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Flocking
A literary, adventure, romantic, philosophic novel about the deepest, darkest secrets of the human mind and, ultimately, the very nature of humanity itself. The novel tells of Professor Jeremy Lipton, noted researcher on the Cornell teaching staff, who has developed a substance, isolated from flocking birds, that permits the birds to communicate crude intentions to turn or weave or stop in their coordinated flocking through magnetic impulse. In accidentally breathing some of the powder in, Jeremy finds that he may actually possess this psychic ability himself while the drug is active in his brain. A former student of his, a beautiful young woman with whom he had a very intense but very platonic relationship eight years earlier, has returned to teach on the Cornell staff. Their mutual attraction, stunted then and now by Jeremy's loyalty and devotion to his beautiful but troubled wife--the uniquely gorgeous Sibyl--provides the driving force of the plot, which the flocking substance impacts in odd and unpredictable ways. Are the effects of the chemical for real? Will Jeremy's powerful love for the new young teacher on the staff overcome his loyalty and devotion to his lovely, needy wife? And if the chemical works as it seems to, what will he learn of the inner mind and soul of man? By page 461 of this deeply insightful and beautifully written novel, the reader, led by a witty and congenial narrator, will learn it all.
466 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2011
119 people want to read
About the author
Steven M. Greenberg
5 books4 followersSteven M. Greenberg is the author of three novels,Adam's Will(2000),Incantation(2004),and Flocking(2011).He is a retired physician,having left a very successful career as a noted eye surgeon in Pennsylvania for the manifold delights of creative literature.Having many and varied interests,he has actively pursued extensive self-education in history,science,and the humanities,with formal post-graduate training in history. He is a native of Detroit and received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Wayne State University(Phi Beta Kappa, 1967). He and his wife Deena have traveled extensively(100 countries)and now spend their leisure time in their Florida and Pennsylvania residences. Dr. Greenberg writes meticulously,regarding every word of a novel as intrinsically valuable in creating a mood,evoking a specific sense,or making a philosophic point. His writing has been compared to that of Faulkner, but without the obscurity of much of Faulkner's prose. His second ovel,Incantation, was a finalist(one of five best fiction entries)in the 2005 IPPY awards.Both Adam's Will and Incantation were very well reviewed and Flocking shows great promise of being a unique and enduring piece of literature. Dr. Greenberg spends most of his non-reading,non-writing hours in hiking the hills of Pennsylvania or the beaches of Florida and restoring antique Cadillacs,of which he owns and has restored fifty.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 18, 2016
This irritated me so much that I gave up after just 15% (as Kindle happily informed me). I have never before abandoned a novel without finishing it and with no intention of re-starting it, ever.
In that 15%, the plot manages to introduce our main characters, tell us that Jeremy has isolated a telepathy drug of interest to the military and then there's an accident in the lab, where he gets to inhale some of the drug. That's about it. The rest of those 60-70 pages is filled beyond bursting with overly verbose descriptions and some excessively misogynistic comments on the two main women - there's more about Sybil's stunning but fading beauty and her brainless need for male worshippers than anything else (felt like pages and pages of it in fact).
The novel reads like it was written by a spotty, over eager teenager challenged by a need to appear great and to impress his readers. This is echoed by the rather odd adolescent dialogue, the excessive silliness of the Jeremy - Marcy reunion and, most of all by the weird use of a narrator who discusses the action directly with his readers as if he's a frat boy telling some "awesome", exaggerated tale. That kind of narrative style should in my view only be done if there's a specific purpose in having the narrator as a character in his/her own right - I couldn't identify one.
The final straw? Well, I weakened in the lab scene when Teddy and Jeremy were happily wandering around without protective gear after their precious, untested compound is spilled. Second nature surely for any biochemical researcher? Then groaned further when Jeremy missed the obvious way to test Teddy's claims by simply deciding to spare the terrified rats and instead choosing their neighbours. Finally, I opted out completely when the crows "talk" to Jeremy in perfect English....
