What do you think?
Rate this book
A Final Reflection
When a Chicago attorney receives a terminal diagnosis, he ignores his wife's pleas and embarks on a solitary odyssey, visiting people who have influenced his life, to thank them and to say goodbye. For 30 days and 6,000 miles he drives through the Western U.S., each night making entries in a journal about the day's events, chronicling the trip and revealing to us how it morphs from the purpose he had intended into something else entirely.
He encounters qualities in his friends he had not seen before, and through these revelations, aspects of his own character are revealed to him. He discovers goodbyes are rarely surgical and the precise amputation of his relationships eludes him. No one seems willing to accept his visit as a final farewell.
A FINAL REFLECTION affords glimpses into the perceptions and intuitions of a middle-aged man laboring under a death sentence. He has yet to suffer any symptoms of the disease, so his grip on the reality of its progression remains tenuous. One friend tells him to accept the time allowed for his trip as a gift to be used wisely. Another counsels him to kill off his past and revel in the moment, seizing as many moments as he can eke out of his aborted future. Throughout each day of the journey, his love for his wife remains an unassailable constant...he confides in her nearly every night. At a crucial juncture in the trip, he realizes he no longer moves away from home, but toward it. Toward his wife.
He encounters qualities in his friends he had not seen before, and through these revelations, aspects of his own character are revealed to him. He discovers goodbyes are rarely surgical and the precise amputation of his relationships eludes him. No one seems willing to accept his visit as a final farewell.
A FINAL REFLECTION affords glimpses into the perceptions and intuitions of a middle-aged man laboring under a death sentence. He has yet to suffer any symptoms of the disease, so his grip on the reality of its progression remains tenuous. One friend tells him to accept the time allowed for his trip as a gift to be used wisely. Another counsels him to kill off his past and revel in the moment, seizing as many moments as he can eke out of his aborted future. Throughout each day of the journey, his love for his wife remains an unassailable constant...he confides in her nearly every night. At a crucial juncture in the trip, he realizes he no longer moves away from home, but toward it. Toward his wife.
222 pages, Paperback
First published May 21, 2012
8 people want to read
About the author
John M. McNamara
20 books6 followersJohn M. McNamara’s short fiction has been published in Crosscurrents, Old Hickory Review, the Piedmont Literary Review, the Minotaur, Snapdragon, Four Quarters, FlashFiction, Quick Fiction, Bear River Review and Inside Running.
In the summer of 1999, he was awarded a professional artist residency at the OxBow Summer Arts Program for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Saugatuck, Michigan. He lives in Downers Grove, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, with his wife.
He is the author of the novels A Life Without Grace; A Final Reflection; Hunter’s War, A Novella, and Selected Short Stories; Harmony House; Madonna; The Dreams of Teddy Schreck; The Unabridged Songwriter; and Summers on the Nebraska Shore. all available from Amazon.com.
In the summer of 1999, he was awarded a professional artist residency at the OxBow Summer Arts Program for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Saugatuck, Michigan. He lives in Downers Grove, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, with his wife.
He is the author of the novels A Life Without Grace; A Final Reflection; Hunter’s War, A Novella, and Selected Short Stories; Harmony House; Madonna; The Dreams of Teddy Schreck; The Unabridged Songwriter; and Summers on the Nebraska Shore. all available from Amazon.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 11, 2016
Wow...so I read this self-published work after swearing off self-published works for a while. But I had downloaded it for free a few weeks ago, and it was just sitting there in my Kindle account gathering virtual dust, so I decided to give it a try.
And what do you know - it was really quite enjoyable.
Synopsis:
A man in his sixties diagnosed with terminal cancer decides to take a road trip to reconnect with some people who had a profound effect on his life, leaving his wife behind and a little unhappy about it. He tells himself he's going to keep a journal of his journey (and the insights he gains) and then leave it to his wife. He later admits he's really not sure why he needed to take the trip other than he felt it was something he needed to do. Such is life and apparently death.
What I liked about the book:
Poignant - How do you live while dying? I mean technically we all live with the knowledge that we're dying in the sense that each day brings us one day closer to the end. But what would change if we knew that "the day" was a year, a few months, or a week away. It's a provocative question and one that is explored in this tale.
Well-constructed - The main character, which honestly I don't think is ever given a name (I just re-checked and can't find one), is somewhat detached and unemotional in his journal entries. He seems to attribute the same amount of emotion to his musings on his impending death that he does to his descriptions of what he had for dinner or what song he listened to on the radio. However, I think it serves the story well. Here we are, reading about this guy with a few months left to live, and yet there's this subdued tension that makes the whole thing feel incredibly surreal.
Well written - The writing is quite good. The descriptions are detailed and fresh and the characters are vivid and well-drawn.
Suspenseful - There's a few surprises along the way. The way the story is constructed, with the main character progressing through his list of old friends, we never quite know what's around the corner. And in the process of these visits we learn a lot about the character. I could very easily see this adapted to film...in a good way.
Satisfying - The ending was also well done. In one sense the author leaves you hanging, but it works.
What I didn't like:
Unprofessionally edited - As a self-published work there were errors, too many typos, grammatical errors, and inconsistencies for a novel. And even with a strong story, those errors tended to distract from the story. For example, I know there is a big debate over the serial comma. However, whichever stance you take, be consistent. This author was not.
Distracting at times - This particular author uses a combination of present and past tense. Technically, I'm not sure he was wrong in his usage. He starts in the present tense, perhaps to establish a sense of immediacy. The problem is much of the journal writing, though not all, takes place in past tense. In my opinion, the entire thing would have worked better in past. Each tense shift simply brought unnecessary attention to itself, reminding me the reader that I was reading.
