In theory not every cult is a commune and not every commune is a cult, but in reality the difference between the two can be minute enough to vanish into details and semantics. Which worked for me, because this is technically a novel about a commune, but one that certainly seems like a cult. And I do love a good cult story.
Pastoral is the idyllic lifestyle of those disenchanted with mainstream life. Pastoral is a word whispered by a mother of a missing daughter to the man hired to find her. Pastoral is a place conceived with the best of intentions in the 1970s when such things were in vogue, a commune of likeminded individuals intent on living a simpler life away from the loud world. In this novel all the roads lead to Pastoral. It’s the getting out that’s difficult. So once upon a time a man named Theo was hired to find a woman named Maggie St. James. Theo, singularly qualified for the task, is a psychic, able to find a trail when all others have given up. It has been five years, after all. Maggie had her reasons for vanishing, her popular line of children’s book deemed too dark by many has apparently inspired some violence, there was a certain level of infamy one might want to get away from. Theo traces Maggie to Pastoral’s boundary, a place that has given no evidence of existing for ages and then…fade to black. Come into the light and zoom in on Pastoral. Still very much in existence, albeit much, much has changed since the passing of the original leader. From here on out it’s pretty much a fictionalized account of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, an out of time community terrified of the woods surrounding them. The main characters in these chapters are Travis and Calla, integral members of the community who begin to ask questions and challenge the new leader and the new order of things. A dangerous thing to do in general and especially in a cult. And you know what they say about matches and fire. So that’s essentially the novel. I do hope I’ve made it sound interesting, because it is, but you know how I said I love a good cult story…where here’s why this isn’t a great one. The book is the author’s adult debut and had I not known this, I might have guessed it. There’s something about the writing that reads like upgraded YA. The contents are perfectly adult, but the writing itself…the short sentences, the repetitions for emphasis, the hyperbolic quality, the way every other statement is made to sound like a revelation and a certain hyped up dramatic quality. AM I explaining this right? Essentially it reads like every other line is an exclamation. You know, like a certain terrible texting technique that seems so popular. And the thing is the story is dramatic enough without any of it. There’s basically just a surplus of emphasis. Also…don’t read the next paragraph if you haven’t read the book. Also, the use of hypnotic powers is done as if by someone who learned all about it from watching Now You See Me movies. I mean, it just doesn’t work like that, it isn’t magic. Then again, the novel presupposes psychic powers, so why not this too. Ok, we’re back. So anyway, not a perfect novel, but a perfectly good one. I was entertained, I liked the twist, however credulity testing it might have been. I liked the ending too. So yeah, this was a fun read. Ideally in the future the author will tone down the hyperexcited narrative thing. Anyone interested in cults/communes is going to want to check this out too. Thanks Netgalley.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2023
Categories |