Review by Blessy07 -- Noah by Gary Hope
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Blessy07
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- Latest Review: Noah by Gary Hope
Review by Blessy07 -- Noah by Gary Hope
[Following is a volunteer review of "Noah" by Gary Hope.]
The novel ‘ Noah - Trying to Forget Lost Love ’ by Gary Hope is quite literally reflective of the title. This is the story of a man’s life in the aftermath of falling in love with two women. Noah, the main protagonist and a witty columnist for a local paper, falls in love with Dorothy, a park ranger from Canyonlands National Park. However, simultaneously, he harbours a love for an online persona named Ana whom he has never met. Believing a possibility that both women are in fact, one person, he ultimately destroys his bonds with both characters. Of course, both women are in fact, the same person, that is, Dorothy, but her insecurity about her own self is a crippling hurdle in their union. This novel captures the emotional struggle that the characters in this novel face in the aftermath of this lost love.
The enjoyable elements of this novel include the comedic wittiness of Noah’s character, captured through his work as a columnist responding to questions in the newspaper. For example, when asked why he hates golf, he responds with: “I don't hate golf. In fact, golf is fascinating to me. An interesting thing about golf is that no matter how badly you play, it is always possible to get worse. Fascinating!” The author also has a very detailed style of writing and captures the personalities of each of his characters distinctly.
However, there is also much lacking in this novel. The entirety of the novel is clouded in ambiguity due to the simple fact that nothing much happens. I believe that the author has the potential to truly delve into his characters further and capture emotions beyond a surface level, as thus far, each of his characters, as stated before, have a distinctive personality. However, none of these characters are likeable at all. Noah’s attachment to these women appears primarily superficial and without any realistic sincerity. In the mountains in Moab, Noah seems to touch on some of these emotions about these women but again, the author does not delve deeply enough into them to engage or convince the reader. We barely get to touch on the interiority of the minds of the characters enough to care about the characters. The novel follows the twists and turns in the lives of these two characters as they yearn for each other from afar, facing misunderstandings, deceptions and their individual hurdles which stand in the way of their reunion.
I rate this novel 1 out of 4 stars. The introduction of the story is a little abrupt and fast paced, skipping the conflict which led to the loss of these ‘women’ from his life and leaving much to be wondered by the reader. It simply says: “Then, one fateful day, Noah had almost convinced himself that Ana and Dorothy could be, might be, had to be . . . the same person. He tried to prove that point but failed miserably. Almost immediately after his failure, Ana stopped emailing him and Dorothy transferred to Death Valley National Park in California.”
The depiction of Noah can also be a little unrealistic in many aspects such as his apparent appeal with women, which does not come through to me as a reader, along with the fact that there is no questioning of his morality when he believes himself to be in love with two women. The narrative voice of this novel can sometimes create a monotonous performance because you feel as though you are simply reading the actions of the characters, and therefore, feel rather robotic in the act of reading about their mundane lives rather than actually being immersed in the story.
I believe that a work of fiction should ‘show’ rather than ‘tell.’ However, this novel very much relies on the act of ‘telling’ the reader everything, and thus fails to create any sort of impact. The novel appears to be a stretched out depiction of a lot of mundane events in the daily lives of each characters, intertwined with their emotional struggle regarding this lost love. However, this emotional struggle is not explored on a level with enough depth. I personally would not recommend this novel to readers.
******
Noah
View: on Bookshelves
The novel ‘ Noah - Trying to Forget Lost Love ’ by Gary Hope is quite literally reflective of the title. This is the story of a man’s life in the aftermath of falling in love with two women. Noah, the main protagonist and a witty columnist for a local paper, falls in love with Dorothy, a park ranger from Canyonlands National Park. However, simultaneously, he harbours a love for an online persona named Ana whom he has never met. Believing a possibility that both women are in fact, one person, he ultimately destroys his bonds with both characters. Of course, both women are in fact, the same person, that is, Dorothy, but her insecurity about her own self is a crippling hurdle in their union. This novel captures the emotional struggle that the characters in this novel face in the aftermath of this lost love.
The enjoyable elements of this novel include the comedic wittiness of Noah’s character, captured through his work as a columnist responding to questions in the newspaper. For example, when asked why he hates golf, he responds with: “I don't hate golf. In fact, golf is fascinating to me. An interesting thing about golf is that no matter how badly you play, it is always possible to get worse. Fascinating!” The author also has a very detailed style of writing and captures the personalities of each of his characters distinctly.
However, there is also much lacking in this novel. The entirety of the novel is clouded in ambiguity due to the simple fact that nothing much happens. I believe that the author has the potential to truly delve into his characters further and capture emotions beyond a surface level, as thus far, each of his characters, as stated before, have a distinctive personality. However, none of these characters are likeable at all. Noah’s attachment to these women appears primarily superficial and without any realistic sincerity. In the mountains in Moab, Noah seems to touch on some of these emotions about these women but again, the author does not delve deeply enough into them to engage or convince the reader. We barely get to touch on the interiority of the minds of the characters enough to care about the characters. The novel follows the twists and turns in the lives of these two characters as they yearn for each other from afar, facing misunderstandings, deceptions and their individual hurdles which stand in the way of their reunion.
I rate this novel 1 out of 4 stars. The introduction of the story is a little abrupt and fast paced, skipping the conflict which led to the loss of these ‘women’ from his life and leaving much to be wondered by the reader. It simply says: “Then, one fateful day, Noah had almost convinced himself that Ana and Dorothy could be, might be, had to be . . . the same person. He tried to prove that point but failed miserably. Almost immediately after his failure, Ana stopped emailing him and Dorothy transferred to Death Valley National Park in California.”
The depiction of Noah can also be a little unrealistic in many aspects such as his apparent appeal with women, which does not come through to me as a reader, along with the fact that there is no questioning of his morality when he believes himself to be in love with two women. The narrative voice of this novel can sometimes create a monotonous performance because you feel as though you are simply reading the actions of the characters, and therefore, feel rather robotic in the act of reading about their mundane lives rather than actually being immersed in the story.
I believe that a work of fiction should ‘show’ rather than ‘tell.’ However, this novel very much relies on the act of ‘telling’ the reader everything, and thus fails to create any sort of impact. The novel appears to be a stretched out depiction of a lot of mundane events in the daily lives of each characters, intertwined with their emotional struggle regarding this lost love. However, this emotional struggle is not explored on a level with enough depth. I personally would not recommend this novel to readers.
******
Noah
View: on Bookshelves
Latest Review: Noah by Gary Hope
