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gsatori's review against another edition
4.0
What the hell did I just read? This is one of those times I would kill to be a member of a book club so I could discuss this with someone.
Noel is a flawed and complex character and his voyage of self discovery is a brutal and tragic one, and blackly comic. There aren't any easily likeable characters here. At times, one wonders if Durkee is on a mission to paint the most fucked up people in the universe.
If I had to try and give voice to my thoughts on what this about, I'd say it's about the inability of religion to comfort and encompass the human spirit.
From a reader's point of view, the book rambles on like a corrupt version of something written by John Irving. It is a savage read.
Noel is a flawed and complex character and his voyage of self discovery is a brutal and tragic one, and blackly comic. There aren't any easily likeable characters here. At times, one wonders if Durkee is on a mission to paint the most fucked up people in the universe.
If I had to try and give voice to my thoughts on what this about, I'd say it's about the inability of religion to comfort and encompass the human spirit.
From a reader's point of view, the book rambles on like a corrupt version of something written by John Irving. It is a savage read.
jamesdanielhorn's review against another edition
5.0
Lee Durkee’s Rides of the Midway is highly underrated. Sure, as many reviews and descriptions point out this a solid southern coming of age novel, but it’s so much more. Life and death, love and sex, spirituality and agnosticism, truth and lies, good and evil are all masterfully woven into a commentary on living amidst the societal definitions of masculinity. All of this rolled into a fucked up little book about sex, drugs, and grief. This one will thrum in my mind for a good long while.
dereadergal's review against another edition
4.0
A wild ride that takes the reader through mercy killing, crazed religious fanatics, drug use, a pestering ghost, a failed sex life and more. A great novel that takes a peek at the life of a teenager who's not just merely out of control but in need of some love and direction.
calendric's review against another edition
4.0
Phenomenal sense of place and character. A force of a book - a smooth read and darkly funny.
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