Official Review: High'd Up by Dennis James Bartel
Posted: 03 Dec 2019, 15:33
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "High'd Up" by Dennis James Bartel.]
High'd Up by Dennis James Bartel is a novel that takes readers through a journey of self-discovery by James and Emily. However, the journey is laden with many intricacies.
The life of James Meier could be said to be full of chaos and negative vibes. He had tons of issues he was dealing with. His father died of a heart attack, leaving him with a bed-ridden mother. Just before the father’s death, Jame’s mother had a stroke. This was always going to happen as she came from a family with a long history of vascular abnormalities. After his father’s death, with his mum narrowly surviving the stroke, James went back to L.A. Life was hard. He had no real job - no source of income except the little money he made from writing reviews. He was living on alcohol, drugs, and any other substance he could lay his hands on to get “high”. When he is not getting “high” with his friends, he spends time reading about his self-acclaimed role model, Schumann. Meeting Emily at the Blue Angels Air Show and Carnival became a defining moment for him. With James being influenced by Schumann and Emily by Sikhs, how their lives panned out would be seen in the pages of this book.
Just like I mentioned in the first paragraph, High'd Up by Dennis James Bartel is a novel about two people’s journey of self-discovery. However, there are many other thematic elements the author brought to the fore in this book. There’s a psychological approach to this book. Most of the scenarios that played out required that I look beyond the normal to understand them fully. A good example is the conversations James was having with Schumann regularly. They appeared so real that I needed to remind myself that they were imaginary.
There was also the theme of love and romance. In trying to make meaning out of life, James found himself in romantic relationships. The first with Juny, and then with Emily. I could relate to this phenomenon completely. I have been in relationships I didn’t understand what I was doing. They were all in my way of getting to know what I really wanted out of life. If you’ve ever been in this situation, then this novel would appeal to you.
The theme of friendship could also be seen. This was evident in the relationship between James, Juny, and Stace. Regardless of what transpired between James and Juny, the trio still maintained their friendship.
I liked the way the author arranged his thoughts. This was important because this novel had multiple plots. However, the transition from one plot to another was nicely done. Anytime I switch from a particular storyline, I knew I did. I was afforded the opportunity to take some breaks while making a connection between different storylines. This is what I liked most about this book.
I must say that I didn’t quite get the “thrill” I was expecting from this book. I read the description on Amazon and it raised my expectations. The author brought in some stories I felt were irrelevant to the overall message of the book. There was a particular story I couldn’t find any noteworthy connection it had with the overall plot. The story of Domenico Scarlatti in the prologue didn’t quite connect well with the main plot. Maybe the author did that for a reason. However, I couldn’t connect it well to the whole story.
This book seems to be poorly edited. I saw a plethora of typographical and grammatical errors throughout the book. I also was not impressed with the way the author brought in unconnected stories to the novel. It made it a little difficult for me to read. As a matter of fact, this book took me longer than I anticipated. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy stories about love, friendship, and self-discovery.
******
High'd Up
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
High'd Up by Dennis James Bartel is a novel that takes readers through a journey of self-discovery by James and Emily. However, the journey is laden with many intricacies.
The life of James Meier could be said to be full of chaos and negative vibes. He had tons of issues he was dealing with. His father died of a heart attack, leaving him with a bed-ridden mother. Just before the father’s death, Jame’s mother had a stroke. This was always going to happen as she came from a family with a long history of vascular abnormalities. After his father’s death, with his mum narrowly surviving the stroke, James went back to L.A. Life was hard. He had no real job - no source of income except the little money he made from writing reviews. He was living on alcohol, drugs, and any other substance he could lay his hands on to get “high”. When he is not getting “high” with his friends, he spends time reading about his self-acclaimed role model, Schumann. Meeting Emily at the Blue Angels Air Show and Carnival became a defining moment for him. With James being influenced by Schumann and Emily by Sikhs, how their lives panned out would be seen in the pages of this book.
Just like I mentioned in the first paragraph, High'd Up by Dennis James Bartel is a novel about two people’s journey of self-discovery. However, there are many other thematic elements the author brought to the fore in this book. There’s a psychological approach to this book. Most of the scenarios that played out required that I look beyond the normal to understand them fully. A good example is the conversations James was having with Schumann regularly. They appeared so real that I needed to remind myself that they were imaginary.
There was also the theme of love and romance. In trying to make meaning out of life, James found himself in romantic relationships. The first with Juny, and then with Emily. I could relate to this phenomenon completely. I have been in relationships I didn’t understand what I was doing. They were all in my way of getting to know what I really wanted out of life. If you’ve ever been in this situation, then this novel would appeal to you.
The theme of friendship could also be seen. This was evident in the relationship between James, Juny, and Stace. Regardless of what transpired between James and Juny, the trio still maintained their friendship.
I liked the way the author arranged his thoughts. This was important because this novel had multiple plots. However, the transition from one plot to another was nicely done. Anytime I switch from a particular storyline, I knew I did. I was afforded the opportunity to take some breaks while making a connection between different storylines. This is what I liked most about this book.
I must say that I didn’t quite get the “thrill” I was expecting from this book. I read the description on Amazon and it raised my expectations. The author brought in some stories I felt were irrelevant to the overall message of the book. There was a particular story I couldn’t find any noteworthy connection it had with the overall plot. The story of Domenico Scarlatti in the prologue didn’t quite connect well with the main plot. Maybe the author did that for a reason. However, I couldn’t connect it well to the whole story.
This book seems to be poorly edited. I saw a plethora of typographical and grammatical errors throughout the book. I also was not impressed with the way the author brought in unconnected stories to the novel. It made it a little difficult for me to read. As a matter of fact, this book took me longer than I anticipated. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy stories about love, friendship, and self-discovery.
******
High'd Up
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
