Daniel Quentin Steele

THE YEAR OF SOUP
Howard Reiss



By Daniel Quentin Steele (Jacksonville, FL)



This review is from: The Year of Soup (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU BUY OR READ ANY ONE BOOK IN 2015, MAKE IT "SOUP"

There are some books, like some experiences such as falling in love, or having a near death experience or losing someone to death, that can't ever be captured in words. It could be that "The Year of Soup" just hit me at the right time and the right emotional point to leave a lasting imprint on my soul. Or it could be that it's magic.
How else to explain it? First off, "The Year of Soup" has to be, hands down, the worst book title in the history of the world. Any book titled "The Year of Soup" has to be ultimately boring. And the subject matter: this book is about SOUP! Other than the late lamented Jerry Seinfeld's infamous "Soup Nazi", I doubt that Soup has ever been the subject of such intense literary or philosophical scrutiny.
Except that "Soup" is not really about soup, any more than it's about love and loss, sexual identity and sexual desire, forbidden loves and lusts, the changing social and sexual face of America following the Second World War down to our own time in the 21st century, gay sex when it was the "love that dare not say its name."
It's also a mystery that literally reaches out from beyond the grave to change lives.
The bare bones of the story are simple enough. Tess is a "SOUP WHISPERER," if there could be any such thing. A chef running from a series of painful and failed romantic relationships with both sexes, she sets up shop in a Yankee university town where she can cook almost anything, but she specializes in a universe of soups to meet any taste and solve almost any physical, psychological or spiritual illness or malaise. Even if the details of the soups are fictional, they're fascinating and they SOUND like they should be true, which is the only thing that really counts in fiction.
Tess meets "Beany", an intelligent elderly professor of English who has been a fixture at the university since just after the Second World War. He comes into her restaurant one night and quickly is entranced by both her soup, and her conversation. He becomes a regular. Tess likes and admires the old man for his love of literature and his wisdom.
But as close as they become, Beany's past at the university is shrouded in mysteries he won't explain. He has never married, never had children, never had any close relationships with another human being. As he learns more about her life, her failed relationships with men and women and her confusion about who she should be with, if she's willing to try with anyone again, he mentions a young friend he thinks she should meet. Jim is another loner and Beany thinks they might be good for one another.
And then one night, the old man takes his life. There is no note, nothing to explain why he does why he does. But he leaves letters and personal effects to her and she begins looking through them to try to answer some of her questions. Bit by bit, she puts together a picture of a tall, good looking GI returning from the war to make his life in academia. She discovers who he loved, why they could never be together, and why he finally made the decision to take his life.
In learning why Beany lived, and died, the way he had, Tess decides that maybe she has run far enough to make a new start. And that loving is more important than who, or what, you love. Maybe its the only thing - except Soup - that finally is important in your life.
Some books are less than what they're about, and some are more. There's a world enclosed in these pages and you're missing out if you don't visit this world.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R38PLA3L...

THE YEAR OF SOUP



By Daniel Quentin Steele (Jacksonville, FL)




This review is from: The Year of Soup (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU BUY OR READ ANY ONE BOOK IN 2015, MAKE IT "SOUP"

There are some books, like some experiences such as falling in love, or having a near death experience or losing someone to death, that can't ever be captured in words. It could be that "The Year of Soup" just hit me at the right time and the right emotional point to leave a lasting imprint on my soul. Or it could be that it's magic.
How else to explain it? First off, "The Year of Soup" has to be, hands down, the worst book title in the history of the world. Any book titled "The Year of Soup" has to be ultimately boring. And the subject matter: this book is about SOUP! Other than the late lamented Jerry Seinfeld's infamous "Soup Nazi", I doubt that Soup has ever been the subject of such intense literary or philosophical scrutiny.
Except that "Soup" is not really about soup, any more than it's about love and loss, sexual identity and sexual desire, forbidden loves and lusts, the changing social and sexual face of America following the Second World War down to our own time in the 21st century, gay sex when it was the "love that dare not say its name."
It's also a mystery that literally reaches out from beyond the grave to change lives.
The bare bones of the story are simple enough. Tess is a "SOUP WHISPERER," if there could be any such thing. A chef running from a series of painful and failed romantic relationships with both sexes, she sets up shop in a Yankee university town where she can cook almost anything, but she specializes in a universe of soups to meet any taste and solve almost any physical, psychological or spiritual illness or malaise. Even if the details of the soups are fictional, they're fascinating and they SOUND like they should be true, which is the only thing that really counts in fiction.
Tess meets "Beany", an intelligent elderly professor of English who has been a fixture at the university since just after the Second World War. He comes into her restaurant one night and quickly is entranced by both her soup, and her conversation. He becomes a regular. Tess likes and admires the old man for his love of literature and his wisdom.
But as close as they become, Beany's past at the university is shrouded in mysteries he won't explain. He has never married, never had children, never had any close relationships with another human being. As he learns more about her life, her failed relationships with men and women and her confusion about who she should be with, if she's willing to try with anyone again, he mentions a young friend he thinks she should meet. Jim is another loner and Beany thinks they might be good for one another.
And then one night, the old man takes his life. There is no note, nothing to explain why he does why he does. But he leaves letters and personal effects to her and she begins looking through them to try to answer some of her questions. Bit by bit, she puts together a picture of a tall, good looking GI returning from the war to make his life in academia. She discovers who he loved, why they could never be together, and why he finally made the decision to take his life.
In learning why Beany lived, and died, the way he had, Tess decides that maybe she has run far enough to make a new start. And that loving is more important than who, or what, you love. Maybe its the only thing - except Soup - that finally is important in your life.
Some books are less than what they're about, and some are more. There's a world enclosed in these pages and you're missing out if you don't visit this world.





See your review on the site
http://www.amazon.com/review/R38PLA3L...

C.J. Heck

Hello Daniel,
It's such a pleasure having you for a friend. I am looking forward to reading your work! Thank you and best wishes.
Warmest regards,
CJ


Anatomy of a Poet
Goodreads Book Giveaway: June 1 to June 30, 2013:

Enter to Win 1 of 10 Free Autographed Copies:
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

Preview Anatomy of a Poet:
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/3...