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Another Son Of Man
"Inside the circle, I will return to you" were the words scrawled amidst dark, penciled swirls in the final hours of the life of a young man, without family, dying from cancer. Among his final requests was that his ashes be spread over a remote lake in the swampy wilderness of eastern North Carolina. Thus do three people of widely divergent backgrounds and ideas, who knew the young man only in illness and death, come to find themselves marooned on a tiny island during a major hurricane. Junuh is a young, black oncologist from the Low Country of South Carolina, where his parents were lost in Hurricane Hugo. Ruth is a bisexual, New Age healer. Reese beat alcoholism and drug addiction to become a fundamentalist street preacher. On the island, this unlikely trio encounters a bearded, autistic hermit who calls himself Son and seeks to lure them to a place he calls Paradise. In the face of the storm, the three come to terms with themselves, one another, natural forces, life, death, and spirituality.
210 pages, Hardcover
First published August 30, 2004
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 30, 2024
Well…this is the last book Written by Tim McLaurin. It was released two years after his death. I think he barely finished it before he died. It bums me out that there are no more unread books of his for me. This was a great book about living and dying and being faced with the reality of certain death. It touches on faith and the lack thereof and all in all was a great read. With each of his books he proved over and over why he is one of my favorite authors. Mostly think his writing just resonates because it feels like home and the characters are people I “know.”
May 31, 2010
What I find remarkable about this book is that the author squeeze so much symbolism into 208 pages. Actually only technically 208 pages because the print was HUGE.
Another plus is that the author (God rest his soul) was from NC and the book brought up Chapel hill sooo much! Even alluded to Reese as the "Pit Preacher". Brought back find memories of undergrad....
Now, since there aren't many reviews and the description is vague, SPOILERS AHEAD
So Nate is some sweet young guy (I think he was early 30's) who waste away from cancer and finally wants the life support pulled. The time before this, he had visions of a man standing over his bed with a clamshell necklace that held the night sky. He also would draw concentric circles and tell his nurse, Ruth, his doctor, Junuh, and the reverend who visited him, Reese, that "Within the circle, I will return to you". When he dies he request the three take his ashes to some marchy island on Coastal NC. A hurricane hits, they lose their supplies. They are freqently visited by a man who calls himself Son (son of Merrie) and seems to be autistic/savant. He answers their questions giving Biblical quotes or Webbster dictionary/thesaurus definitions and wants them to come with him to his home in "Paradise". He comes to bring them food, save them from the snakes seeking higher ground, rids them of leeches.
Junuh deals with his identity. He grew up in a poor fishing family in South Carolina. He is accepted to UNC and with scholarships works his way through medical school. He disassociates himself with everything considered black, and the final blow comes when, instead following his guy feeling and driving home to bring his parents inland, he goes to some get together for med students. The hurricane take his childhood home and parents and he never forgave himself.
Reese, who was a drug addict turned street preacher deals with having everyone in the war (vietnam i believe) die but him and the guilt of having been a survivor.
Ruth lost both her parents at a young age, grew up in a relatives house where they made it clear she wasn't wanted there. Stumbled through relationships (with women and men) and Reiki. It is revealed that Ruth's true desire is to be a mother, but she seems to be infertile.
Before the final storm hits, Junuh gets drunk on some cheap wine that washes ashore and cathartically rids himself of past guilt and identity. Ruth reaches out to Reese, the two make love.
Son comes to tak ethem to paradise, but only Ruth goes, with the urn. Junuh and Reese want to see the hurricane through on the island.
Paradise turns out to be a log cabin built for Merrie and Son (real name, Micah) Micah had a twin brother (Jeremiah?) and the two are bi-racial, but Merrie saw that of the two it was clear that Micah's features (blue eyes, kinkier hair, tan skin) as well as his behavior (I'm supposing he was actually autistic) made him special and she wanted to hid him from the cruel world. Merrie was dying of cancer and dreamed of a nurse, whose name begins with an "r" coming during a storm. Son takes Ruth to an celler and leaves with a rope, he is returning to the island with Reese and Junuh.
