Drowning People Abridged

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Summary: The Drowning People
Review: I loved this book and could hardly put it down. The importance of maintaining personal integrity was the dominating theme. Also, the author illustrates through the lives of his characters how each choice we make can determine the whole entire course of the rest of our lives...even something as insignificant as choosing which socks to put on in the morning! The story was emotionally draining, as would be expected of a tragedy. But the writing was beautiful. Richard Mason has a beautiful command of the English language. I enjoyed reading this book as much for the aesthetic experience as to find out what was going to happen next in the character's lives. I am eagerly awaiting more works from this promising young (22 year old) British author! However, I will take in some lighter reading in the meanwhile!

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Summary: [e-mail]
Review: I started this book last night (thank God it was saturday!) around 9pmish and finished it at 4:30 this morning! WOW I loved it. I read it based on a friend's recommendation, I did not really see it as a 'thriller mystery' but as one reveiwer remarked, more in line with 'wuthering heights." What i found so incredible was the author's level of depth and insight on the importance of owning one's mistakes, and the equal importance of forgiveness, not on a religious level,but on a healing one. His insights from a 70 year old man, reflecting on his past and how the mistakes we make and how we react and respond to them make up the lives we live, was incredibly instructive about life. one reviewer compared this book to mary higgens clark, and sidney sheldon. Their books are formula cr** in my opinion, this book offered so much on so many levels beyond just a well constructed plot. I am an avid reader, and writer, and a professional person - and if found this book to be up there with the best i have read. I can hardly wait for what Richard Mason may come up with next. Thanks for a great read.

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Summary: A Big Disappointment
Review: The blurb on the cover of this book compared it to "Rebecca." This contrived, pretentious piece of fluff can't hold a candle to Daphne du Maurier's work. The characters are poorly drawn, the plot is completely implausible and ludicrous descriptions like "the fine bones of her neck...showing clearly through her pale skin" (what's he referring to? her vertebrae?) had me laughing at things the author clearly didn't intend to be funny. The book keeps building up to these big "revelations" which turn out to be just plain boring. I'm sure when the author turns 30 and looks back on this book, he is going to be completely embarrassed.

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Summary: Drowning in Hack Writing
Review: Regardless of its oft-mentioned "startling opening sentence," Richard Mason's "The Drowning People," soon bogs down in a muddled mess of cliches, sophomoric plot devices and a sense that the author never really gets around to telling the story that has been promised. As a mystery, the book stumbles through a plot hobbled by static characters and (sadly) foreseeable developments in its story line. About midway through this tired mess, it becomes clear that rather than looking to follow a clever, or even interesting line of mystery, the author is content to clumsily try to articulate his views concerning heterosexuality. I found myself gritting my teeth as I finished this book, frustrated as much with its lack of substance and intelligence as I was by the blathering accounts of praise that its review pages were laden with. Save the $ and go read your favorite "Hardy Boys" again.

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Summary: A Disappointment
Review: I believe that I may be the only person not to like The Drowning People, but I believe that my reasons are, well, within reason. The plot for this story was predictable once the initial shock of protagonist James Farrell's confession was taken in; one need not even be a fan of PBS Mystery to guess the probable motivations of any of the characters, once they have been introduced. I thought that perhaps I would try to read the book for the style itself, but I found it utterly dry, pretentiously executed, and singularly uninvolving. His characters were not of any real consequence; I couldn't care less what happened to them, in the way they were written about and described. This young man writes like an English F. Scott Fitzgerald, but without the lesson and as though he was performing a trick of youth rather than creating a true piece of literature. I hope he makes a contribution to the Arbor Foundation, as I found this book a regrettable waste of paper.

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Summary: Boring
Review: The book is boring, the plot is trite, the prose is dull, the characters are uninteristing, the setting is confused. Apart from the first few pages the book totally lacks of suspence and could have been written in one third of the words the author used. I don't see any reason to anticipate a great literary future for Richard Marson.

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Summary: A LOOK AT THE THE DARK SHADOWS BENEATH THE RAYS OF LOVE...
Review: For the first attempt by a novice , 'The Drowning people ' is a definite winner!Its a fresh view of a murder _ from the murderer's point of view...Richard Mason has painted a vivid picture of the main characters -James & Ella... & Eric - they linger on in the mind long after u put the book down...Its a must-read -not just for the sheer pleasure but because it gives an insight into how small seemingly insignificant acts can change the winds of our life & blow us off our chosen path into the path of destruction...how every action does have an equal & opposite reaction... someday somewhere u pay for your sins...I think Richard Mason has a lot of potential & look forward to reading his future literary attempts!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: When I started this book I only had time for short bouts of reading. I decided to put it down until vacation so I could really get into it. It is a fabulous, well written mysterious book. I am going to share this one with all my reader friends. Move over Sidney Sheldon and Mary Higgins Clark!

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Summary: Excellent First Novel
Review: I did like this story emmensely. It was one of those books that I picked up mainly out of curiosity. The plot was twisted and suspense built well. This may be a picky issue, but his use of semi-colons throughout the entire novel was highly annoying to me. There was no need for it, and I found myself grinding my teeth after awhile because they were like visual speed bumps. But the story itself is entising and kept me intrigued. No matter what page I was on, I always wanted to continue. I highly recommend it.

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Summary: Unusual but satisfying
Review: A suspenseful first novel from a young new voice, this book gripped me with the very first sentence. That Mason has an exceptional command of the English language is evident throughout the book. There are no glaring grammatical errors as are found so often in many of the more recent books I have read. I enjoyed the story but some of the musings and ramblings of James Ferrell became tedious after a time and I found myself skimming over some long passages describing his internal conflicts regarding right and wrong, love and hate, and good and evil. Still, the first person narrative was effective. It was an entertaining as well as thought-provoking story.