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Beyond the Cascade
In a compelling quest for a lost language, the brilliant, driven Suzannah Grant is thrust into adventures she had not counted on, and discoveries beyond her wildest imagining. The physical dangers of her trek into remote African mountains are surpassed only by the power of her discoveries about language, the human spirit, and the unbounded dimensions of her own nature.
420 pages, Paperback
First published May 16, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 9, 2013
Many of us can identify with the sense of having lost our purpose in life, of the encroaching of an ever-more demanding world, of the exhausting cycle of work-life-work. Many of us may also have experienced the debilitating symptoms of depression, the gathering grey-black that will not relent no matter what the distraction. Suzannah Grant, a brilliant New York academic specialising in linguistics, is struggling with a darkness that she cannot overcome. We first meet her through the eyes of her old and closest friend Christian, who is poring over the remains of her life - a few letters, some incidental personal possessions. Some mysterious event has befallen Suzannah and Christian cannot quite believe she is dead.
And then we flash back and meet Suzannah, and join her journey to the distant heartland of southern Africa, to a land, people, culture and language only once before charted by a Victorian explorer - a language which hints at the mysterious Experience Cascade. Driven on by her desire to find refuge from herself and her ever darkening existence, Suzannah submerges herself in first research and then the journey to follow in the explorer's footsteps, abandoning little by little everything familiar in pursuit of the truth. What is the Cascade? And what can be learned about it?
What Suzannah discovers is that there is a difference between learning about the Cascade and learning from it. And it is this truth she seeks which makes the novel so interesting. Jessup has not only imagined a world for us of enormous credibility - a 'lost' tribe of people within a world that has been Google-mapped out of obscurity - but one which has a very strong spiritual vision. Carefully translating the language of the lost culture for her, Suzannah's local guide Muhaybee alludes to our psychological frailties as individuals, mapping them as hills, rivers and the landscape through which they journey together, as Suzannah faces increasing physical, emotional and psychological challenges. Jessup shows us how those frailties have weakened our spirituality - regardless of our faith or religion - and how much is lost to them.
This is a very long novel, and in conventional narrative terms it does not really adopt a page-turning pace until about half way through. The multiple points of view and voices - Suzannah and Christian in third and first person, letters, journals and so on - help somewhat to keep the first part moving, but the authenticity of the detail of Suzannah's expertise in linguistics, and to a lesser extent Christian's professional knowledge of AI, are - in this reviewer's opinion - at times completely overwhelming of the storyline and slow the pace too much. The writing is elegant, evocative and strongly visual, but because we spend so much time inside Suzannah's head, at times again the long descriptive tracts can slow the pace.
Nonetheless, this is an inspiring, thought-provoking journey of a novel, and worth the investment of time and consideration by any reader interested in spiritual themes.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and impartial review. I am a reviewer for Awesome Indies.
And then we flash back and meet Suzannah, and join her journey to the distant heartland of southern Africa, to a land, people, culture and language only once before charted by a Victorian explorer - a language which hints at the mysterious Experience Cascade. Driven on by her desire to find refuge from herself and her ever darkening existence, Suzannah submerges herself in first research and then the journey to follow in the explorer's footsteps, abandoning little by little everything familiar in pursuit of the truth. What is the Cascade? And what can be learned about it?
What Suzannah discovers is that there is a difference between learning about the Cascade and learning from it. And it is this truth she seeks which makes the novel so interesting. Jessup has not only imagined a world for us of enormous credibility - a 'lost' tribe of people within a world that has been Google-mapped out of obscurity - but one which has a very strong spiritual vision. Carefully translating the language of the lost culture for her, Suzannah's local guide Muhaybee alludes to our psychological frailties as individuals, mapping them as hills, rivers and the landscape through which they journey together, as Suzannah faces increasing physical, emotional and psychological challenges. Jessup shows us how those frailties have weakened our spirituality - regardless of our faith or religion - and how much is lost to them.
This is a very long novel, and in conventional narrative terms it does not really adopt a page-turning pace until about half way through. The multiple points of view and voices - Suzannah and Christian in third and first person, letters, journals and so on - help somewhat to keep the first part moving, but the authenticity of the detail of Suzannah's expertise in linguistics, and to a lesser extent Christian's professional knowledge of AI, are - in this reviewer's opinion - at times completely overwhelming of the storyline and slow the pace too much. The writing is elegant, evocative and strongly visual, but because we spend so much time inside Suzannah's head, at times again the long descriptive tracts can slow the pace.
