Review of The Mermaid
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Aida Nuria Montenegro Jerez
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Review of The Mermaid
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Mermaid" by Marc Berlin.]
The process that journalists go through to bring to light a documentary, a report, or a simple article in any newspaper is something that many people find really interesting, and it is precisely about this that this book, The Mermaid by Marc Berlin, is about. In it we follow Mann, a mature man whose monotonous and meaningless life leads him to accept an investigative job on a United States senator who intends to run for president, through which his employer can expose the harsh reality behind the facade of the subject under investigation.
During the development of the story, we also see American society in its maximum splendor (unthinking yokels who vote their politicians depending on whether they like them or not), and the fact that climate change is a reality is mentioned on several occasions. However, and despite the entertaining nature of the story, as well as the beauty of the author's style, there are certain negative aspects that I would like to emphasize below.
On the one hand, as far as the text itself is concerned, I will comment that it constantly calls the protagonist by his name instead of using other nouns and that it has too many punctuation errors, especially at the beginning, which in turn leads me to the conclusion that the edition is mediocre at best.
And, on the other hand, now regarding the story, I must note that the characters are almost completely flat and that they are carried away too much by carnal desire, something that makes the main story almost take a backseat due to the enormous amount of sexual or hot scenes and the sexualization of the female characters, especially the younger ones, something that is clearly seen from the beginning of the book.
Thus, taking into account the enjoyment of reading this story and the style used to create it, but also the errors in the text, the almost non-existent character development, and the constant sexualization (with touches of ephebophilia) shown, I would like to rate this book with three out of five stars and express my desire to read something else from this author because I consider that he has enormous potential.
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The Mermaid
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The process that journalists go through to bring to light a documentary, a report, or a simple article in any newspaper is something that many people find really interesting, and it is precisely about this that this book, The Mermaid by Marc Berlin, is about. In it we follow Mann, a mature man whose monotonous and meaningless life leads him to accept an investigative job on a United States senator who intends to run for president, through which his employer can expose the harsh reality behind the facade of the subject under investigation.
During the development of the story, we also see American society in its maximum splendor (unthinking yokels who vote their politicians depending on whether they like them or not), and the fact that climate change is a reality is mentioned on several occasions. However, and despite the entertaining nature of the story, as well as the beauty of the author's style, there are certain negative aspects that I would like to emphasize below.
On the one hand, as far as the text itself is concerned, I will comment that it constantly calls the protagonist by his name instead of using other nouns and that it has too many punctuation errors, especially at the beginning, which in turn leads me to the conclusion that the edition is mediocre at best.
And, on the other hand, now regarding the story, I must note that the characters are almost completely flat and that they are carried away too much by carnal desire, something that makes the main story almost take a backseat due to the enormous amount of sexual or hot scenes and the sexualization of the female characters, especially the younger ones, something that is clearly seen from the beginning of the book.
Thus, taking into account the enjoyment of reading this story and the style used to create it, but also the errors in the text, the almost non-existent character development, and the constant sexualization (with touches of ephebophilia) shown, I would like to rate this book with three out of five stars and express my desire to read something else from this author because I consider that he has enormous potential.
******
The Mermaid
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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Lawrence Stein
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The cover photo of this book is captivating. However, the editing issues is a turnoff.
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Nneka Bridget
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The exploration of journalistic processes in "The Mermaid" by Marc Berlin sounds engaging. It’s interesting how Mann’s investigative journey uncovers deeper societal issues while highlighting American culture. However, your points about the character depth and the writing style raise valid concerns. It’s a shame that the flat character portrayals and punctuation errors detract from the overall experience. Your balanced rating reflects both the book's strengths and weaknesses, and it’s great that you see potential in the author for future works!
