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Title: Avoidance: A Novel by Michael Lowenthal ISBN: 1-55597-367-1 Publisher: Graywolf Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (9 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: don't avoid reading this one
Comment: "Avoidance" is a sensitive and for the most part, very well-written story which explores the topics of sexual abuse, ostracization and brotherhood. The narrator is a college intern at summer camp for boys - which he also attended and which had a marked impact on his development. He is also doing a project on the Amish and their practice of "shunning." Both worlds are depicted in a perceptive and non-condescending manner. Even the topic of sexual abuse is given more shading than one might expect. No fingers are pointed or lines drawn between good and evil. The reader is left to draw conclusions for him or herself.
Only one thing tended to jar the rhythm and tone; in parts the language was almost too elegant. Characters did not say hello, they "tendered" hello; they did not wear braces but "sterling latticework." Coupled with the slangy dialogue of the young characters, this was an awkward juxtaposition for me, as reader.
Still, I would highly recommend this novel. It goes far beyond the typical "troubled youth/wise mentor" theme so many authors choose to explore.
Rating: 3
Summary: Provocative and Disturbing but Worthwhile
Comment: Since Michael Lowenthal's first book The Same Embrace was enjoyable, I assumed the same would be true for Avoidance. Warning: Fans of The Same Embrace will not find a similar work in Avoidance. People who saw great promise in the writing of The Same Embrace will see this promise being taken one step further in Avoidance. Lowenthal is a writer who challenges and respects his readers and allows the reader to draw conclusions without being judgmental.
I thought it would be a typical coming out/coming of age story. The book is anything but typical. It tells the story of Jeremy Stull, an adult who still relives the memories of summer camp-the same summer camp he attended as a child and now is a staff member as an adult. Jeremy seems to be struggling in life. Though the reader can assume that he is gay, he has had relationships with some women and a man, but the encounters are rare so he is probably best categorized as questioning. His life is challenged when he becomes infatuated with a young, troubled boy at the camp. He deeply wants to have an intimate relationship with the young man, and is jealous of the director who seems to also be interested in the boy. He has to put his feelings on hold when he learns that the camp director, a victim of sexual abuse himself, abuses the boy. Jeremy realizes just how close he came to actually committing the same crime.
The plot of the story is challenging to the reader. Homophobic people could see it as proof that gay men are attracted to young boys, but a careful reader would not come to such a conclusion. The book really deals with the complications that can arise when healthy boundaries are crossed and how at times, the consequences can be devastating for all people involved.
Lowenthal makes his readers think and challenge preconceived ideas regarding sexuality and attraction. His book can also be a warning about how we form relationships and what can happen when relationships go awry. Though not a major theme in the book, we also see what a gift the trust of a child can be, even if the child is not the easiest child to like, and the consequences of what happens when trust is destroyed.
Rating: 3
Summary: Beautiful Writing, Disturbing Tale
Comment: I eagerly picked up a copy of Avoidance at the recommendation of a friend. After reading the book flap, I knew I wasn't in for a light-hearted romp, but I wasn't prepared for the heaviness of Michael Lowenthal's second novel.
Jeremy is a 28-year-old man working on his post-graduate thesis, a study of the Amish custom of shunning. His true passion, however, is Ironwood Summer Camp, where he spent his childhood summer and where he found his true sense of family after the death of his father. Jeremy now works at the camp as assistant director and he spends the cold months of winter longing for summer so he can return to Ironwood. Lowenthal uses Jeremy's study of shunning powerfully, illustrating and paralleling the social structure of the camp.
When Jeremy finds himself attracted to a fourteen-year-old lost soul named Max, he is disturbed and frightened. When Max confides in him that he has been molested by the camp director, it stirs up many issues and buried memories that Jeremy isn't sure he's ready to deal with.
All of the denizens of Lowenthal's world feel real, and even the secondary characters are fully realized. His writing is evocative and beautiful. There's no doubt that he is a great talent in the world of gay literature. I found I couldn't put the book down...even when I wanted to - which was the problem. The story is so dark and depressing that I really didn't want to finish it, but I just couldn't stop reading. The ending was very disappointing for me. Jeremy seems to be hell-bent on being a martyr and it left me feeling very unsettled and unsatisfied. I was haunted and depressed for days after reading this book.
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Title: The Same Embrace by Michael Lowenthal ISBN: 0452279755 Publisher: Plume Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Through It Came Bright Colors by Trebor Healey ISBN: 1560234520 Publisher: Southern Tier Editions/Harrington Park Press Pub. Date: 05 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Latter Days : A Novel by C. Jay Cox, T. Fabris ISBN: 1555838685 Publisher: Consortium Pub. Date: 15 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Rainbow High by Alex Sanchez ISBN: 0689854773 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Leave Myself Behind (Alex Awards (Awards)) by Bart Yates ISBN: 0758203489 Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation Pub. Date: 01 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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