Nonetheless, this is an inspiring, thought-provoking journey of a novel, and worth the investment of time and consideration by any reader interested in spiritual themes.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and impartial review. I am a reviewer for Awesome Indies.
April 10, 2014
Beyond The Cascade reminded me a great deal of The Alchemist in the way it takes the central character from one mindset to another, more spiritual one, through a series of difficult experiences. It also reminded me of a movie I saw years ago, in which the characters go in search of Shangri-la by climbing ever higher in some exotic part of the world (I don't recall the name of the movie, which was very trite in comparison with Beyond the Cascade). Suzannah's quest is portrayed as something only an unusually strong person would undertake, and she turns out to be just determined and strong enough, with enough willingness or desperation to shed her old beliefs and pass the tests laid out in front of her, to succeed.
With the physical difficulties inherent in climbing remote mountains, battling foes, constant inter- and intra- personal battles, philosophizing, and spirituality, this novel is full of tension and drama. It blends it all into a nearly seamless whole. The prose is beautiful, full of lush descriptions and amusing repartee between Suzannah and Muhaybee, a man who tries to bridge the modern world with the ancient customs of the people of the Cascades.
Early on, Suzannah finds out that she's won a prestigious award in linguistics and we are shown how deep her depression has become. She couldn't care less about the award, or her student's thesis topic. Her life has lost meaning. She can no longer relate to her closest friend. Counseling and drugs don't help, until she is told to learn something new and begins her quest. Much of this beginning section hit home for me. Her situation reminded me of what I felt about academics and my own depression. Jessup pegged this disillusionment, and the fact that no drugs can solve the underlying issue.
At times I felt so carried away by this novel that I could hardly put it down. There was something deeply satisfying about this quest and the way Suzannah would not give up until she reached her goal. I became very engaged, rooting for her to solve each problem and allow herself to absorb it.
Only a few things marred this novel for me. First, at times the linguistic and scientific mumbo jumbo is overdone. It get too technical for a general interest novel. The physics sections didn't even make sense. I would get annoyed and start to put the novel down, but then the jargon would end and the story become entrancing. Second, I got really tired of Doc saying that a woman shouldn't be able to enter the Cascade, especially a white woman, and Suzannah "proving him wrong." Maybe this author was trying to be authentic, or something, but it seemed to me that it would have been more authentic to say that someone from a modern culture could not. Finally, the ultimate lessons for Suzannah were somewhat predictable. Overall, though, I loved this novel.
I was given a free copy of this novel from StoryCartel.com in exchange for my honest review.
With the physical difficulties inherent in climbing remote mountains, battling foes, constant inter- and intra- personal battles, philosophizing, and spirituality, this novel is full of tension and drama. It blends it all into a nearly seamless whole. The prose is beautiful, full of lush descriptions and amusing repartee between Suzannah and Muhaybee, a man who tries to bridge the modern world with the ancient customs of the people of the Cascades.
Early on, Suzannah finds out that she's won a prestigious award in linguistics and we are shown how deep her depression has become. She couldn't care less about the award, or her student's thesis topic. Her life has lost meaning. She can no longer relate to her closest friend. Counseling and drugs don't help, until she is told to learn something new and begins her quest. Much of this beginning section hit home for me. Her situation reminded me of what I felt about academics and my own depression. Jessup pegged this disillusionment, and the fact that no drugs can solve the underlying issue.
At times I felt so carried away by this novel that I could hardly put it down. There was something deeply satisfying about this quest and the way Suzannah would not give up until she reached her goal. I became very engaged, rooting for her to solve each problem and allow herself to absorb it.
Only a few things marred this novel for me. First, at times the linguistic and scientific mumbo jumbo is overdone. It get too technical for a general interest novel. The physics sections didn't even make sense. I would get annoyed and start to put the novel down, but then the jargon would end and the story become entrancing. Second, I got really tired of Doc saying that a woman shouldn't be able to enter the Cascade, especially a white woman, and Suzannah "proving him wrong." Maybe this author was trying to be authentic, or something, but it seemed to me that it would have been more authentic to say that someone from a modern culture could not. Finally, the ultimate lessons for Suzannah were somewhat predictable. Overall, though, I loved this novel.