In that 15%, the plot manages to introduce our main characters, tell us that Jeremy has isolated a telepathy drug of interest to the military and then there's an accident in the lab, where he gets to inhale some of the drug. That's about it. The rest of those 60-70 pages is filled beyond bursting with overly verbose descriptions and some excessively misogynistic comments on the two main women - there's more about Sybil's stunning but fading beauty and her brainless need for male worshippers than anything else (felt like pages and pages of it in fact).
The novel reads like it was written by a spotty, over eager teenager challenged by a need to appear great and to impress his readers. This is echoed by the rather odd adolescent dialogue, the excessive silliness of the Jeremy - Marcy reunion and, most of all by the weird use of a narrator who discusses the action directly with his readers as if he's a frat boy telling some "awesome", exaggerated tale. That kind of narrative style should in my view only be done if there's a specific purpose in having the narrator as a character in his/her own right - I couldn't identify one.
The final straw? Well, I weakened in the lab scene when Teddy and Jeremy were happily wandering around without protective gear after their precious, untested compound is spilled. Second nature surely for any biochemical researcher? Then groaned further when Jeremy missed the obvious way to test Teddy's claims by simply deciding to spare the terrified rats and instead choosing their neighbours. Finally, I opted out completely when the crows "talk" to Jeremy in perfect English....
May 30, 2022
This screams of men writing women. Couldn't get past the first chapter.
April 12, 2012
I thought the plot of this book was exceptionally interesting. The idea of reading others thoughts isn’t a new idea, but the way the author approached it through the “flocking” ability of birds was fascinating and realistic. It truly sounds like something that would be possible and I was intrigued by it.
However, this was an exhausting book to read. While I thought the plot was unique, wanted to find out how the story ended, and thought most of the characters were interesting, I felt the story bogged down in many places. While this is a literary novel, I have to say that the style of writing was frustrating in many respects:
Too many exclamation marks! Open almost any page at random and you’ll see exclamation marks strewn throughout. I’d be curious to know the total number in the book. There are too many for me to count. But I sure noticed them and they annoyed me.
Too many unnecessary words. I love words just as much as the next reader, but why use 50 words when you can express yourself in 5 or 10? I didn’t find any of the words particularly difficult to understand, I just got tired of the excessive wordiness.
Too much authorial intrusion. When the narrator stopped the story to talk to the reader, it threw me completely out of the story. This happened constantly, and I didn’t find it as amusing as the author seemed to intend.
Everyone sounded alike. Whether they were thinking (and they did a lot of thinking) or talking, all of the characters seemed to have the same word patterns, repetitions, and vocabularies – with the exception of Teddy, who was extremely good at manipulating to get his way.
I received this book in a giveaway from the Goodread’s First Reads program.
However, this was an exhausting book to read. While I thought the plot was unique, wanted to find out how the story ended, and thought most of the characters were interesting, I felt the story bogged down in many places. While this is a literary novel, I have to say that the style of writing was frustrating in many respects:
Too many exclamation marks! Open almost any page at random and you’ll see exclamation marks strewn throughout. I’d be curious to know the total number in the book. There are too many for me to count. But I sure noticed them and they annoyed me.
Too many unnecessary words. I love words just as much as the next reader, but why use 50 words when you can express yourself in 5 or 10? I didn’t find any of the words particularly difficult to understand, I just got tired of the excessive wordiness.
Too much authorial intrusion. When the narrator stopped the story to talk to the reader, it threw me completely out of the story. This happened constantly, and I didn’t find it as amusing as the author seemed to intend.
Everyone sounded alike. Whether they were thinking (and they did a lot of thinking) or talking, all of the characters seemed to have the same word patterns, repetitions, and vocabularies – with the exception of Teddy, who was extremely good at manipulating to get his way.
I received this book in a giveaway from the Goodread’s First Reads program.
August 1, 2012
I was not disappointed reading this book and will certainly enjoy reading it over and over again. I am sure that with each reading I will find things I overlooked or have a different view of. Do yourself a favor and get this book. I won this book on Goodreads.
January 9, 2012
It was definitely interesting and well written.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews