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The Father's Tale
Canadian bookseller Alex Graham is a middle-age widower whose quiet life is turned upside down when his college-age son disappears from school in England. Leaving his safe and orderly world for the first time in his life, Graham travels to Oxford, Russia and beyond in search of his lost son who might have become involved with a high-brow, New Age group. The father's odyssey leads him to fascinating and sometimes frightening people, places and perils - including imprisonment and torture for being mistaken as a spy.
Through the uncertainty and the anguish, the loss and the longing, Graham considers his past - youth, marriage, and fatherhood. Apart from childhood illness and the loss of his beloved wife, the bookseller's life had gone rather smoothly within the confines of his small hometown, or so he had once believed.
Pulled ever deeper into conflicts between nations, as well as the eternal conflict between good and evil, Graham is stretched nearly to the breaking point by the inexplicable suffering he witnesses and experiences. Struggling to overcome fear and discouragement, he discovers unexpected sources of strength as he presses onward in the hope of recovering his son—and himself.
Through the uncertainty and the anguish, the loss and the longing, Graham considers his past - youth, marriage, and fatherhood. Apart from childhood illness and the loss of his beloved wife, the bookseller's life had gone rather smoothly within the confines of his small hometown, or so he had once believed.
Pulled ever deeper into conflicts between nations, as well as the eternal conflict between good and evil, Graham is stretched nearly to the breaking point by the inexplicable suffering he witnesses and experiences. Struggling to overcome fear and discouragement, he discovers unexpected sources of strength as he presses onward in the hope of recovering his son—and himself.
1077 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
223 people are currently reading
1674 people want to read
About the author
Michael D. O'Brien
45 books840 followersMichael D. O'Brien is a Roman Catholic author, artist, and frequent essayist and lecturer on faith and culture, living in Combermere, Ontario, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 300 reviews
January 11, 2025
The blurb on the back of this book by Peter Kreeft says, “a thousand pages of Michael O’Brien is like a thousand sunrises: who’s complaining?”
Me. I am complaining. I am no stranger to long books but that length needs to be earned. This is an extravagant waste of time. It’s a book that thinks it’s deep and spiritual but really it’s shallow and pretentious. The characters are unsympathetic and unbelievable.
Alex’s rants and monologues are a thinly veiled soapbox for the author’s opinions. A good editor would realize we don’t need Alex to save both a homeless man and a prostitute. He can just do one with the same impact. He also has the same stilted conversation with the same character twice!
Read this and tell me this book is a “quality literature”.
"No, don't come near me. Don't touch my hand like that. Please, do not be a Pavlovian, Aleksandr."
"Then what am I to do? You lock me in the Pavlovian maze of my heart with no escape—me in a male maze and you in a female maze!"
"For now my own maze is all I have. Don't make it more complicated."
The last one hundred pages are a fever dream. It’s a mishmash and none is done well. You can’t do coming of age, romance, thriller, and spy novel all at once. The Deus ex machina to resolve the novel is ABSURD.
Only positive was sending daily texts to a friend yelling about this book. Including the fact we both think the igloo singing scene is a direct ripoff of the Grinch.
Me. I am complaining. I am no stranger to long books but that length needs to be earned. This is an extravagant waste of time. It’s a book that thinks it’s deep and spiritual but really it’s shallow and pretentious. The characters are unsympathetic and unbelievable.
Alex’s rants and monologues are a thinly veiled soapbox for the author’s opinions. A good editor would realize we don’t need Alex to save both a homeless man and a prostitute. He can just do one with the same impact. He also has the same stilted conversation with the same character twice!
Read this and tell me this book is a “quality literature”.
"No, don't come near me. Don't touch my hand like that. Please, do not be a Pavlovian, Aleksandr."
"Then what am I to do? You lock me in the Pavlovian maze of my heart with no escape—me in a male maze and you in a female maze!"
"For now my own maze is all I have. Don't make it more complicated."
The last one hundred pages are a fever dream. It’s a mishmash and none is done well. You can’t do coming of age, romance, thriller, and spy novel all at once. The Deus ex machina to resolve the novel is ABSURD.
Only positive was sending daily texts to a friend yelling about this book. Including the fact we both think the igloo singing scene is a direct ripoff of the Grinch.
September 20, 2019
After the absurd thickness the first thing that strikes a reader of Michael O’Brien’s “The Father’s Tale” is just how bad the prose is. O’Brien’s description of the arrival of his protagonist, Alex Graham, at the Vyborg train station in Russia on the border of Finland provides a striking example: “Alex felt a sense of looming existential events, as if were in the center of an indecipherable symbolic choreography. … Yet the feeling was neither Chekhovian nor Dostoyevskian. Neither was it Orwellian. It was if anything Kafkaesque.” (p. 328) The editors of Ignatius Press ought never to have allowed such a hideous passage into the published book. They appear to have been overwhelmed by the shear volume of ghastly text and let everything through willy-nilly.
Much as his writing style is atrocious, O’Brien has even worse trouble fitting his multiple themes into his narrative structure: In a Youtube interview O’Brien explained that the novel has two dominant themes:
1. The struggle of a father to obtain the moral redemption of his son.
2. The need to re-unite Eastern (Orthodox) with Western (Roman Catholic) Christianity.
The reader can easily detect four additional themes.
1. The hostility of communist and capitalist society towards Christianity
2. Man’s indestructible desire for God.
3. The fragility of faith.
4. Christian marriage as the only vehicle for true love.
5. Grace can be found only through suffering from which O'Brien derives the leifmotif of his novel. "The only whole heart is a broken one."
Unfortunately, these multiple themes are not terribly well served by O’Brien’s plot structure which is that of a classic “man-on-the-run” or “fox-and-hounds” thriller. (John Buchanan’s “39 Steps” would be an example of this genre.) Alex Graham the protagonist is a widowed bookseller living in Halcyon a remote town in North-Eastern Ontario. His son Andrew disappears from Oxford University having been lured into a sinister New Age cult by the sinister Dr. Koch and the alluring Miss Cunningham.
Alex unlike the new testament father does not wait for the prodigal son to return. He risks all in wild round the world search. Alex's pursuit takes him first to Oxford then to Helsinki. He will pass through St. Petersburg and Moscow before being arrested by the Russian intelligence services (i.e. the KGB - FSB) in a small community on Lake Baikal. He will then be captured by the Chinese and exchanged to the CIA allowing him to return to Halcyon where he will be re-united with his prodigal son. John Buchan who certainly had some weird plots might have made this loopy narrative work. O’Brien does do not.
O’Brien never explains why Graham’s son was attracted to the evil cult or what happens to its leaders. After 500 pages, O’Brien takes his protagonist-father off the pursuit of his missing son and puts him into an intense 450-page platonic relationship with a charming widow in Russia. The two, however, decide not to marry with 25 pages to go in the novel as both realize that they are still much in love with their spouses that have died remarry. 20 pages later we learn that Alex will marry a widow in Halcyon who had very briefly appeared in the first 100 pages.
The CIA as a player appears too late in the novel. The episode in China is a pointless digression. In a word loose ends abound.
The great tragedy is that the book could have been better. O’Brien who is also an accomplished painter of Byzantine icons who has a very profound understanding of both Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Christianity. He never manages however to render into words the case for the re-uniting the two strands of Christianity that his paintings so eloquently make. Possibly O’Brien will some day surprise us with a novel that succeeds in doing what this one regrettably failed to do.
Much as his writing style is atrocious, O’Brien has even worse trouble fitting his multiple themes into his narrative structure: In a Youtube interview O’Brien explained that the novel has two dominant themes:
1. The struggle of a father to obtain the moral redemption of his son.
2. The need to re-unite Eastern (Orthodox) with Western (Roman Catholic) Christianity.
The reader can easily detect four additional themes.
1. The hostility of communist and capitalist society towards Christianity
2. Man’s indestructible desire for God.
3. The fragility of faith.
4. Christian marriage as the only vehicle for true love.
5. Grace can be found only through suffering from which O'Brien derives the leifmotif of his novel. "The only whole heart is a broken one."
Unfortunately, these multiple themes are not terribly well served by O’Brien’s plot structure which is that of a classic “man-on-the-run” or “fox-and-hounds” thriller. (John Buchanan’s “39 Steps” would be an example of this genre.) Alex Graham the protagonist is a widowed bookseller living in Halcyon a remote town in North-Eastern Ontario. His son Andrew disappears from Oxford University having been lured into a sinister New Age cult by the sinister Dr. Koch and the alluring Miss Cunningham.
Alex unlike the new testament father does not wait for the prodigal son to return. He risks all in wild round the world search. Alex's pursuit takes him first to Oxford then to Helsinki. He will pass through St. Petersburg and Moscow before being arrested by the Russian intelligence services (i.e. the KGB - FSB) in a small community on Lake Baikal. He will then be captured by the Chinese and exchanged to the CIA allowing him to return to Halcyon where he will be re-united with his prodigal son. John Buchan who certainly had some weird plots might have made this loopy narrative work. O’Brien does do not.
O’Brien never explains why Graham’s son was attracted to the evil cult or what happens to its leaders. After 500 pages, O’Brien takes his protagonist-father off the pursuit of his missing son and puts him into an intense 450-page platonic relationship with a charming widow in Russia. The two, however, decide not to marry with 25 pages to go in the novel as both realize that they are still much in love with their spouses that have died remarry. 20 pages later we learn that Alex will marry a widow in Halcyon who had very briefly appeared in the first 100 pages.
The CIA as a player appears too late in the novel. The episode in China is a pointless digression. In a word loose ends abound.
The great tragedy is that the book could have been better. O’Brien who is also an accomplished painter of Byzantine icons who has a very profound understanding of both Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Christianity. He never manages however to render into words the case for the re-uniting the two strands of Christianity that his paintings so eloquently make. Possibly O’Brien will some day surprise us with a novel that succeeds in doing what this one regrettably failed to do.
June 14, 2021
For me to review this novel adequately (at this time anyway) is well-nigh impossible for two reasons. For starters, it is 1077 pages and the epic journey of one man, the main character, Alex Graham, a Canadian widower, and the father of two grown sons, across two continents in search of his younger son, Andrew, who has disappeared with or into a cult.
If that isn’t enough reason, I also rushed though this magnificent story, eager for every next twist and turn, unwilling to stop and savor the rich parts, gobbling them as I did the more prosaic text.
That said, if one wants to understand what the author is getting at in The Father's Tale, or perhaps I should say, appreciate his writing, it is best to remember he writes on multiple levels. Of course, there is the strictly fictional level of his main character, Alex Graham, a staid homebody, middle-aged bookstore owner, who mortgages everything going to England in search of his son.
Almost anyone, with or without religious affiliation or even belief, can relate on some level to this Alex, shy, retiring, withdrawn even, who really wishes the rest of the world would go away, yet wants desperately to bring his son home.
Then there is the allegorical level where this story can be seen as retelling of the Parable of the Prodigal Son from the perspective of the Loving Father. Alex can be seen as a (very) flawed Heavenly Father setting out to bring home his son. As the story progresses, we see Alex develop more and more from the ordinary human father into the fully Loving Father he wants to be.
On an even deeper level, the many cathartic outrages, setbacks and sufferings Alex experienced and personages he encountered reminded me of the journey of EVERY SOUL described so brilliantly by St. John of the Cross in The Ascent of Mount Carmel and continuing in Dark Night of the Soul.
In these great works, the Doctor of Mystical Theology teaches that on our journey to God we all must pass along times of darkness and deprivation, of not-knowing and loss before we can again emerge into the Light of the Love of God. This is to arrive again from our own journey away from the Father and back to Him, one example of which is shown in this novel.
I sincerely hope to reread The Father's Tale again after some time has gone by. It is an exceptionally long story, a saga, which is rich beyond measure. There are endless twists and turns, seeming dead spots, and surprising changeups. Throughout there are magnificent insights, introspective inner monologues, amusing and heart-breaking situations and the incredible writing O’Brien is known for.
Thank you once again Mr. O'Brien and my friend Marc who introduced me to your writing!
If that isn’t enough reason, I also rushed though this magnificent story, eager for every next twist and turn, unwilling to stop and savor the rich parts, gobbling them as I did the more prosaic text.
That said, if one wants to understand what the author is getting at in The Father's Tale, or perhaps I should say, appreciate his writing, it is best to remember he writes on multiple levels. Of course, there is the strictly fictional level of his main character, Alex Graham, a staid homebody, middle-aged bookstore owner, who mortgages everything going to England in search of his son.
Almost anyone, with or without religious affiliation or even belief, can relate on some level to this Alex, shy, retiring, withdrawn even, who really wishes the rest of the world would go away, yet wants desperately to bring his son home.
Then there is the allegorical level where this story can be seen as retelling of the Parable of the Prodigal Son from the perspective of the Loving Father. Alex can be seen as a (very) flawed Heavenly Father setting out to bring home his son. As the story progresses, we see Alex develop more and more from the ordinary human father into the fully Loving Father he wants to be.
On an even deeper level, the many cathartic outrages, setbacks and sufferings Alex experienced and personages he encountered reminded me of the journey of EVERY SOUL described so brilliantly by St. John of the Cross in The Ascent of Mount Carmel and continuing in Dark Night of the Soul.
In these great works, the Doctor of Mystical Theology teaches that on our journey to God we all must pass along times of darkness and deprivation, of not-knowing and loss before we can again emerge into the Light of the Love of God. This is to arrive again from our own journey away from the Father and back to Him, one example of which is shown in this novel.
I sincerely hope to reread The Father's Tale again after some time has gone by. It is an exceptionally long story, a saga, which is rich beyond measure. There are endless twists and turns, seeming dead spots, and surprising changeups. Throughout there are magnificent insights, introspective inner monologues, amusing and heart-breaking situations and the incredible writing O’Brien is known for.
Thank you once again Mr. O'Brien and my friend Marc who introduced me to your writing!
February 3, 2025
***expletive warning because this book deserves it***
I am completely out of fucks. That’s how this book makes me feel.
Where to even begin at the problems I have? Firstly, there is not one single reason why this book should be this long. Not one. It’s not the characters. It’s not the round about plot. It’s definitely not the preaching that continues to resound off every page.
Michael O’Brien somehow never had an editor?! He needs five. He doesn’t believe in show not tell, it is all telling, all explaining, all the time.
The meandering plot that absolutely kills any pacing drove me nuts. Let alone the plethora of random characters. Every character he meets in Russia must tell their entire life story of woe.
If you take away anything from this book it’s that Michael O’Brien fucking loves Russia. And suffering! And particularly Russian suffering!
The plot twists that made no sense and were never believable. The ending which is all letters summing up anything we actually cared about over the course of 1000 pages in three easy peasy paragraphs. It drove. Me. Crazy.
This is nothing to say about the audiobook which was the worst audiobook production I’ve ever heard. Horrible voices for characters which completely damaged the tone of the narrative. And also drove me crazy.
Never again, Michael O’Brien. Never. Again.
I am completely out of fucks. That’s how this book makes me feel.
Where to even begin at the problems I have? Firstly, there is not one single reason why this book should be this long. Not one. It’s not the characters. It’s not the round about plot. It’s definitely not the preaching that continues to resound off every page.
Michael O’Brien somehow never had an editor?! He needs five. He doesn’t believe in show not tell, it is all telling, all explaining, all the time.
The meandering plot that absolutely kills any pacing drove me nuts. Let alone the plethora of random characters. Every character he meets in Russia must tell their entire life story of woe.
If you take away anything from this book it’s that Michael O’Brien fucking loves Russia. And suffering! And particularly Russian suffering!
The plot twists that made no sense and were never believable. The ending which is all letters summing up anything we actually cared about over the course of 1000 pages in three easy peasy paragraphs. It drove. Me. Crazy.
This is nothing to say about the audiobook which was the worst audiobook production I’ve ever heard. Horrible voices for characters which completely damaged the tone of the narrative. And also drove me crazy.
Never again, Michael O’Brien. Never. Again.
January 12, 2025
Good literature represents and reflects the human condition and this just doesn’t feel like it. Long-winded, poorly written, having an underdeveloped and unorganized plot, and no discernible main point. Excessively Catholic, and not in a good way, but in a way that makes me embarrassed to call this author Catholic. Contrived and unnatural (both the plot and the characters). It feels too quotable. Too preachy. Too forcibly “Catholic.” And too long-winded. The way it is written makes it seem trite and forced. The characters are stereotypical and flat, the dialogue is unnatural, the plot is drawn out and unrealistic. It doesn’t feel like a human experience. It feels like a Hallmark movie. I don’t think Hallmark movies represent or reflect the human condition. They are great entertainment for some people and do a good job of eliciting emotion, but I don’t come away from them feeling like I identify in any way with the characters. There’s also a point where the quest for the missing son doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the plot any more. A complete tone shift. This book reads like O’Brien wanted to write three separate books but was told he could only publish one, so he smashed all three in together. It could have used a heavier editing hand. A little bit more direction and 600 pages fewer and perhaps you have a good novel. I would rate it 1 star but I haven’t the heart.
January 19, 2025
What an absolutely absurd waste of words.
There were some truly beautiful moments but they were completely overwhelmed by the onslaught of unnecessary detail and tortured, philosophical monologuing. I don't need to be hit over the head with a verbal brick every time an author wants to make a point.
As far as the abomination that passes for part four...I cannot.
There were some truly beautiful moments but they were completely overwhelmed by the onslaught of unnecessary detail and tortured, philosophical monologuing. I don't need to be hit over the head with a verbal brick every time an author wants to make a point.
As far as the abomination that passes for part four...I cannot.
February 7, 2025
This review contains spoilers. But I don't believe I can spoil the book anymore than the author has already.
This novel is a clumsy theological lecture thinly veiled as fiction.
"A Father's Tale" makes grand overtures at fatherhood themes, yet somehow focuses much more on the implications of a mother's absence from the family, and how a man can't properly function without a wife (and don't forget Communism!). The main character has a misguided fixation on "spousal love" as an abstract ideal that makes him incapable of building actual relationships with any women in the story. What a tragedy for the unfortunate widow he is implied to marry at the end.
Alex is truly a pitiful character. What other readers have lauded as a tale of profound spiritual odyssey read to me as manufactured moments of aimless devotional delirium. At the end of the story it's unclear to me what spiritual transformation was supposed to have taken place in Alex. His internal monologues were so unbearable and bore more resemblance to an angsty teenager than a grown man. After hundreds of pages of being stranded in foreign countries, going broke, and being kidnapped and tortured, he is disturbingly all of a sudden serene at the reunion with his son. Such a plot point strikes me as severe PTSD, not spiritual growth. Though supposedly inspired by the parable of the prodigal son, it came off as a very disjointed, contrived story that did a very poor job of meditating on authentic fatherly love (both in the divine and human sense).
Tragically, the author seems to have invested a great deal of research and spiritual energy in the production of this book. Yet the reader is not left with a well-crafted story of fatherly love but a brick of pages that serves an embarrassingly showy exhibition of literary references and naked theological pronouncements. This is not literature. It would be more suited to the Hallmark channel.
Normally I hate to waste time on negative reviews, but so many things about this book confused me. Why is it so absurdly long? Why was it so poorly edited? How is it being endorsed as a masterpiece by other well-known Catholic writers? Why are book clubs encouraging mothers to spend their precious time reading this instead of actual literature? This was my first Michael O'Brien book, and it will also be my last.
1 star for the author's good intentions, I guess?
This novel is a clumsy theological lecture thinly veiled as fiction.
"A Father's Tale" makes grand overtures at fatherhood themes, yet somehow focuses much more on the implications of a mother's absence from the family, and how a man can't properly function without a wife (and don't forget Communism!). The main character has a misguided fixation on "spousal love" as an abstract ideal that makes him incapable of building actual relationships with any women in the story. What a tragedy for the unfortunate widow he is implied to marry at the end.
Alex is truly a pitiful character. What other readers have lauded as a tale of profound spiritual odyssey read to me as manufactured moments of aimless devotional delirium. At the end of the story it's unclear to me what spiritual transformation was supposed to have taken place in Alex. His internal monologues were so unbearable and bore more resemblance to an angsty teenager than a grown man. After hundreds of pages of being stranded in foreign countries, going broke, and being kidnapped and tortured, he is disturbingly all of a sudden serene at the reunion with his son. Such a plot point strikes me as severe PTSD, not spiritual growth. Though supposedly inspired by the parable of the prodigal son, it came off as a very disjointed, contrived story that did a very poor job of meditating on authentic fatherly love (both in the divine and human sense).
Tragically, the author seems to have invested a great deal of research and spiritual energy in the production of this book. Yet the reader is not left with a well-crafted story of fatherly love but a brick of pages that serves an embarrassingly showy exhibition of literary references and naked theological pronouncements. This is not literature. It would be more suited to the Hallmark channel.
Normally I hate to waste time on negative reviews, but so many things about this book confused me. Why is it so absurdly long? Why was it so poorly edited? How is it being endorsed as a masterpiece by other well-known Catholic writers? Why are book clubs encouraging mothers to spend their precious time reading this instead of actual literature? This was my first Michael O'Brien book, and it will also be my last.
1 star for the author's good intentions, I guess?
January 23, 2025
I wish that the whole first part of the book would catch on fire like the kingfisher so that we could be free to just be able to read about his journey in Siberia. Then I wish part four would catch fire again and save us all from the unbelievable spy subplot. Also, the dialogue makes me wonder if O'Brien has ever listened to people talk in real life.
Michael O'Brien sorely needed a better editor. To be fair, I'm also salty that WRM decided to make us read this book in a month. Come one! It's a $30 doorstop!
But honestly the real villain is Peter Kreeft. "A thousand pages of Michael O'Brien is like a thousand sunrises." Was he paid to write this review? Kreeft, my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
Michael O'Brien sorely needed a better editor. To be fair, I'm also salty that WRM decided to make us read this book in a month. Come one! It's a $30 doorstop!
But honestly the real villain is Peter Kreeft. "A thousand pages of Michael O'Brien is like a thousand sunrises." Was he paid to write this review? Kreeft, my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2024
I got 250 pages into this before I had to stop.
The prose is just so bad. The majority of the book is internal monologue and dialogue, but it sounds as if the author had never heard an actual conversation before, everything is so painfully stilted. O'Brien is so desperate to get his "deep" insights across that he fairly bashes you over the head with them.
Here's an example; in one scene, the main character and an Oxford professor talk about the sign that hangs over the door of a pub:
The swinging sign over the pub's door depicted a scene from Greek mythology, the infant Ganymede being carried off to Olympus by one of Zeus's eagles. A classic abduction case. (we get it) A missing son. (WE GET IT)
Oxford professor: "Now look at young Ganymede here. On one side we see the poor child dangling from the eagle's beak, torn from his mother's breast by violence. On the other side he rides upon the eagle's back, having the time of his life. What sense do you make of that?"
Main character: "Perhaps one side shows the event from the baby's perspective and the other is the bird's interpretation?"
Oxford professor: "Excellent! A penetrating analysis. Of all the students and colleagues whom I have guided to this very spot, you are the first to understand."
Penetrating analysis? I guess this exchange is supposed to show us how deep and insightful our MC is, except that his penetrating analysis could have been achieved by my 4 year old. I thought Oxford had higher standards.
I have no right to judge the storyline, as I only made it 20% through the book, so I won't. But even if I give the unread 800 pages every benefit of the doubt as to plot, this point still remains: The best violin concerto in the world will sound bad if the instrument is out of tune.
The prose is just so bad. The majority of the book is internal monologue and dialogue, but it sounds as if the author had never heard an actual conversation before, everything is so painfully stilted. O'Brien is so desperate to get his "deep" insights across that he fairly bashes you over the head with them.
Here's an example; in one scene, the main character and an Oxford professor talk about the sign that hangs over the door of a pub:
The swinging sign over the pub's door depicted a scene from Greek mythology, the infant Ganymede being carried off to Olympus by one of Zeus's eagles. A classic abduction case. (we get it) A missing son. (WE GET IT)
Oxford professor: "Now look at young Ganymede here. On one side we see the poor child dangling from the eagle's beak, torn from his mother's breast by violence. On the other side he rides upon the eagle's back, having the time of his life. What sense do you make of that?"
Main character: "Perhaps one side shows the event from the baby's perspective and the other is the bird's interpretation?"
Oxford professor: "Excellent! A penetrating analysis. Of all the students and colleagues whom I have guided to this very spot, you are the first to understand."
Penetrating analysis? I guess this exchange is supposed to show us how deep and insightful our MC is, except that his penetrating analysis could have been achieved by my 4 year old. I thought Oxford had higher standards.
I have no right to judge the storyline, as I only made it 20% through the book, so I won't. But even if I give the unread 800 pages every benefit of the doubt as to plot, this point still remains: The best violin concerto in the world will sound bad if the instrument is out of tune.
July 26, 2025
Someone get this man an editor.
Listen, I like Russia, too. I spent seven years in school proving it. But I don't like reductionist stereotypes about how naturally spiritual the Slavs are and the intellectual depth of all their tortured souls.
I also don't like authors who can't decide what kind of book they are writing, try to cram three books into one, and then realize they've written themselves into a corner and take the lazy way out. I'm looking at you, Part Four!
Listen, I like Russia, too. I spent seven years in school proving it. But I don't like reductionist stereotypes about how naturally spiritual the Slavs are and the intellectual depth of all their tortured souls.
I also don't like authors who can't decide what kind of book they are writing, try to cram three books into one, and then realize they've written themselves into a corner and take the lazy way out. I'm looking at you, Part Four!
March 13, 2025
This story was absolutely off its rocker.
Peter Kreeft’s glowing review said “This is a magnum opus in quality as well as quantity…There is not one boring or superfluous page…(BET!) When you finish you will say,…‘It has one fault: it is too short.’ A thousand pages of Michael O’Brien is like a thousand sunrises: who’s complaining?”
Well…me.
Could have been at least 600 “sunrises” shorter.
Things that made me cringe:
-the dialogue: no one talks like this in real life
-the Italian accent typed out for Maria
-Alex’s interactions with women
-The nicknames!
-Catholic preaching that disrupted the flow
-the hasty ending with his sons
-the Chinese subplot thrown in for the heck of it
O’Brien tried to explore too many themes, ideas & characters in 1000 pages, and the result was an unsatisfying ending. Make up your mind!! Is it a mystery thriller? a romance? (if so, stick with the original woman you built chemistry with for 300 pages, not her “Canadian equivalent”) A spy novel?? A coming of age? The premise of the story does little to explain the pure insanity that was reading this book, especially part 4.
I likely wouldn’t recommend this book, and I’m disappointed I own a $30 copy to be used as a paperweight. At least the Ignatius cover will look nice gathering dust on my bookshelf.
Try again with an editor, O’Brien—you’ve got good ideas with poor execution.
2 stars, because at least there was Aglaya, the old Siberian woman who always put Alex in his place. What a Godsend. Shame she couldn’t put O’Brien in his.
Peter Kreeft’s glowing review said “This is a magnum opus in quality as well as quantity…There is not one boring or superfluous page…(BET!) When you finish you will say,…‘It has one fault: it is too short.’ A thousand pages of Michael O’Brien is like a thousand sunrises: who’s complaining?”
Well…me.
Could have been at least 600 “sunrises” shorter.
Things that made me cringe:
-the dialogue: no one talks like this in real life
-the Italian accent typed out for Maria
-Alex’s interactions with women
-The nicknames!
-Catholic preaching that disrupted the flow
-the hasty ending with his sons
-the Chinese subplot thrown in for the heck of it
O’Brien tried to explore too many themes, ideas & characters in 1000 pages, and the result was an unsatisfying ending. Make up your mind!! Is it a mystery thriller? a romance? (if so, stick with the original woman you built chemistry with for 300 pages, not her “Canadian equivalent”) A spy novel?? A coming of age? The premise of the story does little to explain the pure insanity that was reading this book, especially part 4.
I likely wouldn’t recommend this book, and I’m disappointed I own a $30 copy to be used as a paperweight. At least the Ignatius cover will look nice gathering dust on my bookshelf.
Try again with an editor, O’Brien—you’ve got good ideas with poor execution.
2 stars, because at least there was Aglaya, the old Siberian woman who always put Alex in his place. What a Godsend. Shame she couldn’t put O’Brien in his.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2025
I would have DNF'd this pretty quickly if I weren't the leader for our WRM group. This was pulpy and overwritten and way too self-conscious about being a "Catholic book." I know O'Brien has his heart in the right place, but I didn't need to read 1000 pages of this. I have a degree in Russian History; I, too, love Russia for inexplicable reasons, but the many words and lack of depth about the Eastern and Western soul was too much.
[spoilers follow]
Also, poor Theresa Colley; she committed the crime of merely existing next to a boring main character and thus must marry him in the end. The whole China section was dumb, too. And, of course, what I thought was the most interesting aspect of the book, the cult, was completely obscure and unexplained. I understand that the point was Alex's hero's journey, but one must remember the plot devices.
[spoilers follow]
Also, poor Theresa Colley; she committed the crime of merely existing next to a boring main character and thus must marry him in the end. The whole China section was dumb, too. And, of course, what I thought was the most interesting aspect of the book, the cult, was completely obscure and unexplained. I understand that the point was Alex's hero's journey, but one must remember the plot devices.
December 20, 2011
The Father’s Tale, by Michael O’Brien, is an impressive book to look at. It clocks in over 1000 pages and is not for the faint of heart.
It’s a LOT of reading.
But wow! WHAT reading!
Here’s literature in the modern day, a little slice of what Dickens might look like if he were writing now. These characters are richly written and real people.
I’ve never been to Russia, and before I read this, I would have thought it unlikely that I would ever go. O’Brien makes his story a journey, and while you may not feel that you need to know how everything looks, I didn’t find it overwhelming or to be too much.
In other words, I loved the book.
On the surface, it’s a good story. Dad finds out that son disappears, takes off for the first time ever from his small town and travels around the world. During his journey, he runs into all sorts of interesting folks and crazy adventures.
If you go a little deeper–which, really, you should, after investing all that time in reading it–there’s more to be considered.
First, what is fatherhood? And when we consider ideal fatherhood–not what we have experienced in life, but what God intends–how do we get a clearer picture of God himself, God as our father?
While O’Brien has you wondering just what in the world is going to happen (and there was a point, near the end, when I was convinced I did have it figured out…and I didn’t. Not at all.), he also forces you to do a bit of self-examination.
What does it look like to give it all to God? What does trust in God really entail?
Can I do that?
Or, if you’re me: Are you serious?
If his characters were any less authentic, the story wouldn’t work. I’d have walked away shaking my head, convinced there was no way any real-life person would undertake something so far-fetched.
I’m looking forward to reading other reviews of this book–I’ve kept myself a bit shielded from them, because I wanted to articulate my first thoughts before getting a dose of what other people were saying. This is the kind of novel that has life lessons in it, but that’s not why you read it. Maybe there’s a message in it, and maybe it is the parable of the prodigal son retold.
What I really loved was the story. Any message that was in it was like life itself: integrated into the very fabric of it.
Highly recommended, and one of my favorite reads this year.
It’s a LOT of reading.
But wow! WHAT reading!
Here’s literature in the modern day, a little slice of what Dickens might look like if he were writing now. These characters are richly written and real people.
I’ve never been to Russia, and before I read this, I would have thought it unlikely that I would ever go. O’Brien makes his story a journey, and while you may not feel that you need to know how everything looks, I didn’t find it overwhelming or to be too much.