I was given a free copy of this novel from StoryCartel.com in exchange for my honest review.
August 13, 2014
As a professional Belgian(Flemish) author for more than 20 years, I can - in all humbleness - say that I've read quite some novels in quite some genres, styles and topics. In that huge pile of books, A.H. Jessup stands out, just as Kafka, Curzio Malaparte, André Baillon, Flaubert, Malcolm Lowry and other great writers stand out. In my eyes, a synopsis doesn't give this multi-layered novel enough credit, so I'm going to pass that. Others on this review page have done their best in that department. I was deeply impressed by the wisdom of this novel but also by Jessup's style and the scope of his story, not to forget the originality of the theme(s). It is truly beyond me that "Beyond the Cascade" apparently hasn't been published by a quality Publishing House. Maybe Jessup didn't want that, knowing that the current book market tends to be more a fairground - vampires or zombies anyone? - than an outlet for the great art of literature. Well, this is literature, no way around it. When a reader loves a novel, the author has done a very nice job. When a fellow author - a colleague and, yes, in a way, a competitor - loves a novel, the author truly has done an outstanding job...
February 20, 2017
I am personally biased in favor of this book, but I think it is world-class--delightfully constructed, a fast-paced page-turner with deep waters running through it. I would echo the sentiments of Oscar-winning director, Bert Salzman: ""A real page turner! Skillfully written. Vivid- elegant images. A lovely spiritual mystery. Smart and interesting characters. Wow! It is a wonderful book. It is intelligent, good, sensitive -- It’s beautiful. And very haunting."
January 11, 2021
I am very confident that this book will be a New York Times Bestseller in the very near future. I loved this book. The writing is so good that i felt like i was looking from the eyes of Suzannah. That is how great it is. After finishing the book i read about the author and searched if he had other books. I learned that he spent about 10 years on this book. This in of itself points out the hard work put into it. No wonder the writing had excellent quality. I look forward to more books by this author.
I was given "Beyond the Cascade" to read for free for my honest review.
I was given "Beyond the Cascade" to read for free for my honest review.
June 3, 2015
Free book for honest review. juliesbookreview.blogspot.com
“Beyond the Cascade” is not Aristotle’s “Metaphysics” but it is a metaphysical novel if
such a thing exists. A. D. Jessup’s novel succeeds in imagining a set of “first principles”
from a different POV than the mainstream “Unto the place from whence the rivers
come, thither they return again.” Jessup uses this quote from Ecclesiastes as part of the
opening of his book.
.
Suzannah Grant is an accomplished anthropologist who is told to “learn something new”
by a psychiatrist. She fights midlife depression with a search for what most of us call
“the unknowable.” When she discovers an old text she leaves behind academia to go to
Africa in search of the “Cascade” (her version of the Holy Grail). She believes the
Cascade holds the answers she seeks. Reminiscent of a female Indiana Jones she
integrates into tribal life and manages to convince them to take her to the Cascade the
link to the Other Side or the place from whence things come and return again.
This is not an easy read but the author draws his characters well. There are times when
Jessup the writer gets in the way of Jessup the story teller. It’s a flaw for which he can
be forgiven since the story he is telling is compelling and this is his first novel..
4 Stars
Bill S
“Beyond the Cascade” is not Aristotle’s “Metaphysics” but it is a metaphysical novel if
such a thing exists. A. D. Jessup’s novel succeeds in imagining a set of “first principles”
from a different POV than the mainstream “Unto the place from whence the rivers
come, thither they return again.” Jessup uses this quote from Ecclesiastes as part of the
opening of his book.
.
Suzannah Grant is an accomplished anthropologist who is told to “learn something new”
by a psychiatrist. She fights midlife depression with a search for what most of us call
“the unknowable.” When she discovers an old text she leaves behind academia to go to
Africa in search of the “Cascade” (her version of the Holy Grail). She believes the
Cascade holds the answers she seeks. Reminiscent of a female Indiana Jones she
integrates into tribal life and manages to convince them to take her to the Cascade the
link to the Other Side or the place from whence things come and return again.
This is not an easy read but the author draws his characters well. There are times when
Jessup the writer gets in the way of Jessup the story teller. It’s a flaw for which he can
be forgiven since the story he is telling is compelling and this is his first novel..
4 Stars
Bill S
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews