the great Russian classic authors, The Lost Highway begins as the down and out Alex Chapman discovers from the owner of the local service station, Burton Tucker, that his despotic great uncle Jim Chapman has just won thirteen million dollars. Over the years Alex's relationship with his uncle, nicknamed the "the old man" has been fraught with difficulty, both of them warring off and on for twenty years, ever since the boy had left the priesthood under what were called suspicious circumstances.

Living a paltry existence in a small cabin that used to be the old man's icehouse, Alex plots and plans and ruminates on his failed life even as he's certain he's going to be kicked out of his ramshackle him. With old Jim Chapman also intent to write him out of the will, Alex is positive that his Uncle's enmity for him originates from along with his long-held dislike of Alex's father, mainly because of how he treated Alex's long-suffering mother.

As The Lost Highway opens, both uncle and nephew are embroiled in a "brutal infantile tit-for-tat." Alex has tried to live a life both fair and honest, yet he's never got ahead. Jim Chapman, however, sees his nephew as an unadulterated failure that has done his best to ruin the family fortune. Haunted by the painful death of his mother, and with few expectations, Alex begins to obsess over this money that he considers is just too much for an enemy like Jim Chapman.

To let Chapman have his winnings would be the end of Alex's life. He would never be able to live down Jim's hubris, nor would he be able to crawl back. But there is also another consideration - that of the love of his life, Minnie Patch. So with ideas twirling around in his mind like a windstorm, his life with Minnie like those of unrequited lovers, Alex hangs onto the hope that somehow Minnie really still loves him. He plans to steal the lotto ticket, from his uncle, the tyrant, to keep her respect. But Minnie has married Sam Patch, and the only way that Alex can guarantee that Minnie will come back to him is to use the moment to entice her.

If Alex could somehow get this money, he would do far more good with it than his uncle who has lost himself in anger of his failed plowing company, and Minnie might just come back to him. It is this dilemma that is central to this somewhat overwrought novel that is peppered with drunks and scabs, the characters mostly hard-noised and poverty stricken, forever damaged and always bereaved. These are people who have faced their fair share of life's hard knocks.

Alex is a man who had planned to save money, to have things in his own life, and to be happy, but it isn't until he reconnects his arch childhood nemesis Leo Bourque who knows a secret, something Alex had done to the Jim Chapman's company a year ago, that Alex - and consequently Leo - are set on a path towards self destruction.

This is indeed a powerful novel, full of misery and poverty, but often the narrative goes in circles, the author more concerned with espousing his complex philosophical views on religion, morality, and faith than propelling the story forward. A compendium of destiny and a well-crafted meditation on the human condition, The Lost Highway works as a complex portrait of a vast and rapacious ego with unchecked moral compass that ends up justifying to a horrible act, but it is also a novel that often sinks under the weight of it's own repetitiveness and self-importance.

With a plot that revolves around a dead body and a teenage girl who knows what is at a stake regarding the thirteen million dollars, life for Alex and Leo comes to a devastating climax in an ending that is riddled with a type of bitter irony. The aftermath of a violent act and the total sum of all Alex's plans and ambitions end up coming to the single sentence: "You have done what you have done." Mike Leonard April 08.

2008-04-22 | MikeonAlpha (Silver Lake, Los Angeles, USA) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 3

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