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Summary: THE IMPORTANCE OF BALANCE IN LIFE...
Review: Modern music composer Philip Glass used a word from the language of the Hopi Indians as the title of one of his most well-known works: KOYAANISQATSI, which means 'life out of balance'. His music was written as the soundtrack to a film filled with an incredible array of images illustrating this concept -- images of a world, a life, out of balance with nature and with itself. In LOVERBOY, Victoria Redel's amazing novel, we can see that concept borne out in the life of a mother whose concepts of love and motherhood are so twisted by her own experiences as a child that what should be one of a child's greatest blessings, a mother's love, is turned into pure obsession -- a smothering, stifling blanket.The woman -- whose name we never learn, we can only think of her as 'Paul's mother' -- has good intentions, and, I believe, does actually love her son very dearly. She herself was brought up as an only child by parents who were so in love with each other that their daughter could only feel excluded from their lives, even during 'family' activities. As she narrates her story, often returning to scenes and memories from her childhood, it's easy to feel the pain of loneliness and the 'cold' love of her parents, who very obviously had not the first clue about raising a child, about the lifelong effects their behavior would have on their offspring. There is a particularly poignant description by the narrator of walking with her parents -- Sybil and Marty, she calls them. Her father strides along the sidewalk, confident and sure of himself -- her mother walks beside him, turned toward him as she walks forward in the same direction, as if she is trying to be closer still. Their daughter trails along behind, feeling ignored to such an extent that she feels she must put on a show, affecting an exaggerated, palsic limp and a twisted facial grimace, so that passers-by will find their attention drawn to her, instead of the loving couple -- her parents -- who walk in front, oblivious to her performance. As Paul's -- 'Loverboy's' -- mother, she strives for as long as she can to keep him separate from other, 'lesser' children -- and he is, to be sure, an intelligent child, possessed of knowledge of many things of which his peers haven't a clue, thanks to his mother's attention to his 'education'. They frequent libraries and museums together, immersing themselves in books of all types -- no subject is off-limits, and his knowledge of things sometimes shocks and surprises others. He can recognize Bach's 'Brandenberg concerto', or a painting by Van Gogh or Degas -- things of which many adults are ignorant. The tension in the narrative increases dramatically as the mother has to work harder and harder to keep him from 'mingling with lesser children'. The onset of his school years fill her with unspeakable dread -- she feels trapped and desperate. As we read this story, we feel that something must inevitably 'give' -- we can feel it coming. Redel's language is shining and luminous. Even the 'rational insanity' (book jacket description) of Paul's mother is, in some ways, understandable -- we can feel empathy and compassion for her. We can feel the terror that exists within her at the thought of turning her child over to the care of others -- even for just the length of a school day. It is Paul's mother's extreme over-reaction to the upbringing she experienced at the hands of her parents that causes her to swing too far in the opposite direction. There are no indications in the story that she -- or Paul -- has suffered any sexual abuse, or physical maltreatment. The way she has chosen to live her life -- especially the narrative describing the process she chose to become pregnant when she decided she wanted a child -- shows us all too clearly that psychological abuse and neglect can be excruciatingly damaging, while never leaving a welt or a bruise as a tell-tale warning sign for outsiders. A very harrowing yet delicately composed and executed story -- moving and powerful, not one I will soon forget.
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Summary: Motherlove and what that means.
Review: Ms.Redel succeeds in creating a world in which the love of a mother and obsessive love seem one and the same. The mother in this novel is so familiar in her feelings and dreams for her child that the reader can not help but to empathize. That is the ride we take as Redel expertly steers us through the familiar into the extreme. This novel is a quick read, almost impossible to put down and will leave you emotionally exhausted in the way great books should. Although its themes are dramatic the novel is infused with great wit and bits of delight; the imagination of the child. Kudos to Ms. Redel on her imagination. A very fulfilling novel in all respects.
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Summary: You've got to be kidding!
Review: So many books utterly ruined by their endings. Here's another to throw on the pile. It's the last few pages that change it from "interesting if seriously flawed" to "How dare you waste my time like that!"
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Summary: a beautiful nightmare
Review: This a brilliant, subtle, haunting book. It's a story about mother love, but not the usual story. Pastel cottons and sentimentality are in short supply; in their place we are offered a psychologically nuanced portrait of devotion and adoration changing slowly, inexorably into obsession, convulsion, destruction. Beautifully written (it's not surprising that Victoria Redel is a poet), it seduces the reader into a world whose elements of nightmare become evident only too late. The main character -- a mother whose love of her child is the central passion in her life -- speaks lyrically and convincingly from the pages. Entering her world, we find ourselves spinning in a psychological landscape ever more grotesque. Except that the spinning is so gentle, so gradual, and the unfolding malignancy so subtly drawn, that we can't quite locate the moment when beloved dream becomes nightmare. It's a harrowing story. It is also -- in it's evocation of the intimacy of mother and child, and in it's close observations of the dailiness of parenting -- enchanting. Parents (at least those who tell themselves the truth) -- will find resonances and echos of themselves. But it's not just a book for mothers, or for parents. It's a book for anyone compelled by the complexities of desire, love, intimacy and responsibility. And it is a book for people delighted by fine writing.
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Summary: Stunning!
Review: This book is a triumph -- beautifully written, controlled prose, fascinating characters. There is simply nothing more that anyone could ask for in a good book. Like Redel's masterful story collection, this novel proves what a stellar, suspenseful writer Redel truly is.
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Summary: A great book
Review: This book was possibly the best book I have ever read. I read it in one day and couldn't put it down. I was startled by the mothers love for her son. But it makes you think does the author have kids, just kidding. A must read,
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary
Review: This is a gorgeous book. As great storytellers often do, Redel has taken the most familiar of topics and turned it into a compelling story that breaks your heart. The writing is so elegant, I was drawn deeply into the story seemingly without effort. And I am a crabby, impatient reader. It's almost impossible to put this book down once you start it, so put aside some time. It is well worth every minute.
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Summary: a beautifully crafted, psychological classic
Review: This is one of the most stunning works of fiction I've read in a long time. Redel tells this story of obsessive maternal love with amazing artistry, bringing the reader intimately inside the experience of passion and madness. Her language is gorgeous, precise, her psychological depiction complex, believable and utterly intense. One can tell the author is also a poet and short story writer, by the tightness and focus of each phrase. Yet how fortunate for us that she has taken her talents to this forum in which she can so fully develop a character who will undoubtedly haunt this literary genre for generations to come. I'd recommend this to anyone with a love of language, or an interest in the ways of the mind and the heart.
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