Official Review: Pleistocene Tsunami by James R. Womack

[Ursula_Minor]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Pleistocene Tsunami" by James R. Womack.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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James R. Womack's Pleistocene Tsunami is structurally perfect. This short work is comprised of three short stories (four, if you count the epilogue) that trace a fictional history of the planet Sol, a "blue orb" with its "circling pearl moon," as it travels unattached through space, blips past Earth, disappears from the text, and eventually circles back (look for that story especially in the first and fourth segments, "Harbinger" and the epilogue).

The centre stories, "Paleomagnetic Pole Dance" and "Catch me if You Can," telescope in on two narratives that are increasingly detailed, and less cosmic in scope. "Paleomagnetic Pole Dance" charts the geographic history of the Earth in macro and micro detail. The effect is quaint: the Earth begins to feel like a deeply developed character embedded in her own world, and carrying in her womb a substance that directs the relative safety and danger of the environments proffered by her body. "Catch me if You Can" magnifies the setting one step further, honing in on a rabbit and coyote that exist as predator and prey in a world defined by the hierarchy of the food chain-- at least until the great melt. The epilogue takes the reader into the present day, and is both touching and eerie in its depiction of the Earth as holding clues to all of her own history, and of human folly in our clumsy attempts to read them.

These are just brief summaries of the plot in a collection of stories that really aren't about plot at all. Each tale takes the reader on a bit of journey, but one that is more about language, character, and connectedness than anything else. A major strength of this text is that it leaves the reader feeling connected to her environment, world, and even, strangely, the cosmos. Womack accomplishes an exceptional feat, owing no small amount to his excellent imagination, exemplary understanding of narrative organization, and his command of language.

In the author blurb, Womack mentions that he is deaf, and prefers tell stories in ASL (American Sign Language Language), but writes in order that he might tell stories to those who don't understand ASL. Perhaps owing to that particular background, this collection has a strong oral feel to it: the stories are repetitive in a manner that feels like a natural part of Womack's storytelling style (rather than feeling stilted or irritating), and may make the reader feel compelled to read several passages out loud. While this feature is in many ways a strength, it lends itself also to one of very few weaknesses in this text: a handful of sentences are awkward in their construction, though only on the page-- reading them aloud restores the carefully crafted narrative flow that makes this text so very enjoyable.

I give this text 4 out of 4. It is a beautifully written and well constructed series of short stories. Readers looking for action or plot based narrative may not find this text as enjoyable, and readers with no experience with oral storytelling may need to read it more than once to appreciate some of the collection's more minute details of form and style.

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Pleistocene Tsunami
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[zeldas_lullaby]

Interesting review!!

[Gravy]

Sounds very interesting!

[Ursula_Minor]

It's a really great book! Definitely a must-read for anyone putting together a short story collection.

[gali]

Sounds good! Thank you for the nice review.

[LivreAmour217]

Great review! It sounds like a really fascinating book. I'm especially drawn to the "oral storytelling" aspect you spoke of, as it's sadly becoming more and more rare in our modern world.

[Ursula_Minor]

@livreamour217 Thanks! I agree, somewhat, with your view on oral storytelling. But I'm also excited about the places where oral storytelling remains vibrant, or is even growing as a practice! There are storytelling groups and classes popping up all over my region (I'm in central/eastern Canada), and elements of oral storytelling, of course, exist inside of slam poetry, and even in some genres of music. It is certainly going through a series of changes, but is (I hope, at least!) maybe going through somewhat of a revival as well.

[LivreAmour217]

@livreamour217 Thanks! I agree, somewhat, with your view on oral storytelling. But I'm also excited about the places where oral storytelling remains vibrant, or is even growing as a practice! There are storytelling groups and classes popping up all over my region (I'm in central/eastern Canada), and elements of oral storytelling, of course, exist inside of slam poetry, and even in some genres of music. It is certainly going through a series of changes, but is (I hope, at least!) maybe going through somewhat of a revival as well.

That sounds wonderful! We need to get some storytelling classes going where I live (Kansas)! I also totally forgot about slam poetry, thanks for the reminder!

[congtanh34]

I like this book! The review that great about this book. i will by it soon.

[Heidi M Simone]

@Ursula_Minor, I really enjoyed reading your review! I've never experienced oral storytelling, so I would be curious to know if I would enjoy this book or not. Thanks for a great review, and I may add this to my to-read list!

[Tanaya]

Wow. This sounds fascinating. You did a fantastic job on this review. At first glance, this isn't something I would typically read but now I kinda want to.

[ananya92]

Nicely written review! The book seems pretty interesting.