My Grading System

A+ = Masterpiece (I hold back on this one.) / A = Great. / A- = Really Good. / B+ = Good. / B = Decent (Serviceable). / B- = Flawed but okay (For those times there's something redeeming about the work). / C+ = Not very good (Skip it). C = Bad. / C- = Awful. / F = Complete Disaster (I hold back on this one too).

Note on Spoilers: I will try to avoid ruining a story by going into too much detail. But if I wish to include some revealing points to my analysis I will try to remember to add a separate spoiler paragraph.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Big Machine (Novel) by Victor LaValle

Ricky Rice is a barely recovering junkie who travels to a mysterious, cabin community of other lost souls to research for the voice of God.  So begins an ambitious novel about faith, cults and monsters.   I appreciated LaValle's talent as a writer but I don't know if I bonded to his sense of storytelling.  While he has great insight and wit, I yearned for a clearer plot.  In keeping with a style that's surreal and mysterious he changes point of view a lot.   Then at the end rushes what is a very exciting end with a distracting subplot that's entertaining but inserted in the wrong part of the book.  Ultimately it is a good book with many passages of excellent wordsmithing dragged down by a chaotic second half.  I'll check out another book of LaSalle's someday but I'm hoping for a tighter woven tale next time.  Grade: B.      
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