In other words, I loved the book.
On the surface, it’s a good story. Dad finds out that son disappears, takes off for the first time ever from his small town and travels around the world. During his journey, he runs into all sorts of interesting folks and crazy adventures.
If you go a little deeper–which, really, you should, after investing all that time in reading it–there’s more to be considered.
First, what is fatherhood? And when we consider ideal fatherhood–not what we have experienced in life, but what God intends–how do we get a clearer picture of God himself, God as our father?
While O’Brien has you wondering just what in the world is going to happen (and there was a point, near the end, when I was convinced I did have it figured out…and I didn’t. Not at all.), he also forces you to do a bit of self-examination.
What does it look like to give it all to God? What does trust in God really entail?
Can I do that?
Or, if you’re me: Are you serious?
If his characters were any less authentic, the story wouldn’t work. I’d have walked away shaking my head, convinced there was no way any real-life person would undertake something so far-fetched.
I’m looking forward to reading other reviews of this book–I’ve kept myself a bit shielded from them, because I wanted to articulate my first thoughts before getting a dose of what other people were saying. This is the kind of novel that has life lessons in it, but that’s not why you read it. Maybe there’s a message in it, and maybe it is the parable of the prodigal son retold.
What I really loved was the story. Any message that was in it was like life itself: integrated into the very fabric of it.
Highly recommended, and one of my favorite reads this year.
January 28, 2025
Mediocre Catholic propaganda. I am a practicing, believing Catholic, but this is heavy-handed, overly emotional, self-aggrandizing propaganda. There are so many genuinely good Catholic books out there. Read those.
Read
January 17, 2025Oh, Michael O’Brien. What a tome you’ve written. I am impressed at the sheer number of words you can put together to write this story! I mean it! I have some critiques, however, and I will make it long to reciprocate the lack of brevity in this novel (hehehe):
1. Imagine if you were in a car going a nice 35 mph… and then you go straight onto a Texas highway where you are going 90… and then suddenly hit a school zone at 3pm so you have to go 20 mph, but for a weird amount of time… and then go immediately back on the highway until you hit a sudden wall of a stop. That’s the cadence of this novel. There’s so much whiplash and some tangents that seem very unnecessary. I wish an editor would have given some better advice to aid the flow to this story. As Mark Twain once expressed in a letter to a friend, “if I had more time, I’d write you a shorter letter.” Brevity is much harder than just having a stream of consciousness get a point across. This novel has no sense of awareness to ensure that a quality story could be conveyed to the reader… it felt like it was hefty for the sake of being intimidating. The ethereal tangents were confusing, and there are hundreds of pages that go by with no mention of the lost son whatsoever… it’s like the crux of the plot was forgotten for a while. It reminded me of An American in Paris, when Gene Kelly goes on a 30 minute tap dancing spree that has nothing to do with the plot and you completely forget what the story is, and when you return to the plot… you’re disoriented. For such a long winded author, most characters still fell flat to me.
2. I wrote this before, but I think there is something to be said for writers who have their head in the clouds… where the constant referencing of other works make the reading less enjoyable (even IF you do know what they are talking about!). He’s levitating and I can’t quite reach his feet to pull him back down again to earth. I feel like the author was trying to impress his readers with how *cultured* he is. I really wanted to like Alex. For much of the novel, I did. But there were moments that made me question if I would like this character if he were before me in real life (I think I’d find him very frustrating).
I loved the idea of this book. I find many of the snapshots that do come to memory amidst the babbling to be moving and impactful (The encounter with the suffering Christ at the end was beautiful and will stick with me for a long time). But the poor writing (in my opinion) makes me hesitate to recommend this novel.
In short, I wish an editor could have cut 600 pages and this would have made a great use of my time. But alas, my review, as rambling as it was, could have used an editor too. 😉
1. Imagine if you were in a car going a nice 35 mph… and then you go straight onto a Texas highway where you are going 90… and then suddenly hit a school zone at 3pm so you have to go 20 mph, but for a weird amount of time… and then go immediately back on the highway until you hit a sudden wall of a stop. That’s the cadence of this novel. There’s so much whiplash and some tangents that seem very unnecessary. I wish an editor would have given some better advice to aid the flow to this story. As Mark Twain once expressed in a letter to a friend, “if I had more time, I’d write you a shorter letter.” Brevity is much harder than just having a stream of consciousness get a point across. This novel has no sense of awareness to ensure that a quality story could be conveyed to the reader… it felt like it was hefty for the sake of being intimidating. The ethereal tangents were confusing, and there are hundreds of pages that go by with no mention of the lost son whatsoever… it’s like the crux of the plot was forgotten for a while. It reminded me of An American in Paris, when Gene Kelly goes on a 30 minute tap dancing spree that has nothing to do with the plot and you completely forget what the story is, and when you return to the plot… you’re disoriented. For such a long winded author, most characters still fell flat to me.
2. I wrote this before, but I think there is something to be said for writers who have their head in the clouds… where the constant referencing of other works make the reading less enjoyable (even IF you do know what they are talking about!). He’s levitating and I can’t quite reach his feet to pull him back down again to earth. I feel like the author was trying to impress his readers with how *cultured* he is. I really wanted to like Alex. For much of the novel, I did. But there were moments that made me question if I would like this character if he were before me in real life (I think I’d find him very frustrating).
I loved the idea of this book. I find many of the snapshots that do come to memory amidst the babbling to be moving and impactful (The encounter with the suffering Christ at the end was beautiful and will stick with me for a long time). But the poor writing (in my opinion) makes me hesitate to recommend this novel.
In short, I wish an editor could have cut 600 pages and this would have made a great use of my time. But alas, my review, as rambling as it was, could have used an editor too. 😉
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 9, 2025
It's a Wonderful Life Meets Ivan Denisovitch
I wanted to like this book. It wasn't a total waste of time, but only nearly. Other reviewers have bemoaned the 1,000 pages. I agree but I also suspect that no editor can really touch Michael O'Brien because of his backlog and generally good reception among his readers. This is the downfall of niche fiction. If it ain't broke, why fix it?
Except for this month. Well Read Mom included this novel for this year's reading and the jury's out on how a regular mix of readers will receive this one. I've already heard a murmur (or seven) of frustration with the prose, the characters, and the outcome.
Here's the problem. Alex Graham, Russophile, ends up there tailing his errant son across Europe and Siberia, and Has Some Adventures. This includes hanging out with some priests who lesson him on the aftermath of the Great Schism, a will-he or won't-he entanglement with a perfectly nice but non-believing widow, and some bad guys who torture him Gulag Archipelago-style and then lose and forget about him. Then he ends up in China with some underground church folks and then is delivered to some 1940s American-style GI's straight out of a Monty Banks film. Sigh.
He's a faithful Catholic but not a guy we care to root for. I suspect that's partially Michael O'Brien's wish for the reader and partially it's just the writing itself. He's so passive that trains carry him physically everywhere, and people carry him metaphysically/metaphorically everywhere. Basically he's very happy to live in in his sad mind and then reacts with offended pride whenever anyone tells him anything. He does like to recite poetry, though, the awfulness of which makes him doubly offensive to me.
After 1,000 pages abroad, he ends up back in his hometown of Halcyon, Ontario, in possession of his old life (comforts, bookstore, warm house) because the townspeople he always avoids have actively saved his livelihood at their own expense. Ahem, George Bailey. Then he gets married. Oh yeah, his son has apparently been safe in England almost the whole time.
The plot is a shell for some important stuff: suffering, loss of and then recovery of the Sacraments, the loss of unity because of the East-West Schism, the purpose of marriage. All those important things!
But those belong mainly in the realm of non-fiction. To use fiction to bring maybe one of these to light might be very meaningful if well-executed (just look at the Cluny Press fiction catalog). But you have to make literary excellence the aim. You cannot abuse fiction by stuffing so many ideas, well worth explication, into a single story and just stretching it out like a too-tight sweatshirt.