As the storm hits, Ruth sees a vision of Nate and he says, Within the circle, I will return to you. She opens the door to the cellar and releases his ashes into the vortex of the storm.
After the storm is over, Ruth looks out to the island and realizes that everyone has died. Suddenly 4 butterflies light upon her and take flight -- she realizes this is a sign. She puts a hung to her abdomen (without saying it directly, she is pregnant) and cries tears of joy.
The last two pages (epilouge) I really didn't get. Something about a famer and his wife in the Appalachians. Now I think about it, the Prolouge either (it was a bout some starving child on a carribean island of something).
Another plus is that the author (God rest his soul) was from NC and the book brought up Chapel hill sooo much! Even alluded to Reese as the "Pit Preacher". Brought back find memories of undergrad....
Now, since there aren't many reviews and the description is vague, SPOILERS AHEAD
So Nate is some sweet young guy (I think he was early 30's) who waste away from cancer and finally wants the life support pulled. The time before this, he had visions of a man standing over his bed with a clamshell necklace that held the night sky. He also would draw concentric circles and tell his nurse, Ruth, his doctor, Junuh, and the reverend who visited him, Reese, that "Within the circle, I will return to you". When he dies he request the three take his ashes to some marchy island on Coastal NC. A hurricane hits, they lose their supplies. They are freqently visited by a man who calls himself Son (son of Merrie) and seems to be autistic/savant. He answers their questions giving Biblical quotes or Webbster dictionary/thesaurus definitions and wants them to come with him to his home in "Paradise". He comes to bring them food, save them from the snakes seeking higher ground, rids them of leeches.
Junuh deals with his identity. He grew up in a poor fishing family in South Carolina. He is accepted to UNC and with scholarships works his way through medical school. He disassociates himself with everything considered black, and the final blow comes when, instead following his guy feeling and driving home to bring his parents inland, he goes to some get together for med students. The hurricane take his childhood home and parents and he never forgave himself.
Reese, who was a drug addict turned street preacher deals with having everyone in the war (vietnam i believe) die but him and the guilt of having been a survivor.
Ruth lost both her parents at a young age, grew up in a relatives house where they made it clear she wasn't wanted there. Stumbled through relationships (with women and men) and Reiki. It is revealed that Ruth's true desire is to be a mother, but she seems to be infertile.
Before the final storm hits, Junuh gets drunk on some cheap wine that washes ashore and cathartically rids himself of past guilt and identity. Ruth reaches out to Reese, the two make love.
Son comes to tak ethem to paradise, but only Ruth goes, with the urn. Junuh and Reese want to see the hurricane through on the island.
Paradise turns out to be a log cabin built for Merrie and Son (real name, Micah) Micah had a twin brother (Jeremiah?) and the two are bi-racial, but Merrie saw that of the two it was clear that Micah's features (blue eyes, kinkier hair, tan skin) as well as his behavior (I'm supposing he was actually autistic) made him special and she wanted to hid him from the cruel world. Merrie was dying of cancer and dreamed of a nurse, whose name begins with an "r" coming during a storm. Son takes Ruth to an celler and leaves with a rope, he is returning to the island with Reese and Junuh.
As the storm hits, Ruth sees a vision of Nate and he says, Within the circle, I will return to you. She opens the door to the cellar and releases his ashes into the vortex of the storm.
After the storm is over, Ruth looks out to the island and realizes that everyone has died. Suddenly 4 butterflies light upon her and take flight -- she realizes this is a sign. She puts a hung to her abdomen (without saying it directly, she is pregnant) and cries tears of joy.
The last two pages (epilouge) I really didn't get. Something about a famer and his wife in the Appalachians. Now I think about it, the Prolouge either (it was a bout some starving child on a carribean island of something).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2011
I found this book to be disturbing for some reason - Others describe it as a book about love, and I can see that, but I found it more unnecessarily sad. Either way, the writing is very good. A poignant book finished by McLaurin just weeks before his death.
July 4, 2007
I actually liked this book much more than I thought I would. It was a little slow to start, but had a nice finish. A special thanks to those who published it!
July 14, 2016
This did not come together for me. The prologue and the epilogue seem unnecessarily tacked on.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews