Closer to the Sun

Rating:
Summary: gadol needs a plot, not a soliloquy, to drive the narrative
Review: Gadol is wonderful at plots but here he aims at a Brahmsian autumnal perspective that moves neither the characters nor the sense of time passing. The metaphor of house construction (renewal from chaos) is too disjointed and the sense of 'completion' (safe from the elements) too distant from the self-absorbed lives of the three protaganists. (They all confront 'loss') Gadol writes the book like a play, but the absence of threat and external horror (other than the weather and iits punishing unpredictability)lessens the tension of the 3 linked lives. The heterosexual love sequence is ludicrous - the 2 male leads (who are strangely unaware of each other's physicality) connect not at all. Gadol is a wonderful, inventive writer when he has a plot to drive - here the plot is reflection and hot Californian sun, and the book gets lost in the heat.

Rating:
Summary: Not enough plot...
Review: I enjoyed THE LONG RAIN, and decided to read Gadol's earlier novel. While the concept of the story is interesting, it is ultimately unsatisfying. There is too much description of "woods" and house-building techniques and not enough plot.I don't feel as though I ever got a handle on Helen.Though THE LONG RAIN is flawed by too much description (this time it's wine-making), the story and characters are better-developed.