Review of The Party Line
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Radhika Nair
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Review of The Party Line
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Party Line" by Dennis D. Gagnon.]
Dennis D. Gagnon's The Party Line is a fictional narrative based on the author's youthful philosophical explorations. Featuring an aethereal world of extrasensory conversations, this book portrays a protagonist whose curiosity gets him in trouble with forces far more insidious than he could have imagined, resulting in his best friend's death. To prevent further unfortunate occurrences due to the interference of the aethereal conversations, the protagonist, along with his friend's vengeful ghost and the latter's mysterious and charismatic girlfriend, must learn how to get the upper hand in the exchange between the material and aethereal realms.
I can wax eloquent for many pages about how much I relished almost every aspect of this book, but I'll confine myself to saying that it is well-edited, with only a handful of errors and none of them of much consequence; the language is elegant, erudite and evocative without being tedious or too pretentious; the characters are engaging because the author takes some pains to establish them as admirable and likable beings; the dialogue is lively, which is a tremendous feat considering how easy it is to make abstract topics feel utterly dry and frustrating; the world-building is minimal but absorbing; the themes, though the most basic and universal across all of human history and literature, are dealt with in a refreshing and engaging manner; and finally, the book as a whole, in terms of the content as well as a marketable entity, is supremely satisfying, like a meal that is a bit of a mouthful but incredibly special and rewarding.
In terms of structure and organisation, it should be noted that this book is dominated by philosophical discourse, which seems to drive the action. There is also an abundance of esoteric concepts from various fields of study in it, but everything is explained in the simplest possible terms. It deals with themes of basic morality and musings that are about as universal as anything can be, and even uses sources from a variety of contexts to do so, a strategy that would likely speak directly to readers associated with those contexts. The use of allegory and imagery to convey philosophical ideas is brilliantly evocative and illustrative, adding significant interest to the discourse. The prose is dense and lengthy, but fresh, elegant and in general thoroughly enjoyable. This is a very inviting book, with its conversational approach to sophisticated systems of thought making it a mind-blowing, thought-provoking read.
The only thing about this book that did not quite satisfy me was the last chapter of the story, though I daresay it could not have been concluded in any other way without compromising artistic integrity. Perhaps the ending disappointed me because it suggests that there are no quick, easy, conclusive solutions to life's problems, which is a perfectly reasonable note on which to end a youth's exploration into how one should live. I will let readers judge this point for themselves. I must also mention that my dissatisfaction with the last chapter disappeared as soon as I turned to the epilogue, which again lifts the story to the exploratory and allegorical plane of the philosophical discourse that occupies much of the book, so that the lasting impression in the end is only one of distilled existential joy at the brilliant philosophical insights offered by this book.
Though there is little overtly religious content in the book, I would like to note that the narrator's, and by extension the author's, interpretations and portrayal of some concepts from various religions or cultures may cause annoyance to readers who regard those perspectives as incorrect or outright blasphemous, though I didn't find anything provocative at all, despite my attempts to think from less tolerant perspectives. Such readers may choose to avoid this book and keep their beliefs and perspectives unchallenged, or they may read it and give it the benefit of the doubt, as they see fit.
As stated above, there are few errors in this book, and it offers a reading experience that is, all things considered, simply spectacular, and therefore I am delighted to give it a perfect rating of 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book for inquisitive readers around 16 years old and above, because though there is no profanity or explicit content in the book, it is perhaps too dense and dry for a young audience. I, for my part, would recommend everyone to give this book a chance at some time or another, because rarely do themes so complex, diverse and universal feature in contemporary literature in terms so brief, engaging, and relatively easily comprehensible.
******
The Party Line
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Dennis D. Gagnon's The Party Line is a fictional narrative based on the author's youthful philosophical explorations. Featuring an aethereal world of extrasensory conversations, this book portrays a protagonist whose curiosity gets him in trouble with forces far more insidious than he could have imagined, resulting in his best friend's death. To prevent further unfortunate occurrences due to the interference of the aethereal conversations, the protagonist, along with his friend's vengeful ghost and the latter's mysterious and charismatic girlfriend, must learn how to get the upper hand in the exchange between the material and aethereal realms.
I can wax eloquent for many pages about how much I relished almost every aspect of this book, but I'll confine myself to saying that it is well-edited, with only a handful of errors and none of them of much consequence; the language is elegant, erudite and evocative without being tedious or too pretentious; the characters are engaging because the author takes some pains to establish them as admirable and likable beings; the dialogue is lively, which is a tremendous feat considering how easy it is to make abstract topics feel utterly dry and frustrating; the world-building is minimal but absorbing; the themes, though the most basic and universal across all of human history and literature, are dealt with in a refreshing and engaging manner; and finally, the book as a whole, in terms of the content as well as a marketable entity, is supremely satisfying, like a meal that is a bit of a mouthful but incredibly special and rewarding.
In terms of structure and organisation, it should be noted that this book is dominated by philosophical discourse, which seems to drive the action. There is also an abundance of esoteric concepts from various fields of study in it, but everything is explained in the simplest possible terms. It deals with themes of basic morality and musings that are about as universal as anything can be, and even uses sources from a variety of contexts to do so, a strategy that would likely speak directly to readers associated with those contexts. The use of allegory and imagery to convey philosophical ideas is brilliantly evocative and illustrative, adding significant interest to the discourse. The prose is dense and lengthy, but fresh, elegant and in general thoroughly enjoyable. This is a very inviting book, with its conversational approach to sophisticated systems of thought making it a mind-blowing, thought-provoking read.
The only thing about this book that did not quite satisfy me was the last chapter of the story, though I daresay it could not have been concluded in any other way without compromising artistic integrity. Perhaps the ending disappointed me because it suggests that there are no quick, easy, conclusive solutions to life's problems, which is a perfectly reasonable note on which to end a youth's exploration into how one should live. I will let readers judge this point for themselves. I must also mention that my dissatisfaction with the last chapter disappeared as soon as I turned to the epilogue, which again lifts the story to the exploratory and allegorical plane of the philosophical discourse that occupies much of the book, so that the lasting impression in the end is only one of distilled existential joy at the brilliant philosophical insights offered by this book.
Though there is little overtly religious content in the book, I would like to note that the narrator's, and by extension the author's, interpretations and portrayal of some concepts from various religions or cultures may cause annoyance to readers who regard those perspectives as incorrect or outright blasphemous, though I didn't find anything provocative at all, despite my attempts to think from less tolerant perspectives. Such readers may choose to avoid this book and keep their beliefs and perspectives unchallenged, or they may read it and give it the benefit of the doubt, as they see fit.
As stated above, there are few errors in this book, and it offers a reading experience that is, all things considered, simply spectacular, and therefore I am delighted to give it a perfect rating of 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book for inquisitive readers around 16 years old and above, because though there is no profanity or explicit content in the book, it is perhaps too dense and dry for a young audience. I, for my part, would recommend everyone to give this book a chance at some time or another, because rarely do themes so complex, diverse and universal feature in contemporary literature in terms so brief, engaging, and relatively easily comprehensible.
******
The Party Line
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Hunger of the Pine by Teal Swan
