Review by jen86lauren -- McDowell by William H. Coles

[jen86lauren]

[Following is a volunteer review of "McDowell" by William H. Coles.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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McDowell by H Coles William follows the life of Hiram McDowell and his family throughout Hiram’s downfall from success. When we first meet Hiram, he is a successful surgeon, philanthropist and mountain climber. To the outside world he is a shining star, but Hiram is selfish, lacks empathy, and sees himself above everyone, including the law. This leads Hiram to make some bad decisions and he is forced to deal with the consequences. Hiram has to start his life over and we follow his journey of self-discovery as he rebuilds his life and works to share his story.

At the time of his fall, Hiram’s children are just coming into adulthood. Ann, Sophie, and Billie all have their own lives and problems. Hiram tries to help them in his way, as any parent would. Hiram’s special flavor of helpfulness can make things harder for his children, especially as his world falls from under him. Whether Hiram McDowell is a ruthless villain or a well-meaning man, with good intentions gone awry is for the reader to decide.

There was not anything about this book that I disliked. My favorite part of the book was the summaries at the end of the chapters. They tied up all the loose ends in a nice little bow and kept things from getting too confusing, since there is so much going on in this book. I also loved the inclusion of so many controversial and big ideas in this book. With euthanasia, bisexuality, teenage pregnancy, school shootings, religion, and non-profit corruption all covered; there is no shortage of discussion topics to come out of this book.

I rate this book a 4 out of 4. The writing was fantastic. William’s writing style is as simple as it can be while not lacking anything. The editing was superb. This has got to be my new favorite book. When McDowell is writing his memoir, he struggles with what makes art, his book specifically, great. Is a great book the one that makes you ponder the “big ideas”? Is a great book the one that holds up a mirror for the reader to see something more in themselves? Or is a great book the one with the best life lessons? To me a great book is all of these and more. I qualify a book as great if I feel that I can keep re-reading it and discovering something new in the same pages. If I can read a book and love it, but feel that it has even more to give I would say that it is a great book. After reading McDowell in an electronic format, I tracked down a paper copy of the book. I will read it at least once more, but I think that it will become a close friend.

I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It is not a long book, but it covers so much. I think that anyone that is looking to spark a discussion would benefit the most from this book. Anyone that wants to think deep, question their own views on things, or just enjoy a great book should consider giving McDowell a read.

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McDowell
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[Erin Painter Baker]

What a great review. Not certain if I will pick this up or not, but I think it is wonderful when a book can reach us the way this book obviously reached you.

[Kaylee Elmer]

Great review! I read the book too, and ended up really enjoying it. I thought it started too slow, though, so I gave it 3 stars. I found it amazing that I could hate Hiram so much and still really, really like the book!