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Title: The Coming Storm by Paul Elliott Russell, Paul Russell ISBN: 0-312-26303-1 Publisher: Stonewall Inn Editions Pub. Date: 09 September, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (51 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Another beautiful book from Paul Russell
Comment: Another beautiful book from Paul Russell, but I must say, it does not have the same impact on me as "War against the animals" had.
But it's beautifully written, in the same somewhat melancholy style. I found the subject sometimes a bit disturbing, I mean, an adult having an intimite relationship with a fifteen-year-old. It sets you thinking on the emotional, ethical, cultural and legal boundaries of such love. But I guess that's what
Russell intented to accomplish. But still, despite the real passion that Tracy and Noah have for each other, I think that Tracy should never have allowed their relationship to happen, however difficult it might have been.
I found that the title of the book was omnipresent throughout the whole story; you constantly sense storms coming up, literall storms, and situations and relationships entering a storm. Only Claire, the headmaster's wife seems to stand tall and strong through all storms raging through the lives of the people she loves around her. Strangely enough, she's the only one who gets caught up in the literall storm, that sends her car crashing. A beautiful caracter in this book.
So, to me, a great read. I've purchased Russell's other novels as well. It seems he's rapidly becoming one of my favorite writers.
Rating: 4
Summary: Aspects of desire
Comment: To me this is a story less about the love affair between teacher and student and more about the ways in which its various characters deal with forbidden desire.
Russell does a superb job at making his characters think, speak, and behave realistically. His interweaving of their stories is nothing short of masterly. I appreciated the hopeful, even redemptive ending. My main concern, though, is that Tracy, who for so much of the book seems aware of the ways in which his feelings for Noah are both real and reflections of broader issues within, would so suddenly and irrevocably decide to act on them regardless. Yes, the consummation takes place during a snowstorm over school break when the two are almost completely isolated from the rest of their academic existence. (This is a definite realistic touch, since many people require just such a "safe" circumstance to act on their most hidden urges -- ask anyone who went on college glee club trips. :-) Still, as I thought about it, I realized that within the timeframe of the story this meant that Tracy had waited just one(!) semester before allowing all of those misgivings and reflections to be set aside. I am just not convinced that the Tracy we meet in the first part of the book would really do that, at least not so soon.
I also think the book (and its premise) would have been better served had the relationship between Tracy and Noah been given more time to develop on other levels before the sexual one had been reached. Their interaction is very endearing and it would have been nice to see more of it. It would also have been interesting to more deeply explore the aspects of their relationship after it had become sexual.
Still, all told this is a terrific novel, better than almost anything else out there currently. I am a great fan of boarding-school fiction, especially older British novels in the genre. Russell's book continues the tradition while of course bringing the sexual aspect much more into the open. To his credit, the sex isn't there gratuitously; indeed, Russell uses it as another metaphor. Desire can pierce us, leading to uncharacteristic thoughts and deeds.
One last point: I am glad the author didn't attempt to use the first person narrative voice in depicting the points of view of the different characters, but the constant shift between the third-person narratives was still somewhat distracting. The predictable, regular rotation between the four main players also added to the sense of exposing the literary device. Please, writers, more books that use a consistent voice, whether first-person or third.
Rating: 4
Summary: Interesting characters
Comment: This novel of repression being lived in a New York boarding school may deal with uncomfortable topics, especially sex with a minor. Behind much of the narrative tension the repressed and suppressed desire influences the lives of various people. Noah Lathrop III, scion of a wealthy nation-maker, is a confused and troubled teen-ager. Prone to accidents, he lives without the nurturing attention of parents and family. Tracy Parker, the new teacher, is his idol and his idol is falling in love with him. But this relationship has had a precedent at the Forge School and headmaster Louis Tremper has had an involvement with it. Tremper himself finds he is attracted to Parker and attempts to share with him his love of music.
The storm of the plot gathers and comes to grips during a New Year's Even blizzard that finds repression exploding and brings all the tensions of the characters into direct confrontation. Russell touches on these relationships in a realistic rather romantic manner, but his denouement is somewhat too pat. The deus ex machina ending does not really deal with the effects of the storm.
The art of this novel, however, is the blending of several characters as they move to some transition in their lives. They each touch and change and then move on. In some there is growth; in others only acknowledgment. The threads that are not tied reinforce the feeling that human beings may have a relentless destiny to live out interior forces they do not understand and may continue not to understand. Until the next storm.
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Title: The Salt Point by Paul Russell ISBN: 031226769X Publisher: Stonewall Inn Editions Pub. Date: 09 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Sea of Tranquillity by Paul Elliott Russell, Paul Russell ISBN: 0312303726 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: War Against the Animals: A Novel by Paul Elliott Russell, Paul Russell ISBN: 0312209355 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Latter Days: A Novel by C. Jay Cox, T. Fabris ISBN: 1555838685 Publisher: Alyson Books Pub. Date: 15 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Boys of Life by Paul Elliott Russell, Paul Russell ISBN: 0452268370 Publisher: Plume Books Pub. Date: 01 August, 1992 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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