Waiting for April: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Books I;ve Read All Year
Review: After finishing Scott Morris' Waiting for April, I was left with the distinct feeling that I had just read work in a writing style that is entirely unlike anything I've read before. It has gusto, with such phrases as the "gauzy noise of night," playfullness, sharp sincereity and an unusual rectitude -- anyway, it was devoid of the gamesmanship I feel in of a lot of pseudo-joyful postmodern writing. I'm really writing this reveiw to respond to the last one I read. I think the writing/language matched the hyped-up nature of the story. And so much happened -- if suicide, murder and false identity aren't enough drama, I'm not sure what would be. I would say more but wouldn't want to give away too much.

Rating:
Summary: Exquisite writing
Review: Even if Scott Morris's story was a dud (which it definitely is NOT), the writing here is so exquisite that it's a pure joy to read. I found myself going back over phrases, sentences, and paragraphs many times, just to enjoy the lyricism of the narrative. There's a literary quality to this work that is rather rare in today's flood of books. Beautifully written with a finely-crafted story. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Modern novel as good as they get
Review: For those of us who finished Mr. Morris's first novel (The Total View of Taftly) with great anticipation of things to come, our patience has been rewarded. Although "April" is not as raucous as "Taftly", it is far more developed... a crystallization of themes only sketched (however artfully) in that novella's pages. Morris has moved from the limitations of that genre's "fiction at a sprint" and has given us a unique study of the traditional, whacked-out Southern family. And unlike "Taftly"... which was all about Taftly, Morris has done the work to not only fully develop a range of central and supporting characters here, but to weave their interactions into a story that is organic - full and true. Within the mystery of Royce Collier's own family history is an almost worshipful study of the Southern woman... the combination of grace and grit that makes her (whether mother, daughter, girlfriend... or aunt) the foundation of a society that is all about its foundation. His description of Roy's dear aunt April is an exegesis of the fact that the influence of a beautiful (and truly cool) southern woman cannot be overstated. It is quite understandable that the novel has been very favorably reviewed in media as varied as the Wall Street Journal and Seventeen magazine - as it weds the startlingly poetic language that made Morris's first novel such a joy with a compelling (and ultimately uplifting) story that rivals any of the day's stylistically inferior best sellers. Buy it, read it, and hold on to it. This one pays dividends on the hot tip that his first novel has proven to be... Thankfully, as I am sure that the copy of "The Total View of Taftly" on my shelf is now the best performing investment I have made over the last two years.

Rating:
Summary: A bit stereotypical for me
Review: I was not comfortable at all with the hinted-at,and sometimes not-so-subtle, images of incest. Seemed like the author was playing on the southern stereotype of family members having, or at least wanting to have, sex with other members of the same family. It was an extremely slow-moving book for the first 300 pages or so with descriptive phraseology that added little to the story. Thus, it failed to keep my interest. Finally, after one of the minor characters dies and leaves a manuscript detailing the history of the main characters, it finally picks up and becomes much more interesting. It ties up most of the loose ends, but honestly it wasn't worth the wait. This is not a book I would find easy to recommend. I was very disappointed in the generalized crudity of it all--particularly since I was led to understand the author is supposed to be a conservative. The primary positive part is I kept picturing Ashley Judd in the main role of April. But that still doesn't make it okay for her nephew to have sex with her even though she is a stunningly beautiful and gracious woman.

Rating:
Summary: Waiting for April...Waiting for Something to Happen
Review: Much ado about _nothing_ sums up this book. Page after page of hints, insinuations, and woeful angst over a climax that is paltry at best. If one of the main characters got a hangnail it would incite tremors of disaster and foreboding for at least 10 chapters. Portions of the story reminded me of Pat Conroy, but Morris doesn't follow through with a truly horrible event that rightfully shapes (or mis-shapes) the characters' lives. Morris moans on in an overly flowerly prose about nothing. Without a good story and cluttered with overworked text, there is very little to recommend about this work.

Rating:
Summary: Waiting for April...Waiting for Something to Happen
Review: Much ado about _nothing_ sums up this book. Page after page of hints, insinuations, and woeful angst over a climax that is paltry at best. If one of the main characters got a hangnail it would incite tremors of disaster and foreboding for at least 10 chapters. Portions of the story reminded me of Pat Conroy, but Morris doesn't follow through with a truly horrible event that rightfully shapes (or mis-shapes) the characters' lives. Morris moans on in an overly flowerly prose about nothing. Without a good story and cluttered with overworked text, there is very little to recommend about this work.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect pitch and fine tension
Review: Scott Morris' novel interested me from the very start with its attention to the interplay of all "classes" -- upper, lower, trucker, not -- in small-town southern families. The is certainly not what the book is about, but it's worth mentioning. Mr. Morris refuses to categorize or go in for trite phrasing and assumption. For instance, the main character, Roy, can prefer the warmth of his aunt and uncle's trailer (over the often cavernous feel of his mother's house) AND subscribe to the New Yorker. Too often I get the feeling that in the attempt to rid Southern fiction of traditional mint&julips-porch romance, writers forget about the complexity of characters inhabiting both/either the "low South" and the new Volvos. Also, the writing in this book is TRULY exquisite.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Story Told Well
Review: This is a wonderful story about a southern family. It is a good yarn that is told well. Nothing more or less.

Rating:
Summary: A fresh intervention into a stately Southern tradition
Review: This striking, confident novel features a mysterious stranger, an unsolved murder, and a hilarious and moving love-trangle that gently parodies Faulkner by way of Vladimir Nabokov. The hero, Roy, is a charmed golden boy who harbors a life-long crush on his gloriously irresistible aunt, the April of the title. Roy's also star half-back on the local high-school football team and a serious fishing enthusiast. He narrates his story in a voice that is both firm and liltingly elegant, a mode that suits this aborbing story of brutal violence and gossamer tenderness. Lots of funny bits, too. Highly recommended.