Full Fathom Five

by John Carter

Reviews

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very difficult book to rate. Carter is an excellent wordsmith. He is a poet and it shows in his writing with a beautiful usage of words. Unfortunately he is not a novelist and doesn't know how to set up his story. He had previously written two short stories and he expanded them into this, his only novel, which won the Houghton-Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award in 1965. This novel is basically about his F. Scott Fitzgerald type family and its existence from the 2o's through the death of his father in the 60's. Carter published this novel, won his award, and died shortly thereafter ending what might have been a very good career. Recommended to those who would like to try something different.

[Tom Leland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm always down on myself when I can't finish a book -- which occurs maybe once a year; this won the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship award in '65 -- and it's smart and spirited and even poetic, but I didn't give a damn about anyone or anything. It just feels like Carter wrote his ass off but with little thought of his reader.