I wanted to like this book. It wasn't a total waste of time, but only nearly. Other reviewers have bemoaned the 1,000 pages. I agree but I also suspect that no editor can really touch Michael O'Brien because of his backlog and generally good reception among his readers. This is the downfall of niche fiction. If it ain't broke, why fix it?
Except for this month. Well Read Mom included this novel for this year's reading and the jury's out on how a regular mix of readers will receive this one. I've already heard a murmur (or seven) of frustration with the prose, the characters, and the outcome.
Here's the problem. Alex Graham, Russophile, ends up there tailing his errant son across Europe and Siberia, and Has Some Adventures. This includes hanging out with some priests who lesson him on the aftermath of the Great Schism, a will-he or won't-he entanglement with a perfectly nice but non-believing widow, and some bad guys who torture him Gulag Archipelago-style and then lose and forget about him. Then he ends up in China with some underground church folks and then is delivered to some 1940s American-style GI's straight out of a Monty Banks film. Sigh.
He's a faithful Catholic but not a guy we care to root for. I suspect that's partially Michael O'Brien's wish for the reader and partially it's just the writing itself. He's so passive that trains carry him physically everywhere, and people carry him metaphysically/metaphorically everywhere. Basically he's very happy to live in in his sad mind and then reacts with offended pride whenever anyone tells him anything. He does like to recite poetry, though, the awfulness of which makes him doubly offensive to me.
After 1,000 pages abroad, he ends up back in his hometown of Halcyon, Ontario, in possession of his old life (comforts, bookstore, warm house) because the townspeople he always avoids have actively saved his livelihood at their own expense. Ahem, George Bailey. Then he gets married. Oh yeah, his son has apparently been safe in England almost the whole time.
The plot is a shell for some important stuff: suffering, loss of and then recovery of the Sacraments, the loss of unity because of the East-West Schism, the purpose of marriage. All those important things!
But those belong mainly in the realm of non-fiction. To use fiction to bring maybe one of these to light might be very meaningful if well-executed (just look at the Cluny Press fiction catalog). But you have to make literary excellence the aim. You cannot abuse fiction by stuffing so many ideas, well worth explication, into a single story and just stretching it out like a too-tight sweatshirt.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2012
My father is kind enough to send copies of his novels to his offspring, and this one, his latest, came out last fall. At over 1000 pages, it looks intimidatingly like a Russian novel, and while much of it does indeed take place in Russia, it is a page-turner that I devoured in less than two weeks – during the frenzied heart of graduate school, no less. Warning: it’s a weeper, but in the sense of “good-sad”. Perhaps it’s because the heart of the Father seems so close, especially while the characters go through so much.
February 9, 2025
In the words of Ramona Quimby: "I can't believe I read the whole thing!"
Unsatisfying ending especially after the length of the book.
Unsatisfying ending especially after the length of the book.
October 9, 2023
This was such a beautiful story with the image of what happens when we allow God to work in us.
After the main character is told a great tragedy, He tells the Lord to “do whatever you want with me”. He then makes a singular act of love with the small capacity he has, the act of going out into the deep waters, then the Lord sweeps him up in a wild adventure that continuously molds and stretches his capacity for Love.
The trip is filled with beautiful encounters with people and places as well as great trials and suffering. One of the other awesome themes was that of the Mystical Body of Christ. The main character encounters so many people that reflect different parts of himself as well as Christ as he travels across continents.
This book stunned me to the point that I have been thinking on it the past few days and prayed about many scenes. Would recommend to anyone, 5 stars fo sho.
After the main character is told a great tragedy, He tells the Lord to “do whatever you want with me”. He then makes a singular act of love with the small capacity he has, the act of going out into the deep waters, then the Lord sweeps him up in a wild adventure that continuously molds and stretches his capacity for Love.
The trip is filled with beautiful encounters with people and places as well as great trials and suffering. One of the other awesome themes was that of the Mystical Body of Christ. The main character encounters so many people that reflect different parts of himself as well as Christ as he travels across continents.
This book stunned me to the point that I have been thinking on it the past few days and prayed about many scenes. Would recommend to anyone, 5 stars fo sho.
February 24, 2025
This will be a brief review because the book had enough words for an entire lifetime. This was honestly so bad. There were so many plots and characters and none of them resolved in any meaningful way. The main character was a moody, self flagellating, moralistic man whose only point of reference is himself. Women exist in this book solely to tempt men or to be their ultimate fulfillment but never exist as actual people in and of themselves. Alexander felt like a mouth piece for the author to talk about literally whatever he wanted for over a thousand pages. I’m having a hard time believing that O’Brien is worth reading after the last few books of his I’ve read. He doesn’t trust his readers enough to tell them a story and make their own conclusions and so instead spoon feeds you hyper Catholic schlock that gives you no room to even have to begin to think or care deeply about the lifeless characters he writes. 0/10 do not recommend.
February 19, 2025
Well, it seemed most people either hated this book or love it and I’m squarely in the middle. I think the same story could have been told in half the number of pages and nothing would have been lost. The fact that we needed to read the backstories of every character and every conversation and every thought the main character ever had points to at least of bit (though I suggest much more than a bit) of the superfluous. One such moment that stood out to me was a particular sentence in there to say that one character told another character that a boat trip was going to take six hours. That was highly unnecessary, how did an editor not see that? That was just one of many such instances. We did not need every minutiae of the character’s life. Also, Alex told a weird story to schoolchildren that was supposed to be an allegory but didn’t seem of note, could have saved us some pages. There were so many unnecessary details about meals - not meals in which major plot elements unfolded or we learned about the characters and their relationship to each other but just so we know they ate and what they liked to eat, I guess.
But overall, I did like Alex. He was not some amazing hero. He was a bit of a bumbling fool, he definitely had unlikeable moments, but overall, he seemed like a good man that was doing his best (and his best wasn’t that great) and was capable of great love when really challenged. He lived a life in which he was never challenged, so what do you expect when he is called up to the plate? Of course he’s going to fail spectacularly.
The plot was meandering. The ending was abrupt and a bit unbelievable but I didn’t hate it. It was a bit preachy. Yes, I believe in God, am a faithful Catholic, and can relate to those elements but I didn’t want to be hit over the head with them.
I certainly wouldn’t reread it. But I’m not mad I read it. It will make for a good discussion.
But overall, I did like Alex. He was not some amazing hero. He was a bit of a bumbling fool, he definitely had unlikeable moments, but overall, he seemed like a good man that was doing his best (and his best wasn’t that great) and was capable of great love when really challenged. He lived a life in which he was never challenged, so what do you expect when he is called up to the plate? Of course he’s going to fail spectacularly.
The plot was meandering. The ending was abrupt and a bit unbelievable but I didn’t hate it. It was a bit preachy. Yes, I believe in God, am a faithful Catholic, and can relate to those elements but I didn’t want to be hit over the head with them.
I certainly wouldn’t reread it. But I’m not mad I read it. It will make for a good discussion.
February 20, 2025
I told myself I’d never read this author again and did I listen to myself? Ugh. No, because WRM. It felt like a publisher partnership money grab to force a ton of sales and create extra suffering before Lent even begins.
I held a glimmer of hope because I truly respect Kreeft. But I wonder if he actually read this. The other reviews are making me feel better about the waste of time though. Never again. Seriously.
I held a glimmer of hope because I truly respect Kreeft. But I wonder if he actually read this. The other reviews are making me feel better about the waste of time though. Never again. Seriously.
Read
February 5, 2025What a ride.
Incredibly lengthy, jarring pacing, and a truly unbelievable conclusion—but a few of the spiritual moments will stick with me for a long time.
Incredibly lengthy, jarring pacing, and a truly unbelievable conclusion—but a few of the spiritual moments will stick with me for a long time.
November 30, 2015
As with all of Michael O'Brien's books which I have read, ''The Father's Tale'' has some mildly compelling insights, a few memorable one-liners, and moments of pleasurable light, all of which is nestled in and between stilted dialog, cliché-ridden internal monologues, and uninteresting characters.
