Wind of Knives

Rating:
Summary: Interesting failure
Review: Imagine encountering the line: "Gifted with integrating intelligence, Arrian synthesized experience as he took it in - he framed the new in the known, reframed the known in the new" in a book centering around an Indiana preacher's son accepting his sexual orientation - homosexual. Place the line in the context of half a book structured as a response to Franny and Zooey by Salinger - response either by the 15 year old ... or the 40 year old he became. Add to this some sloppy thought - confusing the offerings of Cain and Abel. You are now envisioning the better part of Wind of Knives.

However, at the end of the book, especially the scene at the youth leader retreat, or the phone call to his younger brother, you suddenly slip into a well written and interesting book. Unfortunately this is by far the smaller portion of the book.

Rating:
Summary: A BOOK LIKE NO OTHER
Review: What unique writing! You know how thoughts whirl through your head when you read a book? Author STASZEK has captured that sensation in WIND OF KNIVES, a work that fades in and out of focus through marvelous literary technique as thoughts spurred by reading a J.D. Salinger novel expand into autobiography, philosophy, and poetry and back to the book again. The book swirls as thought does, as dreams do, as memory must. Don't be put off by reviews that say it's about the childhood of a homosexual. It's about that and much, much more. It's about the making of a mystic, and certainly the making of a fine American author.

Rating:
Summary: A BOOK LIKE NO OTHER
Review: What unique writing! You know how thoughts whirl through your head when you read a book? Author STASZEK has captured that sensation in WIND OF KNIVES, a work that fades in and out of focus through marvelous literary technique as thoughts spurred by reading a J.D. Salinger novel expand into autobiography, philosophy, and poetry and back to the book again. The book swirls as thought does, as dreams do, as memory must. Don't be put off by reviews that say it's about the childhood of a homosexual. It's about that and much, much more. It's about the making of a mystic, and certainly the making of a fine American author.

Rating:
Summary: A literature that transcends the usual for the unique
Review: Wind of Knives is very unique experience. In a culture where "difficult" is a negative criticism, and where plot lines that dont lead to immediate gratification or entertainment are seen as "too dense," this book bucks expectation and rewards the reader with a variety of points of view and subjects. Staszek sets the bar quite high, processing childhood pain and shame with his hungry heart and soul, and he succeeds. Part of the book is a response--and fascinating at that--to Salinger's Franny and Zooey, and its a very unique form of literary criticism. Part personal essay, part confession, part history lesson, part poem, this book may take more effort than a John Grisham pulp thriller or a Jackie Collins bodice-ripper, but the reward is all the greater. I am reminded of James Baldwin, who also requires--no, demands and deserves--great effort and attention because he's going for my heart full throttle. And like Baldwin's work, this book touched me.

Rating:
Summary: A literature that transcends the usual for the unique
Review: Wind of Knives is very unique experience. In a culture where "difficult" is a negative criticism, and where plot lines that dont lead to immediate gratification or entertainment are seen as "too dense," this book bucks expectation and rewards the reader with a variety of points of view and subjects. Staszek sets the bar quite high, processing childhood pain and shame with his hungry heart and soul, and he succeeds. Part of the book is a response--and fascinating at that--to Salinger's Franny and Zooey, and its a very unique form of literary criticism. Part personal essay, part confession, part history lesson, part poem, this book may take more effort than a John Grisham pulp thriller or a Jackie Collins bodice-ripper, but the reward is all the greater. I am reminded of James Baldwin, who also requires--no, demands and deserves--great effort and attention because he's going for my heart full throttle. And like Baldwin's work, this book touched me.