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3.15 AVERAGE
3.15 AVERAGE
I love Scott Spencer. Ever since I discovered "Endless Love" (not the movie -- which is terrible, but the book -- which is breathtaking), I have looked forward to reading every single thing this author writes. I can count the number of authors I feel this way about on one (well, maybe two) hands. And "Man in the Woods" does not disappoint. Spencer has an incredible way of making you fall in love with his characters. They are perfectly flawed...authentic, passionate, and mostly good. He does, in this novel, what I hoped to do in "Two Rivers"...that is, to make the reader understand how a good man can come to do a horrific thing. And he succeeds. Throughout the entirety of this novel, my heart aches for Paul and and all that he stands to lose if he is found out. And never mind the knockout ending.
I just finished this book last night. The characters have been with me ever since. Probably my favorite Scoott Spencer novel,
(If you count something that happens in chapter two a spoiler, then this review contains spoilers.) In chapter two, a free-spirited carpenter named Paul accidentally kills a man while trying to stop him from beating a dog. He panics, doesn’t call the cops and brings the dog home to his girlfriend Kate, the newly successful author of an Eat Pray Love-type memoir. To paraphrase the book, what happens next is the rest of their lives—a crisis of faith for Kate and a possible path to it for Paul. The novel asks (sometimes ham-fistedly) whether we live a chaotic universe or a divinely ordered one—and if it’s the former, is there still room for faith? As someone who believes in God, but not God’s so-called plan, the ideological question alone makes for something of a page turner. Not to mention the thriller plot that forms the book’s architecture, and my concern for that sweet dog. Spencer’s storytelling doesn’t always make sense to me—I’m not sure why we need to dip into as many POVs as we do—but on a gut level, I really loved this book. It’s a story of people (and dogs) lost and found and lost again, the way we all are.
A simple tale that's thrillingly told. Spencer is a crisp and intelligent storyteller and he knows how to inject a haunting yet irresistible sense of dread into a novel. Fans of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter will not be disappointed.
Paul is a man's man, the kind of guy romance novels like to feature. He makes a good living as a carpenter, making beautiful, custom-made pieces for his wealthy clients. He likes to walk in the woods, chop his own firewood and he's a caring partner and nurturing parent. He's with Kate, who found fortune and fame when she wrote an inspirational self-help book after finding God in AA. She's down to earth and so thankful that her life has made such a dramatic turn for the better. Together with Kate's daughter they live in a beautiful old house in a charming and small community in New York.
One day, after a few encounters with difficult clients in the city, Paul stops at a state park on his drive home to clear his head under the trees. There he encounters a man beating a dog. In a horrible, randomly escalating incident, Paul has killed the man and now has to live with the consequences.
Scott Spencer has created complex and realistic characters in both Paul and Kate. They're people who have tried their best to lead lives of honesty and integrity, to care for the people around them, to be contributing members of their community and to love their families, but they're also subject to all of the ordinary doubts and weaknesses of being human. Kate may have a successful career as an inspirational writer and speaker, but she doesn't think she's any more spiritual or knowledgeable than anyone else. Paul thought he'd always just kind of get by, and finding his vocation and such a generous degree of stability is still new to him. The novel is less about the aftermath of a murder than the spiritual and psychological consequences for both Kate and Paul. Spencer took his time setting things up, letting the reader get to know the soon-to-be murdered man, making the altercation less random than it might appear. There is certainly a lot to think about here, and Spencer's less interested in answers than in having the characters struggle with the questions. Can a good man commit murder? How does the events of a few minutes change things? Does a single event negate Paul's entire life of striving for honesty and openness?
One day, after a few encounters with difficult clients in the city, Paul stops at a state park on his drive home to clear his head under the trees. There he encounters a man beating a dog. In a horrible, randomly escalating incident, Paul has killed the man and now has to live with the consequences.
Scott Spencer has created complex and realistic characters in both Paul and Kate. They're people who have tried their best to lead lives of honesty and integrity, to care for the people around them, to be contributing members of their community and to love their families, but they're also subject to all of the ordinary doubts and weaknesses of being human. Kate may have a successful career as an inspirational writer and speaker, but she doesn't think she's any more spiritual or knowledgeable than anyone else. Paul thought he'd always just kind of get by, and finding his vocation and such a generous degree of stability is still new to him. The novel is less about the aftermath of a murder than the spiritual and psychological consequences for both Kate and Paul. Spencer took his time setting things up, letting the reader get to know the soon-to-be murdered man, making the altercation less random than it might appear. There is certainly a lot to think about here, and Spencer's less interested in answers than in having the characters struggle with the questions. Can a good man commit murder? How does the events of a few minutes change things? Does a single event negate Paul's entire life of striving for honesty and openness?
Interesting but drags in some spots. And the ending seemed abrupt.
A deliciously suspenseful novel. I was fully absorbed in each character's perspective.
Paul, who has had a bad day at work, stops at an isolated park to unwind before heading home. The only other person he encounters is a man savagely beating his dog. It can happen.
From the beginning of this book, I strongly identified with Paul who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and wondered what I might have done in such a situation. Although I’ve never read anything by this author before, I will definitely find him again. His writing was gorgeous and the characters completely believable. This would be an excellent book for a book club to discuss.
--Recommended by Ellen
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sman+in+the+woods+spencer__Orightresult__U1?lang=eng&suite=pearl
From the beginning of this book, I strongly identified with Paul who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and wondered what I might have done in such a situation. Although I’ve never read anything by this author before, I will definitely find him again. His writing was gorgeous and the characters completely believable. This would be an excellent book for a book club to discuss.
--Recommended by Ellen
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sman+in+the+woods+spencer__Orightresult__U1?lang=eng&suite=pearl
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-book-308.html
The concept of this book was fantastic, but not well executed. I found the characters a little difficult to identify with, or imagine as real people. The story lacked the fast-paced plot it deserved, and instead had details upon details of unnecessary character development (who cares if Subarus are the "chosen" SUV of lesbians?) The ending needed the character development to really force the reader to question their own judgement of each of the characters though, and challenged perceptions of guilt, judgement, and blame.