In the Wake of the Boatman by Jonathon Scott Fuqua
Age: Adult
The first scene of the book opens up to a young man turned away from military service because of a bum knee, filled with a strange desire to crack his newborn son’s neck, as if to blame him for all the wrongs in life.
This is the start of Puttnam Douglas Steward, his first entrance into the world. From his birth and well into adulthood, Puttman has struggled with his father. Due to a lack of ability to communicate, the two men have a very strained and dysfunctional relationship, even though Carl Steward is able to be the fun loving dad with Putt’s older sister Mary. With a perfect sister, a disapproving father, and an alcoholic mother, Puttnam had to really struggle to create an identity for himself. Despite his questions about his gender identity, Puttnam still manages to achieve academic success in college and further military success when he enlists for the Vietnam War. Being a college graduate and war hero are two dreams his father held, but that never came to fruition for him. Instead of being proud of his son, there is only jealousy and resentment.
In The Wake of the Boatman is a very complex, character-driven novel with beautiful descriptions and well detailed characters. The book is also really heavy on the psychological and emotional ups and downs of Puttnam, which made it hard to read. The book is slightly depressing, so you have to be in a mood for it. Once I got to the second half of the book, I was able to read it with an easier flow. This is the type of book that you can’t stop reading when you start, but once you put it down, are very hesitant to pick it back up, knowing what awaits. Overall, I think this is one of the better written books I’ve read this year in regards to character development and detailed storyline.
In the Wake of the Boatman by Jonathon Scott Fuqua Bancroft Press, 2008 ISBN 1890862428 305 pages Source: Review**************************************
I listened to this book on Audiocd, and it was a lot of fun. The four children are smart, funny and each has their own personality. Reny is the automatic leader, the quick thinker. Sticky memorizes everything he reads in an instant, but is shy and fidgety. Kate is a girl who carries around a bucket of tools and has a keen sense of perception when it comes to judging distances. Constance is incredibly short, stubborn and falls asleep a lot. The four of them work together well as they navigate their way through the LIVE and try to uncover the truth. They survive through the infamous waiting room, discover the whisperer and still have to deal with bullies at their school, all the while transmitting their findings in morse code to their partners on the shore.
This urge for knowledge was stunted by the many obstacles in his life. Having suffered through the tragic famine that struck Africa in 2002, William’s parents became desolate and unable to pay for William’s secondary school tuition fees. Although a dropout, William was determined to continue with this education by frequenting a small library near the school. There, in the small room where three shelves filled with books in no logical order, not by subject, author or genre. While digging through these books, William managed to pull out the books about science and soon began his studies for the biggest project of his young life.
The book is set up to tell two stories; one of Sweeney and his quest to find a cure for his sleeping son, and the second tells the story of a group of circus freaks lead by their small and fearless leader, Chick the chicken boy covered entirely in feathers and Bruno the strongman. Although they begin as separate stories, they do eventually overlap and bleed into each other. Both story lines are dark and eerie and very much set up like a comic book, only without the illustrations. This was one of those weird books that I couldn’t put down when I was reading it, but once I did put it down I didn’t want to pick it back up again.
TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
I don’t want to recap the plot of Pride and Prejudice, because even with zombies, the plot is still exactly the same. My book club members agree that Elizabeth was well ahead of her time as a character, strong-willed and unconcerned about marriage and end-all to a happy life. Its no wonder so many women adore the story line, its full of twists and turns. I love that Jane Austen did not inflicted the boring love-at-first-sight theme on Elizabeth and Darcy, but rather gave them a large number of obstacles and challenges to overcome. I think that is a more realistic approach to how a relationship is formed between two people. Even though Jane and Mr. Bingley had their challenges, it was still a pretty predictable match.
In and out of Kitty’s life is her mysterious cousin Angela. Angela, the mystery, the tornado crashing through Kitty’s life every now and again played a significant role in shaping Kitty’s perspective of herself and her family. There are a handful of characters that make up the sum of this book, and all of which are entertaining and pure. By pure, I mean that they do not feel forced, and they are a natural representation of everyday people. Nothing annoys me more in a book when all the characters are always insightful and witty. The world is not always that intelligent.