To put what prevents O'Brien from being a good artist into two sentences, I offer the words of the Russian doctor found on page 739: ''Always you try to explain the obvious, [Mr. O'Brien]. You think other people are not bright enough to understand you''. Throughout this book (which doubles as a home-security system), Alex's interior monologue serves the same function as the chorus in a Greek tragedy: fill in what the action doesn't show you. Hence, the omniscent monologue comes across as generally heavy-handed and artificial, and very tiresome.
Exempli gratia. In order to show a character's self-doubt, a good author may play with describing the character's facial features, make his spoken phrases more airy or heated as his personality demands, or maybe simply report some insight about the surrounding scenery which now the character unaccountably finds interesting. In short, the good author will do anything, except say that the character is experiencing a spell of self doubt. The good writer would not offer: ''Slowly the mood receded. But where did it go? Back into some un-uprooted corner of evil in his heart? Did evil reside there like a corrupt substance, a melanoma that he carried about within himself, sometimes growing, sometimes in remission? Or was it..."
Several years ago, I read a single short-story by Dostoevsky, ''The Dream of a Ridiculous Man.'' It was such a masterpiece of the interior life; I hated it. My response was motivated by the realization that reading a translation of the story was exactly that: a story in English that only approximates the meaning of Dostoevsky's idea. The words in English had just enough of a clumsy flavour that I knew I was not really reading Dosteovsky. I think that O'Brien has read some of the Russians, and has tried to imitate their style - but I do not think that he knows Russian either. If he does have knowledge of that language, I'm afraid that would be worse for him since, paraphrasing Hamlet, ''He imitates humanity so abominably'' that he would have learned nothing from it.
The recovery of a star was achieved for two reasons. The first is that for nearly thirty pages in the fourth part there is what I believe is an almost masterful in breaking of the Theatre of the Absurd as the character nearly loses his mind. The second is that the author's heart is in the right place. O'Brien has not written a spy novel, or an improbable story about a father searching for his lost son and who, through a series of evil intrigues which are resolved by just as many deus ex machinas, ends up traveling through ever major country in the present day; it is a story of self-knowledge. And in that, O'Brien is puttering along in the Russian masters' shadows.
To put what prevents O'Brien from being a good artist into two sentences, I offer the words of the Russian doctor found on page 739: ''Always you try to explain the obvious, [Mr. O'Brien]. You think other people are not bright enough to understand you''. Throughout this book (which doubles as a home-security system), Alex's interior monologue serves the same function as the chorus in a Greek tragedy: fill in what the action doesn't show you. Hence, the omniscent monologue comes across as generally heavy-handed and artificial, and very tiresome.
Exempli gratia. In order to show a character's self-doubt, a good author may play with describing the character's facial features, make his spoken phrases more airy or heated as his personality demands, or maybe simply report some insight about the surrounding scenery which now the character unaccountably finds interesting. In short, the good author will do anything, except say that the character is experiencing a spell of self doubt. The good writer would not offer: ''Slowly the mood receded. But where did it go? Back into some un-uprooted corner of evil in his heart? Did evil reside there like a corrupt substance, a melanoma that he carried about within himself, sometimes growing, sometimes in remission? Or was it..."
Several years ago, I read a single short-story by Dostoevsky, ''The Dream of a Ridiculous Man.'' It was such a masterpiece of the interior life; I hated it. My response was motivated by the realization that reading a translation of the story was exactly that: a story in English that only approximates the meaning of Dostoevsky's idea. The words in English had just enough of a clumsy flavour that I knew I was not really reading Dosteovsky. I think that O'Brien has read some of the Russians, and has tried to imitate their style - but I do not think that he knows Russian either. If he does have knowledge of that language, I'm afraid that would be worse for him since, paraphrasing Hamlet, ''He imitates humanity so abominably'' that he would have learned nothing from it.
The recovery of a star was achieved for two reasons. The first is that for nearly thirty pages in the fourth part there is what I believe is an almost masterful in breaking of the Theatre of the Absurd as the character nearly loses his mind. The second is that the author's heart is in the right place. O'Brien has not written a spy novel, or an improbable story about a father searching for his lost son and who, through a series of evil intrigues which are resolved by just as many deus ex machinas, ends up traveling through ever major country in the present day; it is a story of self-knowledge. And in that, O'Brien is puttering along in the Russian masters' shadows.
November 7, 2011
Closer to 5 stars.
With author Michael O'Brien there are certain things you come to expect in his novels. Deep character sketches so well-crafter that the words almost demand that the person depicted is more than just fictional. Characters who are emotionally wounded, physically wounded, or a combination of this. A spiritual dimension that is just not a polish to the story, but an integral part of it. Cultural commentary and even art criticism are also components.
In his new novel "The Father's Tale" the story is told of Alex Graham a bookseller and widower who has withdrawn from life and into his books. A basically good and pious man who after his wife's death has kept to himself avoiding any societal entanglements. His staid life is fractured when his college-age son disappears.
Michael O'Brien calls this novel "A modern retelling of the parables The Good Shepherd and The Prodigal Son." which is a very apt description. In this regards it reminds me favorably of Ron Hansen's "Atticus" another book I loved. The Prodigal Son theme is at several levels. Alex Graham while looking for his prodigal son is himself a prodigal son in relationship to God the Father. Other characters fall into this theme also. Alex Graham embarks on a world-wide chase after his son in a nightmare journey that is also a dark night of the soul. The feeling of the loss of God combines with alienation from the world around him as he comes to seemingly lose all support. His journey is a purgative road where he meets many people along the way in the search for his son.
At over a 1000 pages this is not a simple adventure story and a rescuing of a son, but something deeper and richer. Again you can see aspects of Michael O'Brien the iconographer in his writing along with the theological emphasis of the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches. This aspect especially shines through here. O'Brien certainly has a tendency to monologue via his characters at times, but I forgive him this because he has something to say that is worth hearing. You might think there should have been plenty of room for an editor to scale back the size of the book, but there is not a section I would have wanted cut. The novel left me both entertained and thoughtful afterwards. The plot itself took so many twists and turns that I came to not be able to anticipate what was going to happen next other than the general flow of the theme. It is always hard to evaluate a novel fresh after reading it in comparison to the author's other novels. Regardless, I feel this is his finest novel to date.
The Ignatius Press audiobook version is again done by Kevin O'Brien. I listen to a fair amount of professionally done audiobooks and i would place Kevin O'Brien skills in the upper tier. His ensemble of voices and performance brings something extra to an already good story.
With author Michael O'Brien there are certain things you come to expect in his novels. Deep character sketches so well-crafter that the words almost demand that the person depicted is more than just fictional. Characters who are emotionally wounded, physically wounded, or a combination of this. A spiritual dimension that is just not a polish to the story, but an integral part of it. Cultural commentary and even art criticism are also components.
In his new novel "The Father's Tale" the story is told of Alex Graham a bookseller and widower who has withdrawn from life and into his books. A basically good and pious man who after his wife's death has kept to himself avoiding any societal entanglements. His staid life is fractured when his college-age son disappears.
Michael O'Brien calls this novel "A modern retelling of the parables The Good Shepherd and The Prodigal Son." which is a very apt description. In this regards it reminds me favorably of Ron Hansen's "Atticus" another book I loved. The Prodigal Son theme is at several levels. Alex Graham while looking for his prodigal son is himself a prodigal son in relationship to God the Father. Other characters fall into this theme also. Alex Graham embarks on a world-wide chase after his son in a nightmare journey that is also a dark night of the soul. The feeling of the loss of God combines with alienation from the world around him as he comes to seemingly lose all support. His journey is a purgative road where he meets many people along the way in the search for his son.
