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zygomatic 's review for:
Goat Mountain
by David Vann
I did like some of the descriptions and writing style (some lines and structure of sentences and paragraphs reminded me of Cormac McCarthy), but many times words don't apply for what is being described. This became frustrating. There are some bad metaphors used as well. Many scenes are overly long (unnecessarily so), causing the story to drag, even though the book is pretty short. The author repeats the same imagery and descriptor words a few times within a couple pages, using the same phrasing each time. The same descriptions of the camp,
Random introspection or the main character forgetting a couple of lines of dialogue also felt unnecessary since these concepts are barely used.
The story itself feels drawn out, like a too-long novella. Reading the acknowledgements at the end of the book, it seems that this novel was based on a short story by the author. Unfortunately, that felt obvious while reading it.
Spoiler
the body, rifle smoke smelling like sulfur, the dead deer's eyes being blue or green galaxies, etc. The religious questions about Cain and Abel at the start of a lot of chapters seem tacked on. The line that makes it clear the main character gets out of the situation early on in the book since he's thinking about the events while pacing his apartment takes a lot of suspense away. Not clearing up what happens with the father, Tom, or the body was pretty lame, but I didn't really care by the end.Random introspection or the main character forgetting a couple of lines of dialogue also felt unnecessary since these concepts are barely used.
The story itself feels drawn out, like a too-long novella. Reading the acknowledgements at the end of the book, it seems that this novel was based on a short story by the author. Unfortunately, that felt obvious while reading it.