What do you think?
Rate this book
Transcriber
At the bend in the stream on a bristlecone pine, where sage grows wild in fields of mustard and clover, blooms a rose. On a vine wound round the ancient trunk, it waits for the journey to begin in a place far from the stream where the scent of the rose is but a fragrance on the wind and a promise for tomorrow.
With these words, Transcriber begins. It is the saga of Benton Doud, a talented young man of little aspiration. It is the tale of his encounter with Jonas White, a sightless, bitter old novelist who has hired Doud to transcribe his final work for him. It is the story of Doud’s chance encounter with a mysterious and beautiful woman named Mary, whose parting gift to him of a rose becomes both his vision and his quest.
Doud’s journey takes him to the town of Wenborn, a place out of time where people cling to the old ways and harbor the old superstitions, and where the reclusive Jonas White lives in opulence and solitude. Doud meets many unusual people in the town and at the White Estate, and makes many good friends behind the walls that shelter them from the outside world. But as Doud struggles to please an unpleasable old man, he discovers behind the façade an ancient evil that must be faced if good is to survive.
Transcriber is a story of timeless love and unnatural hate, of all-encompassing good and all-consuming evil, of the things we can see and those we cannot. It is a panoptic vision of a world both natural and supernatural, where life lays out the path and we choose to walk it or not.
With these words, Transcriber begins. It is the saga of Benton Doud, a talented young man of little aspiration. It is the tale of his encounter with Jonas White, a sightless, bitter old novelist who has hired Doud to transcribe his final work for him. It is the story of Doud’s chance encounter with a mysterious and beautiful woman named Mary, whose parting gift to him of a rose becomes both his vision and his quest.
Doud’s journey takes him to the town of Wenborn, a place out of time where people cling to the old ways and harbor the old superstitions, and where the reclusive Jonas White lives in opulence and solitude. Doud meets many unusual people in the town and at the White Estate, and makes many good friends behind the walls that shelter them from the outside world. But as Doud struggles to please an unpleasable old man, he discovers behind the façade an ancient evil that must be faced if good is to survive.
Transcriber is a story of timeless love and unnatural hate, of all-encompassing good and all-consuming evil, of the things we can see and those we cannot. It is a panoptic vision of a world both natural and supernatural, where life lays out the path and we choose to walk it or not.
ebook
First published June 1, 2015
1 person is currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Larry Enright
23 books75 followersLarry Enright is an award-winning and best-selling author. He lives on a farm where he grows his stories in peaceful climes.
Find him at larryenright.com
Find him at larryenright.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 8, 2015
A Lyrical, Literate Mystery
"Transcriber" is a tale set in an earlier time, when telephones were mounted on the walls and people traveled in steam-powered trains—an age that was simpler and, in many ways, more comprehensible.
Enright’s narrative follows an intelligent, sensitive young man, Benton Doud, from the time he graduates from college—after surviving his penchant for lack of academic focus—to his first job. He is to be the transcriber, writing the words of an aged, world-renowned author, who is now blind.
The author, Jonas White, is an irascible, demanding man whose exacting requirements, the new transcriber can hardly fulfill. Thus begins the story of a young man, trying to live up to the expectations of an old genius.
In the midst of this is an enigmatic woman, Mary. Doud first encounters her in the bar where he and his friends are celebrating their graduation from college. His brief conversation with her seems to take place in a place far removed from the hurly-burly of the college barroom in which they sit.
When she disappears, while Doud is away from her table, she leaves behind a rose. The flower becomes a central symbol in both the book Doud is writing and the narrative of "Transcriber".
Enright has infused his mystery with references to classical literature, philosophy and music in language that sings to the reader but draws him/her on to the next page. "Transcriber", tells its story in words that are often poetic, but do not slow down the progress of the action.
I will not add spoilers to this review, but I’ll advise readers—and there should be many—follow the rose.
Highly recommended: five solid stars.
"Transcriber" is a tale set in an earlier time, when telephones were mounted on the walls and people traveled in steam-powered trains—an age that was simpler and, in many ways, more comprehensible.
Enright’s narrative follows an intelligent, sensitive young man, Benton Doud, from the time he graduates from college—after surviving his penchant for lack of academic focus—to his first job. He is to be the transcriber, writing the words of an aged, world-renowned author, who is now blind.
The author, Jonas White, is an irascible, demanding man whose exacting requirements, the new transcriber can hardly fulfill. Thus begins the story of a young man, trying to live up to the expectations of an old genius.
In the midst of this is an enigmatic woman, Mary. Doud first encounters her in the bar where he and his friends are celebrating their graduation from college. His brief conversation with her seems to take place in a place far removed from the hurly-burly of the college barroom in which they sit.
When she disappears, while Doud is away from her table, she leaves behind a rose. The flower becomes a central symbol in both the book Doud is writing and the narrative of "Transcriber".
Enright has infused his mystery with references to classical literature, philosophy and music in language that sings to the reader but draws him/her on to the next page. "Transcriber", tells its story in words that are often poetic, but do not slow down the progress of the action.
I will not add spoilers to this review, but I’ll advise readers—and there should be many—follow the rose.
Highly recommended: five solid stars.
Displaying 1 of 1 review