At over a 1000 pages this is not a simple adventure story and a rescuing of a son, but something deeper and richer. Again you can see aspects of Michael O'Brien the iconographer in his writing along with the theological emphasis of the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches. This aspect especially shines through here. O'Brien certainly has a tendency to monologue via his characters at times, but I forgive him this because he has something to say that is worth hearing. You might think there should have been plenty of room for an editor to scale back the size of the book, but there is not a section I would have wanted cut. The novel left me both entertained and thoughtful afterwards. The plot itself took so many twists and turns that I came to not be able to anticipate what was going to happen next other than the general flow of the theme. It is always hard to evaluate a novel fresh after reading it in comparison to the author's other novels. Regardless, I feel this is his finest novel to date.
The Ignatius Press audiobook version is again done by Kevin O'Brien. I listen to a fair amount of professionally done audiobooks and i would place Kevin O'Brien skills in the upper tier. His ensemble of voices and performance brings something extra to an already good story.
February 18, 2025
Finally. It is done. I don't recommend this book. Alas.
1. The audible narration is among the worst I've heard. The multitude of voices are really interesting, but most, especially the screeching women, don't fit the characters and distract from their stories. The constant volume changes from whispers to old man shouting make volume control while driving very hard, and I don't like being startled by yelling on my commute when I've had to turn up the volume bc they are whispering. I believe the author's son does it. Truly good acting skills and accents. Would be put to great use in a play.
2. This was a really bad choice for wrm book club. 35 hours long on audible. 35 dollars for the actual book. Over 1000 pages long. Very little plot. Not a classic. Not great spiritually. Mostly deeply boring. I'm losing faith in the book pickers this year...
3. Now to the book. Where was the editor?! This book could have been 1/3 as long. It plods along with disjointed images as a father who is bumbling and purposefully isolated goes along to find his son who joined a cult. First to Oxford, then Finland, then he somehow ends up in Siberia for a long time! Then the kgb suddenly get involved! Prior to that, he forgets he's seeking his son and plays family with someone, but then they realize they're just lonely. Then he goes to China as a captive and meets underground Christians. Then the Americans save the day! And his son has been fine for a year or so. Planes, trains, and automobiles. Disjointed and not particularly insightful thoughts. Logistics and boring meals. This is not Proust. Or Dante, though all the women are either Marian images of perfection or harlots. There was even talk of someone using her " feminine wiles"... it's not gogol or dostoyeskvy or tolstoy. But there is a lot about a kingfisher. Also it is not Waiting for Godot, but has that same annoying feeling of waiting for something to happen. The best parts were a few images of scenes. Would have been better as some paintings. 2 stars bc I slogged thru to and didn't want to be mean...
1. The audible narration is among the worst I've heard. The multitude of voices are really interesting, but most, especially the screeching women, don't fit the characters and distract from their stories. The constant volume changes from whispers to old man shouting make volume control while driving very hard, and I don't like being startled by yelling on my commute when I've had to turn up the volume bc they are whispering. I believe the author's son does it. Truly good acting skills and accents. Would be put to great use in a play.
2. This was a really bad choice for wrm book club. 35 hours long on audible. 35 dollars for the actual book. Over 1000 pages long. Very little plot. Not a classic. Not great spiritually. Mostly deeply boring. I'm losing faith in the book pickers this year...
3. Now to the book. Where was the editor?! This book could have been 1/3 as long. It plods along with disjointed images as a father who is bumbling and purposefully isolated goes along to find his son who joined a cult. First to Oxford, then Finland, then he somehow ends up in Siberia for a long time! Then the kgb suddenly get involved! Prior to that, he forgets he's seeking his son and plays family with someone, but then they realize they're just lonely. Then he goes to China as a captive and meets underground Christians. Then the Americans save the day! And his son has been fine for a year or so. Planes, trains, and automobiles. Disjointed and not particularly insightful thoughts. Logistics and boring meals. This is not Proust. Or Dante, though all the women are either Marian images of perfection or harlots. There was even talk of someone using her " feminine wiles"... it's not gogol or dostoyeskvy or tolstoy. But there is a lot about a kingfisher. Also it is not Waiting for Godot, but has that same annoying feeling of waiting for something to happen. The best parts were a few images of scenes. Would have been better as some paintings. 2 stars bc I slogged thru to and didn't want to be mean...
February 11, 2025
Only needed to minimally neglect my kids to get this book done in 5 weeks :)
March 2, 2025
Goodreads sent me an email saying, “You finished The Father’s Tale. What’s next?” What’s next?? What’s next is I amend my life, stop sinning, and learn to be grateful for what God has given me. And never buy a ticket to Russia. Or buy a one way ticket to Russia, I haven’t decided yet.
For real though, this book moved my heart toward Christ in a way I hadn’t realized I needed. It opend my eyes, splashed me with a glass of cold water, slapped me in the face, then cradled me while I wept for the last 100 pages at 2 in the morning. The imagery is so detailed, and no detail unimportant. At no point did I know what would happen next, and yet the story was written in my “glubina dushy” the whole time.
This may well be my favorite book now.
For real though, this book moved my heart toward Christ in a way I hadn’t realized I needed. It opend my eyes, splashed me with a glass of cold water, slapped me in the face, then cradled me while I wept for the last 100 pages at 2 in the morning. The imagery is so detailed, and no detail unimportant. At no point did I know what would happen next, and yet the story was written in my “glubina dushy” the whole time.
This may well be my favorite book now.
March 2, 2025
At over 1000 pages, this book's length is intimidating. But as soon as I started reading, I was pulled in by the charming life of Halcyon and the intrigue of a missing child and a philosophical cult. This book was an emotional roller coaster and the jet setting took my imagination to places it's never been. I know many of my Goodreads friends are familiar with Dr. Jason Baxter -- there were echoes of his lectures and writings here, particularly his thoughts on Dostoevsky, which makes me wonder if he's read this book. Faith, prayer, family, kenosis, East and West, mysticism; it's all in this book and will have my mind ruminating on these things for some time. Highly recommend.
February 13, 2025
Ok, hear me out on the two star rating…not only was this book at least 500-600 pages too long, all the surprising twists and turns - and ultimately sweet outcomes - couldn’t make up for the tiresome, drawn out (overdone) middle portion of the story. I.e., we didn’t need every chapter to include lengthy theological/philosophical discussions or reveries. Not every character needed chapters devoted to their significant life moments….revealed either in heart to hearts or recently unearthed diaries or letters. (That go on for pagesssss though the documents somehow had been kept hidden for years in a book or other small item.)
I acknowledge the book made no secret of its Prodigal Son theme but it truly did not require 1,000+ pages to draw out this retelling and weave in Hopkins and Russian literate/culture and East meets West and a whole bunch more. The story also greatly suffered from being only told/seen more or less from the one protagonist’s perspective and experience. As so much of the story unfolds in Russia, I often recalled how timelessly great Russian works may tell the same story from multiple characters’ perspective, creating true depth and dimension. (E.g., Anna Karina, War & Peace, Brothers K, etc.)
Am I being a bit critical, sure. But I love GREAT books and just because an author is well intentioned and has a worthy cause or righteous belief to promote, doesn’t mean one has to accept a sub-par work. I also think it was too on the nose for a #WellReadMom Year of the Father pick. (Which admittedly influenced my rating and, to be fair, I am partially directing my criticism to #WRM.)
TL;DR, I won’t be running to Ignatius Press for my next fiction read 😂
I acknowledge the book made no secret of its Prodigal Son theme but it truly did not require 1,000+ pages to draw out this retelling and weave in Hopkins and Russian literate/culture and East meets West and a whole bunch more. The story also greatly suffered from being only told/seen more or less from the one protagonist’s perspective and experience. As so much of the story unfolds in Russia, I often recalled how timelessly great Russian works may tell the same story from multiple characters’ perspective, creating true depth and dimension. (E.g., Anna Karina, War & Peace, Brothers K, etc.)
Am I being a bit critical, sure. But I love GREAT books and just because an author is well intentioned and has a worthy cause or righteous belief to promote, doesn’t mean one has to accept a sub-par work. I also think it was too on the nose for a #WellReadMom Year of the Father pick. (Which admittedly influenced my rating and, to be fair, I am partially directing my criticism to #WRM.)
TL;DR, I won’t be running to Ignatius Press for my next fiction read 😂
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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