So if I love my story I'll want to maximize its readership (without sacrificing its essence). I can't write for everyone … but the life of a story is its reader. I just hope that, when I'm done, there are more people who lose themselves in the prose than simply get lost. I'm in the middle of writing a novel that could confuse the hell out of people if I don't do my job correctly - there's a lot of flashing back to events in the near and distant past quick switching between characters and perspectives and several story lines.īut since I'm a storyteller, and not merely a writer or "auteur", it's my JOB to make sure most people get it. Or it could be that it was written to confuse.
Now, it could be that these folks really did get it - that you missed _something_ in the book that made it all come together. They hate it because it makes them feel stupid - or the LERVE it to prove to everyone else that - SEE! - they're not stupid. I know too many people who, when confronted with something they don't understand either hate it or LERVE it. If you’ve read The Book of Jonas (which is getting phenomenal professional reviews as well as the aforementioned excellent reader reviews), would you please email me and explain what in the world happened at the end of this book?
The book jumps around between Jonas’ present in America and past in Iraq and also some diary entries from the American solider (although it took me ages to pick up that that’s what they were). He’s going to therapy and there, his therapist, Paul, tries to help him work through what happened to him and how he survived.Īnd it turns out the reason he survived is due to an American soldier who is now missing and the soldier’s mother is determined to find out what happened. He survives and comes to America where his transition isn’t very smooth (read: eventual serious alcoholism). It’s the story of a boy, Jonas, from a Middle Eastern country (presumably Iraq) where his village is destroyed in a US military raid. It’s not that I didn’t like The Book of Jonas, it’s that I just feel like I didn’t get it. Everyone talked about how brilliant this book was, how amazing, how deep, and sophisticated it was. But same story here: seventy-three of which were four or five star ratings.
It had only five reviews on Amazon, four of which were five stars and one with a three star.įeeling a little desperate, I went to Goodreads, where there were 88 reviews. The Book of Jonas was one of those books that sent me straight to read other reviews.Īnd. When I finish a book that just completely perplexes me – one where I have no idea quite what happened or what to think about the plot or ending – I run right to Amazon and look at the reviews to see if I’m alone.
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