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A review by bhnmt61
Ohio by Stephen Markley
4.0
Four high school friends converge on their hometown in Ohio ten years later, from as far away as New Orleans and as close as a few towns over. Each is unaware that the other is headed home. Each has unresolved capital-I Issues.
In a way it’s brilliant— hence the four stars. Markley does an amazing job of recreating high school angst and twenty-something confusion. My high school existence was about ninety percent less interesting than theirs, but I still knew exactly what he was talking about. And there are moments that pierce right to the heart of what it means to be human.
But the novel also suffers from a stiff, self-conscious pretension that doesn’t really go away until well into Stacey’s story, and periodically recurs thereafter. You get the impression that Markley is always aware he is writing a Big Novel.
And there is also a timing problem— he wrote a heartbreaking novel about white male angst and toxic masculinity at the very moment in time when I least want to read it—at least, not from a white male’s perspective. It’s a testament to what a good writer he is that I finished it. Seventy pages in, I was ready to toss it aside.
But it was our book club selection this month, and we have such great discussions that I didn’t want to miss out, so I kept on, and I’m glad I did. There is lots of fodder for discussion. So, I’m giving it four stars and saying it’s worth reading, but right at this moment there may be other books that are better uses of your time.
In a way it’s brilliant— hence the four stars. Markley does an amazing job of recreating high school angst and twenty-something confusion. My high school existence was about ninety percent less interesting than theirs, but I still knew exactly what he was talking about. And there are moments that pierce right to the heart of what it means to be human.
But the novel also suffers from a stiff, self-conscious pretension that doesn’t really go away until well into Stacey’s story, and periodically recurs thereafter. You get the impression that Markley is always aware he is writing a Big Novel.
And there is also a timing problem— he wrote a heartbreaking novel about white male angst and toxic masculinity at the very moment in time when I least want to read it—at least, not from a white male’s perspective. It’s a testament to what a good writer he is that I finished it. Seventy pages in, I was ready to toss it aside.
But it was our book club selection this month, and we have such great discussions that I didn’t want to miss out, so I kept on, and I’m glad I did. There is lots of fodder for discussion. So, I’m giving it four stars and saying it’s worth reading, but right at this moment there may be other books that are better uses of your time.