Official Review: The River Flows On by Ivan Watson
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Official Review: The River Flows On by Ivan Watson
The River Flows On is a realistic-fiction novel by author Ivan Watson. The novel explores the always-drifting life of Jason Allicock. Born in Guyana, Jason flees a career working on the river. He leaves every time he begins to settle into a new life; he abandons his parents, his friends, and several romantic partners. Eventually, his wandering leads him to Brooklyn. There he finds himself at the shores of another river. Meanwhile, Joan flees an unhappy marriage and also journeys from the Caribbean to America.
My favorite part of this book was the descriptive style that completely immerses the reader in the culture of the Caribbean. For example, here is a description of food Jason is served: “a meal of cassava bread soaked in pepper pot sauce, with creek water and a piece of lemon served as a beverage.” The dialogue is melodic and contains the cadence of the local patois. I liked the lovely and evocative free-verse poetry that is woven into the story as well. The setting throughout the whole book is rich with vivid detail.
On the other hand, I found the overall structure of the book to be a bit stilted. There are several occasions when the story suddenly jumps into a side character’s point of view before returning to Jason and Joan. The transitions from scene to scene are often stiff. On multiple occasions the author uses awkward "she remembered" or "he reminisced" transitions to introduce flashbacks. I liked the way the author brought Joan and Jason together at several points in the plot, only to have them drift apart like two leaves floating away down a river. Despite that, my biggest dislike while reading was that I felt that Joan's storyline was left unresolved at the end of the book. I also found prolific typos throughout the book. They did not obscure the meaning of the text; however, they were an annoyance.
I would recommend The River Flows On to readers who enjoy books like The Book of Night Women by Marlon James and My Mother’s House by Francesca Momplaisir. I would warn sensitive readers that this book contains explicit descriptions of sex, prostitution, rape, and minor profanities. I would also note that the lack of proofreading impacted my enjoyment of this book slightly.
I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars because its richly realized setting is offset by stilted transitions and many typos. That said, any readers who would like to learn more about life in Guyana will enjoy this book.
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The River Flows On
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