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erainbowd 's review for:
The Little Book
by Selden Edwards
My mouse just hovered over the stars above this review box for about a minute, going back and forth between "I liked it" and "I really liked it." Three or four stars? Did I like it or really like it? I settled on liking it.
It's a really engaging read. The main character, Wheeler Burden, is a sort of mythical American man, good at everything every boy wants to be good at. He is son to a man very much like him. That the author manages to make these uber-men seem believable is a great testament to his skill. That he places them believably in Vienna in 1897 through some bizarre time shifting experience is an even greater testament.
Vienna is beautifully and lovingly drawn here, almost a travelogue in time. The specificity of place is an exciting part of the story. It also, for me, was where the story got a little gimmicky. One conversation with Freud about his theories was interesting, an opportunity for the modern man to argue with the father of psychoanalysis. The second was less interesting and by the third, I just didn't care anymore. That travelogue feeling could get a little ridiculous, too. "And look who else is here! It's Mahler! And here's Adolf Hitler as a child! And Mark Twain!" And our modern man touches in with all of them. It's a little like Lifestyles of the Famous in 1897 with our host, Wheeler Burden.
But all that aside, the story is well crafted and touching. The characters manage to retain their humanity through very dramatic events and I had a very hard time putting it down. I loved the way the story bent time and highlights the circles of lifetimes. There's real beauty in that.
It's a really engaging read. The main character, Wheeler Burden, is a sort of mythical American man, good at everything every boy wants to be good at. He is son to a man very much like him. That the author manages to make these uber-men seem believable is a great testament to his skill. That he places them believably in Vienna in 1897 through some bizarre time shifting experience is an even greater testament.
Vienna is beautifully and lovingly drawn here, almost a travelogue in time. The specificity of place is an exciting part of the story. It also, for me, was where the story got a little gimmicky. One conversation with Freud about his theories was interesting, an opportunity for the modern man to argue with the father of psychoanalysis. The second was less interesting and by the third, I just didn't care anymore. That travelogue feeling could get a little ridiculous, too. "And look who else is here! It's Mahler! And here's Adolf Hitler as a child! And Mark Twain!" And our modern man touches in with all of them. It's a little like Lifestyles of the Famous in 1897 with our host, Wheeler Burden.
But all that aside, the story is well crafted and touching. The characters manage to retain their humanity through very dramatic events and I had a very hard time putting it down. I loved the way the story bent time and highlights the circles of lifetimes. There's real beauty in that.