Annoying punctuation - Okay...so really...what is up with the ellipsis these days? I mean...and I'm serious when I say this...when did authors start to think ellipses replaced commas...or periods...or other less intrusive (and appropriate) punctuation. Ellipsis...yes I think you're starting to get the picture now...can be annoying...extremely annoying...especially when a period, dash, or comma would have sufficed. So please...stop with all the ellipses...and I'm not kidding.
Bad sex - Yes, I know. Most authors can't write about sex. Maybe it's a symptom of our sexually repressed society, but it seems authors either use ridiculous euphemisms to discuss sex or, worse, resort to vulgarity. This author did the latter and oh how not sexy it was. See spoiler for examples, but be aware it's vulgar.
Despite the bad stuff, I think this still deserves four stars if only for the tremendous amount of insight sprinkled throughout.
I would recommend this to those who enjoy stories that encourage us to face our own mortality yet don't mind some editing issues and a half-dozen references to "bad" sex.
See spoiler for some passages that stood out.
And what do you know - it was really quite enjoyable.
Synopsis:
A man in his sixties diagnosed with terminal cancer decides to take a road trip to reconnect with some people who had a profound effect on his life, leaving his wife behind and a little unhappy about it. He tells himself he's going to keep a journal of his journey (and the insights he gains) and then leave it to his wife. He later admits he's really not sure why he needed to take the trip other than he felt it was something he needed to do. Such is life and apparently death.
What I liked about the book:
Poignant - How do you live while dying? I mean technically we all live with the knowledge that we're dying in the sense that each day brings us one day closer to the end. But what would change if we knew that "the day" was a year, a few months, or a week away. It's a provocative question and one that is explored in this tale.
Well-constructed - The main character, which honestly I don't think is ever given a name (I just re-checked and can't find one), is somewhat detached and unemotional in his journal entries. He seems to attribute the same amount of emotion to his musings on his impending death that he does to his descriptions of what he had for dinner or what song he listened to on the radio. However, I think it serves the story well. Here we are, reading about this guy with a few months left to live, and yet there's this subdued tension that makes the whole thing feel incredibly surreal.
Well written - The writing is quite good. The descriptions are detailed and fresh and the characters are vivid and well-drawn.
Suspenseful - There's a few surprises along the way. The way the story is constructed, with the main character progressing through his list of old friends, we never quite know what's around the corner. And in the process of these visits we learn a lot about the character. I could very easily see this adapted to film...in a good way.
Satisfying - The ending was also well done. In one sense the author leaves you hanging, but it works.
What I didn't like:
Unprofessionally edited - As a self-published work there were errors, too many typos, grammatical errors, and inconsistencies for a novel. And even with a strong story, those errors tended to distract from the story. For example, I know there is a big debate over the serial comma. However, whichever stance you take, be consistent. This author was not.
Distracting at times - This particular author uses a combination of present and past tense. Technically, I'm not sure he was wrong in his usage. He starts in the present tense, perhaps to establish a sense of immediacy. The problem is much of the journal writing, though not all, takes place in past tense. In my opinion, the entire thing would have worked better in past. Each tense shift simply brought unnecessary attention to itself, reminding me the reader that I was reading.
Annoying punctuation - Okay...so really...what is up with the ellipsis these days? I mean...and I'm serious when I say this...when did authors start to think ellipses replaced commas...or periods...or other less intrusive (and appropriate) punctuation. Ellipsis...yes I think you're starting to get the picture now...can be annoying...extremely annoying...especially when a period, dash, or comma would have sufficed. So please...stop with all the ellipses...and I'm not kidding.
Bad sex - Yes, I know. Most authors can't write about sex. Maybe it's a symptom of our sexually repressed society, but it seems authors either use ridiculous euphemisms to discuss sex or, worse, resort to vulgarity. This author did the latter and oh how not sexy it was. See spoiler for examples, but be aware it's vulgar.
Despite the bad stuff, I think this still deserves four stars if only for the tremendous amount of insight sprinkled throughout.
I would recommend this to those who enjoy stories that encourage us to face our own mortality yet don't mind some editing issues and a half-dozen references to "bad" sex.
See spoiler for some passages that stood out.
April 1, 2014
In A Final Reflection, we as readers become privy to the most intimate thoughts of a man diagnosed with incurable cancer. Knowing that his remaining time on this earth is short, he makes an odyssey into his past, taking us along for the ride. This book is written as a journal, starting on the first day of his trek across America and several decades. We learn of his former lovers, his deep bond and devotion to his wife--whom he leaves behind for this trip of introspection--his mentor, and his closest male friends as he rambles through the country. The journal is a gift he plans to give to his wife so that she may know every feeling, fear and joy as he dissects his past and lays himself bare.
What we as readers observe are the changes that each encounter with those dear to him brings about. The writing is so explicit, it's almost impossible to think of it as a work of fiction. John McNamara has such a gift for creating characters and background, it's hard to believe he hasn't been down this road himself. The writing is so authentic, with so many passages perfectly worded, I had to underline them so I could go back and read them again. They were beautifully written and conveyed the essence of complex truths succinctly in a manner that resonates in your mind and heart. A Final Reflection is like nothing I've ever read before; it's honest, real and fearless.
What we as readers observe are the changes that each encounter with those dear to him brings about. The writing is so explicit, it's almost impossible to think of it as a work of fiction. John McNamara has such a gift for creating characters and background, it's hard to believe he hasn't been down this road himself. The writing is so authentic, with so many passages perfectly worded, I had to underline them so I could go back and read them again. They were beautifully written and conveyed the essence of complex truths succinctly in a manner that resonates in your mind and heart. A Final Reflection is like nothing I've ever read before; it's honest, real and fearless.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews