The Odd Sea

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Summary: Only the Presence of his Absence (Spoilers!)
Review: When Philip Shumway disappears one pleasant afternoon, on the way to or from the pond, he pulls all traces of himself after him. The beginning of this sad story rings true enough, with searches, false hopes, the anxiety of the beraved Shumway family, in particular his younger brother Ethan*s fears and hopes. Yet halfway thru the story, after the discovery of one on Philip*s sneakers in the underbrush, the loss begins to seem muted. Philip, even in the sense of his being gone, has less and less an impact to his sisters, his father who takes up woodworking , Ethan, who matures with the help of Philip*s lady friends and builds his own cabin. This may be an accurate picture of how a family would cope with such a loss, yet it left this reader cheated. Grim hints surface and insist on being noticed--a serial killer who is later arrested, human bones found in his possession; mountain lions, though rare, may have passed into the area. Ethan recalls the fantastic story of a beaver pond--the Odd Sea of the title--his father had told them, deriving it from the Oddesy; a name that would become a metaphor for where lost items go. A tiny scene, yet it held this reader more than much of the book. Ethan does speculate on just what happened to his gifted older brother, yet by the end of the novel it was as if Philip had simply stepped outside his story and never bothered to come back or explain why. This may be a more realistic way a family would accept thier loss instead of just obsessing over and over what could have/should be done, only it still remains a big let-down. Real life is ambiguous enough, few endings are happy or even complete, but I expect more from a book. If Philip has reaches his enchanted beaver pond, as even Ethan admits, in a single dazzling verbal drop at the end, THAT is the tale I hope someday to read.

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Summary: An understated and beautiful work of art
Review: I recently closed the back cover of Rick Reiken's novel, The Odd Sea, with chills running over my arms and down my spine. Although the book began in a quiet key, it wasn't long before I couldn't put it down. By the last page, its cumulative effect was heart-breaking, and the conclusion left me with an eerie and frightening sense of just how fragile our existence is. The book is solid, like something made of wood, but has moods and music as well, whether in the somber prose following the older brother's disappearance, or in the excited dialogues following a crucial discovery. In the simple hand of the narrator, Phillip Shumway, the prose is natural and naieve but under that surface Reiken keeps all the elements working--in character, plot, pattern, and so on. The book has great depth, and I was swept into a wonderful first novel.

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Summary: A simple but powerfully eloquent story.
Review: I had the fortune to attend a writer's conference with the author where I read early drafts of the first chapters. Even then The Odd Sea was a novel of simple, but powerful eloquence. Rick Reiken deftly handles his material with a sublime touch that keeps The Odd Sea from slipping into pathos. Though its subject matter deals with the most frightening of scenarios, the disappearance of a child, Reiken does not resort to overt sentimentalism. His narrative is subtle, yet clear. Intense, but gentle. Ultimately, The Odd Sea offers an uplifting message, not about loss, but about survival. This is a novel that should be read.

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Summary: This book is unforgettable. Truly a very moving story.
Review: Eveyone should take the time to read this first novel by Frederick Reiken. He is a truly gifted writer. This novel grabs you from the very start and never lets you go. A very thought provoking work. I loved it.

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Summary: Lives up to the hype and much more
Review: I had heard so much about The Odd Sea and I am happy to report a case in which a book lived up lived up to everything people have been saying. Even the blurbs on the back cover were true. The Odd Sea is such a heartfelt, beautiful, and vividly visualized book that it lingers with you a long time after reading it. Another thing I loved was the book's strong sense of place. The narrator really brings you to the western Massachusetts hill towns. You get to know forests, rivers, meadows, bear dens, mountain lions, sheep farms, seasonal frog pools, wildflowers, birds, stars, and more. A must read!

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Summary: haunting and brilliant
Review: with a beautifully understated voice, the narrator of this novel elicits such powerful emotion and depth of human spirit that i wept constantly while reading it. i read a lot of fiction and lately nothing comes close to the insight and range of understanding present in the odd sea. reiken brings his readers not only into the story, but right into the soul of every one of his characters. overall, a remarkable book and highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Overdramatic prose, generally disappointing perspective
Review: After hearing so many positive things about The Odd Sea, I perhaps began reading it with my expectations too high. But even high expectations generally do not color my impressions. Although the story itself was never tedious, the prose was - overdramatic and definitely not representative of a real teenager. Reiken seemed to really mix his voice, but leaned mostly toward a naturalist Hemingway. That could have worked, but it just didn't. The narrator's family was bizarre, to say the least, and the passages on his father's new passion for timber-framing seemed like overkill. It seemed Reiken had just finished reading a nonfiction account of building a home, such as Michael Pollan's A Place of My Own. Anyway, like Reiken, I seem to be rambling now. In sum - a disappointment.

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Summary: This book will stay with you
Review: The Odd Sea was easily one of the best books I've read this year. I read it in two nights, and the characters stayed with me long after I finished. They felt so real that I feel as if I know them. It's also such an emotionally true story: this is exactly how it feels when someone disappears. The story works on so many levels, as a variant on Homer's Odyssey, as a profound look at loss, and as a deeply healing read. I look forward to the author's next book and I know I will read this book again.

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Summary: I have not disliked a book this much in a long time.
Review: I found the adolescent characters in the "Odd Sea" to be stereotyped and scarcely believable.Eventually the narrators obsession with his brothers disappeareance becomes monotonous and so does the book. The author might have done well to reread"Catcher in the Rye" before trying to present a teenage perspective. We are asked to believe in this super human family where everyone excels in; painting, athletics, poetry, music, carpentry, baking, sexual conquest and intellectual endeavor and than feel a sense of their vulnerability and fragility! The story might have worked if the characters were made a little were just a bit more every day people. I found it a little incredulous when over the course of a summer two teenagers become so adapt at carpentry they cut and trim their own lumber and build a house. I'll take Holden Caulfield any day! He works because he is human and recognizable not because he is super boy. The story might have done better to develop the characters of the parents somewhat more rather than to go into digressions on antique tools and such. I have not disliked a book as much as this in a long time.

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Summary: A gripping, intense account of a family's loss
Review: Frederick Reiken makes an auspicious debut with his novel, "The Odd Sea." Told through the eyes of an adolescent boy, "The Odd Sea" takes its name from Homer's "The Oddessy" which chronicals one mans journey from being lost to returning home. In "The Odd Sea," Mr. Reiken chronicals a family lost by the occurrance of a tragedy and the means they must travel to regain some sort of redemption. In this case, "The Od Sea" refers to a place where people physically and emotionally disappear. Physically, "The Odd Sea" tells the story of Ethan who suddenly disappears one day. Emotionally, the family disappears in a sea of despair as they try to cope with continuing on with their lives. However, disappearing in ones despair impedes the necessity of growth and as for Philip, the narrator, he must not only cope with his brothers disappearance but with the hardships of adolesence as well. One's heart breaks for Philip as he endlessly searches for his brother only to be relieved when he doesn't find him as he believes this is a good sign that his brother will be found. Through Mr. Reiken's succinct and intelligent prose the sense of life and loss are magnificently displayed. His thoughts and images are told in precision and one is reminded of the british novelist, Penelope Fitzgerald. It is quite a feat to consolodate the themes Mr. Reiken tackels in a mere 201 pages. "The Od Sea" is at once a tender heart-filled story that is also disturbing which lingers on in ones mind. Mr. Reiken's future novels will be eagerly anticipated.